Good to Be Bad

Ever since continuing their touring non-stop from 2003 to support the band's 25th anniversary, Whitesnake had signed into new a record contract with Steamhammer/SPV and released their 2006's Live... in the Shadow of the Blues live album, containing four songs which ended up on the album's tracklist.[4][5] That apparently speculated that plans for a new Whitesnake album would be in business after which Coverdale planned to only tour for a short period time with the band, asserting that it would be just "for fun." However, despite his claims, Coverdale decided to plan ahead in fact that the band was coming up with new material to a need for "new meat to bite into" in order keep the touring "interesting".[6]

Recording sessions reportedly began in 2007 at Coverdale's residence in Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Snakebyte Studios), where the previous lineup had recorded 1997's Restless Heart album back in 1995. It was also recorded at Casa DALA and Clear Lake Audio in Los Angeles, California. Coverdale was joined by Doug Aldrich, who recently played with Dio, as they apparently talked about plans for the new album effortlessly, in which the band had felt the need to make music after an extensive touring load. Coverdale expressed his intellect towards Aldrich, previously a touring member of the band since 2003, as the two have a fruitful working relationship with each other, as stated in an official interview:

He is a very gifted individual and very enthusiastic. He also helped engineer & mix the record, so he was involved from the very beginning of the project to the end. That is something that has never happened before. Doug’s a welcome breath of fresh air for me. He doesn’t bring any excess baggage. No questionable agenda and no unnecessary ego to stroke. He just gets on with it. He’s very caring and passionate about what he does, and thank goodness, the passion includes Whitesnake. He was exposed to Whitesnake before we met, or worked together, so, he was familiar with the approach and the creative identities I’d established, but, he brings such an incredible energy and urgency to Whitesnake that it helps stretch the boundaries much further, without compromising the original attitude. He’s an electrifying guitarist, as anyone who has seen him can testify. Very inspiring to me. The other bonus, of course, is that we’ve developed a strong, supportive personal friendship…

After wrapping up ideas for the album, the band rehearsed and started recording with the rest of the current touring members with secondary session guitarist Reb Beach, drummer Chris Frazier, bassist Timothy Drury, and keyboardist Uriah Duffy. Coverdale, Aldrich, and McIntyre produced and mixed the album themselves, while it was mastered by David Donnelly.

The album was slated to be originally released in the summer of 2007. However, the band was still touring extensively throughout the rest of the summer, citing that every major city in the United States headlined the band "every night of the week this season." Despite the delays, Coverdale stated that it was not a big deal for the band to release it at this time, and objected "that there was no real rush for us to finish the project quickly," feeling that he would rather take a year off from touring in attempt to resort the pressure from making the record.[7] This resulted on delays for the recording and production schedule that was meant to be finalized, but it wasn't a major problem to Coverdale. The band tentatively pushed its date ahead to October 2007 and then May 2008. The album was, however, in fact released on April, a month earlier than its anticipated May release date.[8][9] At that same timeframe, Whitesnake reissued their ground-breaking eponymous album in respect of its 20th anniversary in May and June 2007 through EMI.[10]

In December 2007, Tommy Aldridge had left the group due to pursuing "alternate musical adventures".[11][12] Aldridge was replaced Chris Frazier, who previously was called up into the touring lineup to re-record some of the tracks that Aldridge appeared on the four new tracks recorded for the 2006 live album but also played on the full-length album.[12] Aldridge won’t return to the band until January 2013, where the band has also parted ways with Frazier after that.

