Virtually every
hard rock
band in the universe managed to release a live (usually double) album in the late '70s, and
Whitesnake
were certainly no exception.
Live.... In the Heart of the City
does a pretty good job of collecting the highlights from the band's first four releases, as well as a few
Deep Purple
standards (singer
David Coverdale
, organist
Jon Lord
, and drummer
Ian Paice
are all
Purple
alumni).
favorites such as
"Walking in the Shadow of the Blues,"
"Ready an' Willing,"
and
"Fool for Your Loving"
heat up the crowd, but it's the extended version of
"Lovehunter"
that gets things boiling, thanks to
Micky Moody
's extended slide guitar solo. The audience participation on
"Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City"
provides another thrilling moment, but the band truly brings the house down with a last encore of
's
"Mistreated"
-- a
blues
of monstrous proportions that becomes an 11-minute catharsis for
Coverdale
. [The 2007 two-disc reissue included bonus cuts.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia