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| Into the Light: The Solo Albums | ||||
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| Compilation album by Whitesnake | ||||
| Released | 25 October 2024 (2024-10-25) | |||
| Recorded | August–September 1976 (Whitesnake) 21 March–6 April 1977; 10–19 April 1976 (Northwinds) c. Late 1990s–2000 (Into the Light) c. 2020s (2024 Remix) | |||
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| Label | Rhino | |||
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| Whitesnake chronology | ||||
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| David Coverdale chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Into the Light: The Solo Albums | ||||
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Into the Light: The Solo Albums is a compilation album by English hard rock band Whitesnake, showcasing the band's founder and singer-songwriter David Coverdale's solo works. The compilation includes selections from Coverdale's three solo albums: White Snake (1977), Northwinds (1978) and Into the Light (2000). The collection features "revisited, remixed and remastered" forms of previously released and unreleased material from the installment of these solo albums. The title of the compilation derives from Coverdale's third solo release, Into the Light. The compilation is set to be released via Rhino Records on 25 October 2024.
Background
Between 1977 and 1978, vocalist David Coverdale recorded the first of his two solo albums after the Mark IV dissolution of Deep Purple. Both were released as White Snake and Northwinds and were gone out in many complication sets, more recently The Early Years in 2003. Decades later after the temporary disbandment of Coverdale's formed band Whitesnake, he resumed his solo career as well to explore many forms of music. The resulting 2000 record came out as Into the Light, listing it as his most successful solo album commercially and critically, only that it charted in six countries.
According to Coverdale, his first two solo works, including Whitesnake material have been digitally copied and possess the ability to be restored and remastered but unfortunately cannot be remixed at that time. This was a result from the 2008 Universal Studios fire, which archived the band's material belonging to Geffen Records. Purple Records, one of the sub-divisions of EMI at that time, retained the masters to Coverdale's first two solo albums, but had been gone out of print ever since.
History and production
Into the Light: The Solo Albums featured musicians that participated from singer David Coverdale's solo albums. His first album White Snake was released on 20 February 1977 throughout Europe then 6 May in the UK, featuring then-Whitesnake guitarist, Micky Moody. As a first solo effort, Coverdale remarked the record was "a very inward-looking, reflective and low-key affair in many ways, written and recorded as it was in the aftermath of the collapse of Deep Purple". The album title would be later be derived as an inspiration of his future band, which happened after the upcoming album was released. It was followed by its successor Northwinds, released on 10 March 1978. The album was viewed in blues-based and R&B influenced rock followed as an "antithesis" of Whitesnake 1987. It was also largely viewed as nothing differentiated compared to Led Zeppelin, given that Whitesnake had been compared that group on many occasions. Decades later, Into the Light was released on 25 September 2000, with its elements featured a more stripped-down and blues-influenced sound that Coverdale "felt appropriate" in his songwriting.
Both White Snake and Northwinds were originally produced by Deep Purple's then ex-bassist, at that time, Roger Glover, while Into the Light was produced by Coverdale himself alongside Doug Bossi, Bjorn Thorsrud, John X. Volaitis and Michael McIntyre being credited as associate producers.
Coverdale's first two solo albums were remixed using cutting-edge audio separation software, allowing them to be artificially separated into their individual multi-track stems using artificial intelligence. Notable examples of this approach are "Time & Again", which separated Coverdale's voice from the original Northwinds record, allowing it to be featured in piano and string arrangement mixes that had been approached by Coverdale for decades.
The remixing process for Northwinds was originally inspired by a neural network known as MAL (machine-assisted learning), which had been developed as an audio restoration technology for The Beatles 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back. MAL was originally named after the Beatles' former road manager, Mal Evans. This process was used to separate John Lennon's home demo recording from the late 1970s, utilising a digital copy provided by Sean Lennon, which was of higher quality than the third-generation source the three surviving members of The Beatles had used in 1995. This restoration preserved the clarity of every multi-track stem, culminating in the release of "Now and Then" in late 2023. Audio engineer and producer Tom Gordon, who was working on the remixes for Northwinds, was impressed by this restoration approach and contacted Peter Jackson's company, WingNut Films, which had utilised the MAL technology for various music and film restorations, including The Beatles' archives. However, his request was declined as the technology was exclusive to The Beatles project and was "bespoken for" at the time. Gordon then approached Dr. Paris Smaragdis in an attempt to develop a similar version of MAL software, but due to time constraints and limited resources, this was not possible.
