Slide It In

Slide It In is Whitesnake’s sixth studio album recording released on 30 January 1984 in Europe, 23 March 1984 in Japan, and 16 April 1984 in the United States. The album marked as shifter change and style to their sound and embarking into a more glam sound while retaining sexual-oriented innuendos in their lyrics. It marked the first time the band had released the album through a major record label, Geffen.

Recorded in Musicland located in Munich, Germany, it was led by ex-Deep Purple’s frontman, David Coverdale, guitarist Mel Galley & Micky Moody, bassist Colin Hodgkinson, former Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell, and keyboardist Jon Lord (also from Deep Purple with Coverdale). Former Thin Lizzy guitarist, John Sykes and bassist Neil Murray replaced the intended part tracks for the American Mix.

In perspective, the album was recorded in 1983 with Eddie Kramer, who only produced two songs (Guilty of Love as a single & Gambler as a B-Side); however, he was having issues with the commitments received towards the recording, leading to his dismissal. Martin Birch replaced Kramer and produced the album that only went out in Europe, the United Kingdom, and Japan (released in March 1984), respectively, Birch’s UK Mix. The album met satisfying expectations; however, it was faced with criticism, commonly with the production and the mix that was soundly “flat.” Geffen Records, on the other hand, requested the band to release it with the mix sounding more “American,” delaying the album’s debut in the US. This led producer Keith Stone to remix the band’s album and replace the guitar and bass tracks with John Sykes and Neil Murray, respectively, issuing a US release later in approximately 3 months. It also marked Jon Lord’s final performance with Whitesnake at Stockholm, Sweden for a “Måndagsbörsen” Swedish TV show to rejoin Deep Purple, with the US version of the album released on the same date.

It was their fourth Top 10 album in the UK, peaking at number 9, while the band only peaked at number 40 in the Billboard Top 200 charts. It was the very first album to reach the US certification listing, selling 500,000 copies and certifying Gold on 15 April 1986, finally getting the market to help open up for Whitesnake to undertake their breakthrough album released in 1987. In that same year, the album re-entered the US Top 200 charts due to the success of their regarded eponymous “most successful” multi-platinum album, thus boosting their sales from Gold to Double Platinum (selling 2,000,000 copies).

The US Mix of the album consists of a different track listing as follows (Excluding the Japanese Bonus Track: “Need Your Love So Bad”). The 2019 re-release (Slide It In 35th Anniversary; The Ultimate Edition) has a different track listing.

US Mix
1. Slide It In
2. Slow an' Easy
3. Love Ain’t No Stranger
4. All or Nothing
5. Gambler
6. Guilty of Love
7. Hungry for Love
8. Give Me More Time
9. Spit It Out
10. Standing in the Shadow

2019 Re-Release (US & UK Mix Remasters)
1. Gambler
2. Slide It In
3. Slow an' Easy
4. Love Ain’t No Stranger
5. Give Me More Time
6. Standing in the Shadow
7. Hungry for Love
8. All or Nothing
9. Spit It Out
10. Guilty of Love
11. Need Your Love So Bad (Japanese bonus track only)