Slip of the Tongue

Slip of the Tongue
Studio album by Whitesnake
Released	18 November 1989
Recorded	1989
Studio	Record Plant, Los Angeles
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	46:47
Label	Geffen/Warner Bros. (North America) CBS/Sony (Japan) EMI (Rest of the world)
Producer	Mike Clink & Keith Olsen
Whitesnake chronology
1987 Versions (1987) Slip of the Tongue (1989) Whitesnake's Greatest Hits (1994)
Alternative cover
20th Anniversary CD-Release.
Singles from Slip of the Tongue
"Judgement Day" Released: 1989 (promo) "Fool for Your Loving '89" Released: 1989 "The Deeper the Love" Released: 1990 "Now You're Gone" Released: 1990

Slip of the Tongue is the eighth studio album by the British hard rock band Whitesnake, released in 1989. The album peaked at number 10 on both the UK Album Chart and US Billboard 200.^[1][2] Three singles were released from the album: "Fool for Your Loving", "The Deeper the Love" and "Now You're Gone". All the singles hit the US Mainstream Rock Tracks top 40, and "The Deeper the Love" and "Fool For Your Loving" were top 5.^[3] Slip of the Tongue has sold over one million copies in the US, reaching platinum state.^[4]

"Fool for Your Loving" originally appeared on the album Ready an' Willing, but it was re-recorded for this album.

Songwriting and production

After the tour for the band's previous multi-platinum self-titled album, guitarist Vivian Campbell left the group due to musical differences. Even with Campbell's leaving, the writing process for a new Whitesnake album started at Lake Tahoe with singer David Coverdale and guitarist Adrian Vandenberg. Some material, including the title track, had already been written while on tour and some lyrics were finished by Coverdale in Bora Bora.

Prior to the recording process, Adrian Vandenberg sustained a serious wrist injury, making it impossible for him to play without experiencing great discomfort. After Coverdale waited as long as possible for Vandenberg to heal, he had no choice but to find a new guitar player to finish the album. Coverdale chose ex-Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth guitarist Steve Vai. Coverdale was unfamiliar with Vai's work with Zappa or Roth, but had seen him in the 1986 film Crossroads, in which Vai had greatly impressed him. Adrian Vandenberg revealed in several interviews that he thinks Vai's flamboyant guitar playing was somewhat inappropriate, and that a more bluesy approach would have suited the album better.^[5]

With Vai on board the recording process began. Coverdale had asked his old friend and former Deep Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes to fly in and do some of the backing vocals, but unfortunately at this time, due to Hughes's ongoing drug problem, Hughes was in no shape to sing properly. Even though some of Hughes' material was used (Hughes stated that his backing vocals appear in three songs) most of the backing vocals are by Tommy Funderburk and Richard Page.^[6] Once again, keyboardist Don Airey, along with session musicians Claude Gaudette and David Rosenthal, was brought in to do some keyboard parts, but just like with Hughes, much of his material didn't make the final cut of the album.

Release

The album was finally released in late 1989. It reached number 10 on the US Billboard 200 chart,^[2] going platinum.^[4] Adrian Vandenberg was credited as a major co-songwriter, while Steve Vai was credited with "fulfilling all guitar responsibilities" on the album, and appeared in all the band's music videos.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
Robert Christgau	(D)[8]
Martin Popoff	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]

The album was met with mixed reactions, with many saying the album's sound was too far from the original Whitesnake-sound. David Coverdale himself has also seen the album as one of the weakest in the band's catalogue, but has since found somewhat of an appreciation for it. He summed his feeling up by saying:

"For a long time, I felt the album lacked a certain Whitesnake feel in the music, but, countless people thro' the years have assured me that they enjoyed and enjoy the album, nonetheless. So, now I happily accept it as a significant part of the Whitesnake catalogue and to be honest, I enjoy it more now than I did back then. It was an album plagued with challenges and obstacles for me, personally, from many avenues, but hey...nobody said being successful is supposed to be easy!"

Tour

The world tour for the album was the biggest the band had undertaken yet, and included their third appearance and second headlining of the famous Monsters of Rock festival. After the tour Coverdale folded the band and took a break from the music business until late 1991 when he started to work with Jimmy Page, which resulted in the 1993 album Coverdale•Page.