After the initial attempts with MAL failed, Whitesnake audio engineers were under pressure to find an alternative audio isolation technology that could successfully separate the tracks from their original stems. For "Time & Again", Coverdale's vocals were mixed on the same multi-track as the Rhodes synthesiser. Coverdale wanted to "ditch the Rhodes" and add string arrangements in the remix. However, when the Northwinds album was processed through various open-source audio separation software, the results included digital artefacts, rendering the remixes unusable as "the vocal was so exposed". The team eventually turned to an emerging software called "Audioshake", which was in its beta stage at the time. The software produced results that were deemed acceptable, allowing the remix of "Time & Again" to proceed.
For the remixing of White Snake, the original tapes were lost for two decades, largely due to the album being out of print from EMI masters, now owned by Universal. However, many of the outtakes from the album remain accessible. The production team undertook the process of unmixing the entire record by exporting the stems via the same mechanism to various artificial intelligence software, selecting the best available mixes for comparison and approval in the White Snake remixing project. Digital artefacts posed a recurring challenge, which the team addressed by overlaying enhanced versions of individual stems to reinforce the overall sound. Despite this, they had limited control over the volume and tone during the remixing process, particularly with the lead and background vocals, as well as the original track's reverb. Fortunately, the team managed to mitigate these issues by incorporating modern remixes for the drums and reamping the guitars and bass through amplifiers to achieve an authentic contemporary sound. Although the tape speed was slightly off, this was digitally corrected to ensure any new instruments were in tune with the rest of the record.
For the remix of Into the Light, the album was originally recorded digitally through Pro Tools. Several tracks from the record were later remixed and included in the Red, White, Blues complication trilogy, released between 2020 and 2021. The original recording utilised the now obsolete "Sound Designer II" format, which is incompatible with modern systems. However, the engineering team successfully transferred and converted the tracks using legacy equipment. To prevent data loss or corruption during the current project, the digital multitrack stems were re-aligned with their original time codes.
Release and promotion
Although the three albums were recorded entirely by Coverdale as a solo artist, he now regards them as Whitesnake albums. He stated, "As I'm recognized as 'Mr. Whitesnake', I thought, Why not? They're all Whitesnake albums to me... we've remixed them to stand proudly alongside any Whitesnake album." 1997's Restless Heart was at first originally viewed as a solo album, but was eventually grouped as a "David Coverdale & Whitesnake" album due to EMI's contract demands. This, along with Into the Light, was envisioned as "brother and sister albums", respectively due to their similar sound in comparison to Whitesnake's other recordings.
On the morning of 16 August 2024, Coverdale announced the upcoming complication on his Twitter/X page. That same day, a promotional music video for the track "Midnight Blue" from the album Into the Light was also released. Into the Light: The Solo Albums is set to be reissued via Rhino Entertainment on 25 October 2024 as a multi-disc box set, featuring remastered and remixed versions of the solo albums, as well as previously unreleased demos. The collection will also feature music videos and a 60-page booklet containing photographs and an interview with Coverdale. Additionally, the set will be released as a double vinyl album, featuring tracks exclusively from Into the Light, marking its first release on vinyl format. Separately, the 2024 remixes of White Snake and Northwinds will also be reissued in the same format, pressed on translucent vinyl, released on 4 October for "RHINO Rocktober" sales event, following a Japanese release on 6 November. Snippets of the remixed tracks "Lady" and "Northwinds" are featured in their respective promotional videos. On 5 September, a remixed track of "Wherever You May Go" was premiered, following with another promotional music video of the song. "Time & Again" was released on 26 September with a promotional video featuring "Hook City Strings" arrangements.