Good to Be Bad was released on 18 April 2008 in Germany,[13] 21 April in Europe, and 22 April in North America. It peaked at number 7 on the UK Albums Chart, 62 on the Billboard 200, and 8 on the US Independent Albums Chart. In total, the album charted in 19 countries, with Finland and Norway charting the highest at number 5. The album only peaked in the US Billboard Top 200 prior to its release and spent 3 weeks there; however, it also spent 5 weeks in the Independent Albums chart. The record sold more than 74,000 copies worldwide in its first week of release. Nielsen Soundscan initially reported its first week sales in the United States around 28,000 copies as of 8 May 2008. The album only sold around 700,000 copies by 2011, implying the fact that it charted lower in the US from a minor independent label as a factor.[3] Despite earning no sales certification for an independent release, it was considered a comeback album since the release of 1997's Restless Heart as a "David Coverdale & Whitesnake" moniker previously in over a decade.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[16]
AllMusic	[17]
Classic Rock	[18]
The Guardian	[19]
IGN	(8.1/10)[20]
Metal Storm	[21]
PopMatters	[22]
Record Collector	[23]

Overall reviews are mainly positive throughout the course of the album. IGN's Jim Kaz favorably described the album: "a well-worn leather jacket, Good To Be Bad has a warm familiarity about it that just feels right [...] has enough shining, mega-rock moments to endear itself to fans old and new. Without posturing or pretension, it just rocks."[20]

AllMusic's Thom Jurek initially expressed his support for the album stating, "his (Coverdale's) brand of ROCK with chugging outsized guitars is palatable because of his reliance on crafting excellent choruses and hooks. It's a hell of a comeback and ranks right near the top of the Whitesnake catalog," but cited a minor setback, "it seems strange that such a timeless sound has vanished from mainstream rock -- guitars just don't sound like this on records anymore." Despite this, he positively rated the album 4/5.[17]

Classic Rock's Philip Wilding mildly gave out a mixed review on the album's Still... Good to Be Bad re-release, giving it a 3.5 out of 5. He stated about the album: "was something of an unexpected gem for those who had given up on the band returning to their original soul and blues roots. [...] Even when Coverdale's vocal slips off-key, the recording doesn’t spare the singer’s blushes. It’s not ever likely to be the first thing you turn to on this hefty reissue, but it’s guaranteed to be the disc that will keep bringing you back for more."[18]

Similarly, the album's worldwide reissue was ranked 17th by Dig! magazine (part of Warner) among the "Best reissues of 2023: 20 Essential box set and vinyl releases."[24]

On 7 September 2011, Warner Japan released an expanded album version under the name Still... Good to Be Bad exclusive to Japan only. The expanded Japanese reissue consisted of 4 bonus tracks from the previous live album Live... in the Shadow of the Blues with the drum tracks only to be re-recorded by Chris Frazier. It also contained a bonus DVD that featured the band performing at Cutting Room in New York City on 10 April 2008, with two music videos (Ready to Rock & Lay Down Your Love), the whole 2006 live album performance, and an exclusive interview of the album followed by a slideshow that plays the acoustic version of Summer Rain. Another version of this album was reissued on 13 April 2013 with the Japanese tour included.[25][26]

On 24 February 2023, Whitesnake and Rhino Entertainment announced the album reissue to celebrate its original 15th anniversary respectively on remixes and remastered versions on the album in 4-CD and 2-LP formats, along with previously unreleased material with former and current band members' mixes and their demo "Evolutions" released on 28 April 2023. The songs also contained new mixes featuring Hook City Harlots (Cami Thompson, Misty Rae & Jackie Landrum) and "Hook City Horns" (Rick Metz on saxes and Joshua Reed on trumpet), both recorded with the 2023 remix overridden with it. The album cover art is similar to the original release but the track listing and the album title still holds the previous 2011 Japan reissue with bonus tracks taken from their previous live album Live... in the Shadow of the Blues. A 2008-2009 world tour box set was included in Blu-Ray format.[27][28]

In total, Whitesnake has premiered four music videos based on the remixes taken from the mid-2000s through the end of the "Good to Be Bad" tour, songs like "Can You Hear the Wind Blow," "All I Want is You," "Call on Me," "All For Love" and "Lay Down Your Love" (taken from the 2021 Blues Album) were upscaled to 4K quality on the official Whitesnake YouTube page.[29][30]

All songs written by David Coverdale and Doug Aldrich, except where noted.[31]

• "Planet Rock" Article
• Feature from Doug Aldrich's official website
• Coverdale comments on the album on "MetalNews"
• Uriah Duffy Official Website