Track listings

All songs written and composed by David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg, except where noted. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Slip of the Tongue"	5:20
2.	"Cheap an' Nasty"	3:28
3.	"Fool for Your Loving '89" (Coverdale, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody)	4:10
4.	"Now You're Gone"	4:11
5.	"Kittens Got Claws"	5:00
6.	"Wings of the Storm"	5:00
7.	"The Deeper the Love"	4:22
8.	"Judgement Day"	5:15
9.	"Slow Poke Music"	3:59
10.	"Sailing Ships"	6:02

20th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Sweet Lady Luck" (Single B-side)	4:37
12.	"Now You're Gone" (US Single Remix)	4:07
13.	"Fool for Your Loving" (Vai Voltage Mix)	4:17
14.	"Judgement Day" (from Live: In the Shadow of the Blues)	5:38
15.	"Slip of the Tongue" (from Live at Donington 1990)	5:41
16.	"Kittens Got Claws" (from Live at Donington 1990)	4:58

20th Anniversary Edition DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fool for Your Loving '89" (Music video)	4:27
2.	"Now You're Gone" (Music video)	4:09
3.	"The Deeper the Love" (Music video)	4:17
4.	"The Deeper the Love" (live, from Starkers in Tokyo)	4:02
5.	"Sailing Ships" (live, from Starkers in Tokyo)	4:06
6.	"Judgement Day" (from Live... In the Still of the Night)	5:22
7.	"Slip of the Tongue" (from Live at Donington 1990)	5:54
8.	"Kittens Got Claws" (from Live at Donington 1990)	5:01

Personnel

Whitesnake

• David Coverdale – vocals
• Steve Vai – guitar
• Adrian Vandenberg – guitar (credited but not recorded)
• Rudy Sarzo – bass
• Tommy Aldridge – drums

Guest musicians

• Don Airey, David Rosenthal, Claude Gaudette – keyboards
• Glenn Hughes, Tommy Funderburk, Richard Page – backing vocals

Production

• Produced and engineered by Mike Clink and Keith Olsen
• Assisted by Noel Golden, Gordon Fordyce, Shay Baby and Allen Abrahamson
• Mixed at Record Plant Studios by Mike Clink and Keith Olsen
• Mastered by Greg Fulginiti at Artisan Sound Recorders
• John Kalodner: A&R

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 1989 Finnish Albums Chart[11] 1 Norwegian Albums Chart[12] 9 Billboard 200 (USA)[2] 10 UK Albums Chart[1] 10 Swedish Albums Chart[13] 11 Swiss Albums Top 100[14] 11 Japanese Oricon LP Chart[15] 12 RPM100 Albums (Canada)[16] 18 German Albums Chart[17] 19 Austrian Top 40 Albums[18] 29 New Zealand Albums Chart[19] 35 Australian Albums Chart[20] 39 Dutch MegaCharts[21] 43 Spanish Albums Chart[22] 99

Singles Year Single Chart Position 1989 "Judgement Day" Mainstream Rock (USA)[3] 32 "Fool for Your Loving" Mainstream Rock (USA)[3] 2 New Zealand Singles Chart[23] 22 Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[3] 37 UK Singles Chart[1] 43 Australian Singles Chart[24] 69 1990 Dutch MegaCharts[25] 19 RPM100 Singles (Canada)[26] 37 "The Deeper the Love" Mainstream Rock (USA)[3] 4 Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[3] 28 UK Singles Chart[1] 35 RPM100 Singles (Canada)[27] 36 "Now You're Gone" Mainstream Rock (USA)[3] 15 UK Singles Chart[1] 31 Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[3] 96

Certifications

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
USA	RIAA	1990	Platinum (+ 1,000,000)[4]
UK	BPI	1989	Gold (+ 100,000)[28]

References

1. "Whitesnake - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
2. "Slip of the Tongue Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
3. "Slip of the Tongue Billboard Singles". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
4. "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Whitesnake". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
5. "Interview with Adrian 2005". Whitesnake Official Site. 2005. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
6. Botts, Tom. "Slip of the tongue - The wagging tongue edition". David Coverdale - The Soldier of Fortune website. Passagen. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
7. Jurek, Thom. "Whitesnake - Slip of the Tongue review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
8. Christgau, Robert. "Whitesnake Consumer Guide Reviews: Slip of the Tongue". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
9. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
10. Neely, Kim (8 February 1990). "Album Reviews: Whitesnake - Slip of the Tongue". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
11. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
12. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
13. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
14. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
15. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
16. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 51, No. 5, December 02 1989". Library and Archives Canada. 2 December 1989. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
17. "Album - Whitesnake, Slip of the Tongue". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
18. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
19. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (album)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
20. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (album)". Australian-charts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
21. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
22. "Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (album)". Spanishcharts.com (in Spanish). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
23. "Whitesnake – Fool for Your Loving (song)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
24. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
25. "Whitesnake – Fool for Your Loving". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
26. "Top Singles - Volume 51, No. 9, January 13 1990". Library and Archives Canada. 13 January 1990. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
27. "Top Singles - Volume 51, No. 17, March 10 1990". Library and Archives Canada. 10 March 1990. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
28. "Search for Artist Whitenake". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 April 2015.

External links

• Official site