Track listing
All tracks are written by David Coverdale, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "She Give Me" | 4:13 | |
| 2. | "River Song" | 6:43 | |
| 3. | "Don't You Cry" | 5:33 | |
| 4. | "Love Is Blind" | Coverdale, Earl Slick | 5:47 |
| 5. | "Slave" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:55 |
| 6. | "Cry for Love" | Coverdale, Doug Bossi, Slick | 5:38 |
| 7. | "Living on Love" | Coverdale, Bossi, Slick | 6:11 |
| 8. | "Midnight Blue" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:49 |
| 9. | "Too Many Tears" | Coverdale, Adrian Vandenberg | 6:15 |
| 10. | "Don't Lie to Me" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:44 |
| 11. | "All the Time in the World" | 5:27 | |
| 12. | "Wherever You May Go" | 3:58 | |
| 13. | "Yours for the Asking" | 4:30 | |
| 14. | "Let’s Talk It Over" | 8:08 | |
| Total length: | 76:51 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Love Is Blind (Band Version)" | Coverdale, Slick | 5:32 |
| 2. | "As Long as I Have You" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:09 |
| 3. | "With All of My Heart" | 5:40 | |
| 4. | "Wherever You May Go (Strings Version)" | Coverdale, Earl Slick | 1:14 |
| 5. | "Love Is Blind (Strings Version)" | Coverdale, Slick | 3:31 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Lust" | 3:40 |
| 7. | "Oh No! Not the Blues Again" | 3:30 |
| 8. | "Into the Light" (intro) | 1:05 |
| 9. | "Into the Light" | 4:03 |
| 10. | "You Make It Hard on Me" | 5:17 |
| 11. | "Would You Be Happy" | 4:24 |
| 12. | "Fooling Yourself" | 3:59 |
| 13. | "Make The Best Of It" | 4:29 |
| 14. | "Veda of Cassandra Blues" | 4:11 |
| 15. | "I Can See the Light" | 4:03 |
| 16. | "Another Fallen Angel" | 4:23 |
| 17. | "Itchy Finger" | 4:55 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 18. | "Crazy 'Bout Cha" (Original version of "Whipping Boy Blues") | 4:28 |
| 19. | "If You Want Me" | 4:23 |
| 20. | "Lay Your Love On Me" (Original version of "Lay Down Your Love") | 4:22 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Keep On Giving Me Love" | Coverdale, Micky Moody | 5:10 |
| 2. | "Sweet Mistreater" | 3:26 | |
| 3. | "Northwinds" | 6:09 | |
| 4. | "Give Me Kindness" | 4:24 | |
| 5. | "Queen of Hearts" | Coverdale, Moody | 5:15 |
| 6. | "Only My Soul" | 4:06 | |
| 7. | "Time & Again" (String version) | 4:01 | |
| 8. | "Say You Love Me" | 4:21 | |
| 9. | "Shame the Devil, Tell the Truth" | 3:38 | |
| 10. | "Breakdown" | Coverdale, Moody | 5:13 |
| 11. | "Time & Again" (Piano version) | 4:01 | |
| 12. | "Time & Again" (Strings only) | 4:01 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lady" | Coverdale, Moody | 3:48 |
| 2. | "Blindman" | 6:01 | |
| 3. | "Goldies Place" | 4:40 | |
| 4. | "Time On My Side" | Coverdale, Moody | 4:23 |
| 5. | "Peace Lovin' Man" | 4:43 | |
| 6. | "Sunny Days" | 3:48 | |
| 7. | "Hole in the Sky" | 3:58 | |
| 8. | "Whitesnake" | Coverdale, Moody | 4:20 |
| 9. | "Celebration" | Coverdale, Moody | 3:38 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Sunny Days" (original) | |
| 11. | "Love Me In the Morning" | |
| 12. | "I Will Love You" | |
| 13. | "Moment In Time" | |
| 14. | "It Would Be Nice" | |
| 15. | "There Was a Time" | |
| 16. | "Why?" | |
| 17. | "I Still Love You" |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "She Give Me" | 4:12 | |
| 2. | "River Song" | 7:19 | |
| 3. | "Don't You Cry" | 5:47 | |
| 4. | "Love Is Blind" | Coverdale, Slick | 5:42 |
| 5. | "Slave" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:51 |
| 6. | "Cry for Love" | Coverdale, Bossi, Slick | 4:52 |
| 7. | "Living on Love" | Coverdale, Bossi, Slick | 6:31 |
| 8. | "Midnight Blue" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:58 |
| 9. | "Too Many Tears" | Coverdale, Vandenberg | 5:59 |
| 10. | "Don't Lie to Me" | Coverdale, Slick | 4:43 |
| 11. | "Wherever You May Go" | 3:59 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lady" | Coverdale, Moody | 3:48 |
| 2. | "Blindman" | 6:01 | |
| 3. | "Goldies Place" | 5:03 | |
| 4. | "Time On My Side" | Coverdale, Moody | 4:26 |
| 5. | "Peace Lovin' Man" | 4:53 | |
| 6. | "Sunny Days" | 3:31 | |
| 7. | "Hole in the Sky" | 3:23 | |
| 8. | "Celebration" | Coverdale, Moody | 4:11 |
| 9. | "Whitesnake" | Coverdale, Moody | 4:22 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Keep On Giving Me Love" | Coverdale, Moody | 5:16 |
| 2. | "Northwinds" | 6:13 | |
| 3. | "Give Me Kindness" | 4:34 | |
| 4. | "Time & Again" | 4:02 | |
| 5. | "Queen of Hearts" | Coverdale, Moody | 5:16 |
| 6. | "Only My Soul" | 4:36 | |
| 7. | "Say You Love Me" | 4:21 | |
| 8. | "Breakdown" | Coverdale, Moody | 5:15 |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the original album's liner notes, including White Snake, Northwinds and Into the Light.
