211 - Whitesnake Ready An' Willing 1980

David Coverdale's blues metal machine Whitesnake seemed rudderless as the new decade creaked open. Metal was coming back big, but then again, this was not a metal band. But if metal wasn't yet in the cards, it was time to get classic. Aiding and abetting that cause was the acquisition of light Deep Purple touch Ian Paice to the fold, the band now including three ex-Purple partners (Paice, Lord, and Coverdale) amongst a total army of six Snakes. David Coverdale reiterates the importance of Ian Paice to the band. "Ready An' Willing... I'll tell you exactly what happened there. Paicey was involved, the drummer, and that was the first time the band really started to sound like it did in my head. The rhythm section was distinctly shaky before that. Whitesnake was always a live entity, so the songs would translate not very good on record, but it was a great live show. That was the strength of it. But Ready An' Willing was the first time I started to get it right. And I put a great deal of the onus on the fact that Ian Paice had joined. Because he is a very secure, very dynamic and very powerful drummer. I think the first half of the album is the beginning of what it should have sounded like."