Still Good To Be Bad (Super Deluxe) (4CD/Blu-ray)

Whitesnake returned in 2008 with Good To Be Bad, the band’s 10th studio album and its first in over a decade. Fans embraced the comeback, pushing the album into the Top 10 in the U.K. and flocking to stops on the band’s massive world tour. Today, album tracks like “Best Years” and “Summer Rain” have taken their place in the band’s live repertoire alongside global hits like “Here I Go Again” and “Still Of The Night.”

Whitesnake explores the group’s 2008 return with the upcoming retrospective, STILL GOOD TO BE BAD. Due April 28th, a few days after the original album’s 15th anniversary, the 4-CD/Blu-ray set has two new versions of the original album (one remastered and the other remixed), a selection of rare and unreleased studio and live recordings from the period, and video of electrifying live performances from the Good To Be Bad world tour.

Whitesnake founder and lead singer David Coverdale played an integral role in making the new collection, serving as its executive producer. In the set’s liner notes, Coverdale traces the creative spark for Good to Be Bad back to 2003 when he reconvened Whitesnake for a tour celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary.

“We went out for two months and came back nine months later, and I had a big smile on my face and felt really energized.… I thought—‘Wow! I’ve got thirty years of music here that I can go out and play, and I don’t have to promote a new record…I can just have fun out there.’”

The anniversary ended, but the tour buses kept rolling as Whitesnake remained in demand on the road. As a result, in 2006, the band released Live…In The Shadow Of The Blues, a concert album that also introduced four new studio recordings. Those songs raised fans’ hopes for a new Whitesnake studio album, the first since 1997’s Restless Heart.

In 2007, Coverdale, guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, keyboardist Timothy Drury, bassist Uriah Duffy, and drummer Chris Frazier began recording tracks for Whitesnake’s 10th studio album, Good to Be Bad. Celebrated by both fans and critics, the record was named “Album of the Year” at the 2008 Classic Rock Awards.

STILL GOOD TO BE BAD explores the creative process behind the record with 28 different mixes and alternate versions of album tracks, all but one of them previously unreleased. High points include “If You Want Me,” backed by the Hook City Harlots and Horns and a version of “All For Love” that features a different guitar solo by Aldrich. The collection also includes Evolutions, a disc that of unreleased audio that presents a guide through the genesis of each song, from initial ideas with rough vocal melodies and riffs through to finished demos and full band production versions.

The Blu-ray delivers a variety of Whitesnake video footage, including live tracks from the band’s 2008 European tour, acoustic performances from the era, and an interview by Eddie Trunk. New songs like “Best Years,” “A Fool In Love,” and “Can You Hear The Wind Blow” come to life in these incredible live performances. The Blu-ray also features promo videos for “Ready To Rock” and “Lay Down Your Love.”