Ready An' Willing Whitesnake

• 1 Fool for Your Loving 04:17
• 2 Sweet Talker 03:38
• 3 Ready An' Willing 03:43
• 4 Carry Your Load 04:05
• 5 Blindman 05:08
• 6 Ain't Gonna Cry No More 05:51
• 7 Love Man 05:03
• 8 Black and Blue 04:05
• 9 She's a Woman 04:08
• Total Runtime 39:58

Info for Ready An' Willing

„Primo hair metal from David Coverdale-led Whitesnake, this 1980 album feature's 'She's a Woman' and 'Fool For Your Loving.' Despite benefiting from the expert assistance of legendary producer Martin Birch (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, later Iron Maiden) Whitesnake's early studio albums all tended to sound unexplainably flat.

Their fourth effort, 1980's Ready an' Willing, was no exception, but it did make up for this somewhat with solid songwriting. In fact, David Coverdale and company were growing increasingly more consistent and self-assured with each record, and this album's first half shows great progress over the previous year's hit-and-miss Lovehunter. Opener 'Fool for Your Lovin'' was their best single yet, as well as their highest charting; with its clever combination of hit-savvy chorus and authentic bluesy resignation, it set the template for subsequent triumphs, and the fact that Coverdale re-recorded it (in disappointing pop-metal fashion) over a decade later for 1989's Slip of the Tongue is a testament to its staying power.

Further highlights include the live favorite 'Sweet Talker' (given extra bite by Micky Moody's expert slide guitar), the groove monster of a title track, and a set of memorable ballads in 'Blindman' and 'Ain't Gonna Cry No More.' The same laurels can't be awarded to the album's closing trio of songs, all of which evince the tired and formulaic blues-rock that had dominated previous releases. But this didn't stop Ready an' Willing from qualifying as Whitesnake's finest hour thus far, with ever-greater glory waiting just over the horizon.“ (Eduardo Rivadavia)

David Coverdale, vocals
Micky Moody, guitar, backing vocals
Bernie Marsden, guitar
Jon Lord, keyboard
Neil Murray, bass
Ian Paice, drums, percussion

Recorded at Ridge Farm, Central Recorders Studio and Sauna, December 1979, February 1980
Engineered by Martin Birch
Produced by Martin Birch

Digitally remastered

Whitesnake
After recording two solo albums, former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale formed Whitesnake around 1977. In the glut of hard rock and heavy metal bands of the late '70s, their first albums got somewhat lost in the shuffle, although they were fairly popular in Europe and Japan. During 1982, Coverdale took some time off so he could take care of his sick daughter. When he re-emerged with a new version of Whitesnake in 1984, the band sounded revitalized and energetic. Slide It In may have relied on Led Zeppelin's and Deep Purple's old tricks, but the band had a knack for writing hooks; the record became their first platinum album. Three years later, Whitesnake released an eponymous album (titled 1987 in Europe) that was even better. Portions of the album were blatantly derivative — "Still of the Night" was a dead ringer for early Zeppelin — but the group could write powerful, heavy rockers like "Here I Go Again" that were driven as much by melody as riffs, as well as hit power ballads like "Is This Love." Whitesnake was an enormous international success, selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone.

Before they recorded their follow-up, 1989's Slip of the Tongue, Coverdale again assembled a completely new version of the band, featuring guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Although the record went platinum, it was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake. Coverdale put Whitesnake on hiatus after that album. In 1993, he released a collaboration with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page that was surprisingly lackluster. The following year, Whitesnake issued a greatest-hits album in the U.S. and Canada focusing solely on material from their final three albums (as well as containing a few unreleased tracks).

In 1997, Coverdale resurrected Whitesnake (guitarist Adrian Vandenberg was the only remaining member of the group's latter-day lineup), issuing Restless Heart the same year. Surprisingly, the album wasn't even issued in the United States. On the ensuing tour, Coverdale and Vandenberg performed an "unplugged" show in Japan that was recorded and issued the following year under the title Starkers in Tokyo. By the late '90s, however, Coverdale once again put Whitesnake on hold, as he concentrated on recording his first solo album in nearly 22 years. Coverdale's Into the Light was issued in September 2000, featuring journeyman guitarist Earl Slick. After a lengthy hiatus that saw the release of countless "greatest-hits" and "live" collections, the band returned in 2008 with the impressive Good to Be Bad. Coverdale and Whitesnake toured the album throughout Europe and Japan. The band returned to the recording studio in 2010 with new members bassist Michael Devin (formerly of Lynch Mob) and drummer Brian Tichy, who appeared alongside guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, and guest keyboardist Timothy Drury (as well as Coverdale's son Jasper on backing vocals on various tracks). The band's 11th album, Forevermore, was preceded by the issue of the single, "Love Will Set You Free," and released in the spring of 2011. (ROVI)

This album contains no booklet.