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References
Footnotes
- Bloom, Jerry (2015). The Road of Golden Dust (1st ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-908724-23-6.
- ^ Northwinds (booklet). David Coverdale. Purple Records, Eagle Rock Entertainment. 2000. 8 26992 02412 7.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Valdivia, Victor (16 October 2011). "David Coverdale: White Snake / North Winds". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- "Too Old to Rock and Roll - Too Young to Die?". Metal Hammer. Vol. 14, no. 7. Berlin, Germany: ZAG Zeitschriften-Verlag. 1997. pp. 126–127.
- Jeffries, Neil (22 September 2021). "Every David Coverdale and Whitesnake album, ranked from worst to best". Classic Rock. Louder. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- Llewellyn, Siân (18 September 2000). "David Coverdale – Into the Light (EMI/Chrysalis - advance CD)". Classic Rock. London, England: Future. p. 63.
- Mineur, Matthias (2000). "David Coverdale - Into the Light (EMI)". Metal Hammer. Vol. 17, no. 10. Munich, Germany: AS Young Mediahouse GmbH. p. 86.
- McNeice, Andrew J. "David Coverdale – Into the Light Interview". MelodicRock. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- The Blues Album (booklet). Whitesnake. RHINO. 2021. 0 190295 156169.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ White Snake (booklet). David Coverdale. Purple Records. 2000. 6 70211 50752 2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
- ^ DeRiso, Nick (19 July 2021). "45 Years Ago: David Coverdale Quits As Deep Purple Disintegrate". Ultimate Classic Rock. Townsquare Media. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
- Adams, Bret. "David Coverdale – Northwinds review". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- Jeffries, Neil (5 January 2021). "David Coverdale: a guide to his best albums". Classic Rock. Louder. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- Valdivia, Victor (16 October 2011). "David Coverdale: White Snake / North Winds". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- "Coverdale fills multiple roles on his Dragonshead solo set". Daily Press. Victorville, California, United States. 10 June 1994. p. 13. Retrieved 17 August 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Into The Light (booklet). David Coverdale. EMI. 2000. 7243 5 28124 2 4.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "DAVID COVERDALE's Three Solo Albums To Be Made Available With Remixes, Remasters And Previously Unreleased Tracks". Blabbermouth. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ "Into the Light: The Solo Albums". Whitesnake.com. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- Sisario, Ben (11 November 2021). "Know How the Beatles Ended? Peter Jackson May Change Your Mind". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- Sparkes, Matthew (24 December 2021). "Beatles documentary Get Back used custom AI to strip unwanted sound". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- "The Last Beatles Songs". TheBeatles.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- "Eras - The Beatles - Episode 6 - Now and Then". BBC Sounds. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ Into the Light: The Solo Albums (booklet). Whitesnake. Rhino Entertainment. 2024. 603497824489.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "Coverdale fills multiple roles on his Dragonshead solo set". Daily Press. Victorville, California, United States. 10 June 1994. p. 13. Retrieved 13 October 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- Chirazi, Steffan (25 March 2011). "The Growing Pains Of Whitesnake's David Coverdale". Louder. Classic Rock. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- Coverdale, David (16 August 2024). "Into the Light: The Solo Albums announcement reveal video". Twitter/X. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ "Into The Light: The Solo Albums (6CD)". Rhino.
- "Rhino Reveals ROCKTOBER 2024 Vinyl Release Lineup". Rhino Entertainment. 25 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- "Into the Light: The Solo Albums - Whitesnake - Oricon News". Oricon. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- Coverdale, David (31 August 2024). "WHITESNAKE NorthWinds LP (2024 Remix) Pre-Order Now - Release October 4". Instagram. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- Coverdale, David (31 August 2024). ""White Snake" promo video". Instagram. Whitesnake. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- Coverdale, David (31 August 2024). ""Northwinds" promo video". Instagram. Whitesnake. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- "Into the Light: The Solo Albums". Apple Music. Whitesnake. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- Coverdale, David (4 September 2024). ""Oh…& Don't Forget…See YOU At 9 am PCT TOMORROW!!!"". Twitter/X. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- "Whitesnake - Wherever You May Go (Official Video 2024 Remix)". YouTube. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- "WHITESNAKE's DAVID COVERDALE Shares 2024 Remix Video For "Time & Again" (String Version)". Bravewords. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- "Whitesnake - Time & Again (DC & Hook City Strings - Official Video 2024 Remix)". YouTube. Whitesnake. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
Book sources
- Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
