Following the EP Snakebite in 1978, Whitesnake released the albums Trouble (1978) and Lovehunter (1979), which included the live staples "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" and "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues".

With the backing of American label Geffen Records, Whitesnake released Slide It In in 1984, featuring the singles "Love Ain't No Stranger" and "Slow an' Easy", which furthered the band's exposure through heavy airplay on MTV.

In 1987, Whitesnake released their eponymous album 1987, their biggest success to date, selling over eight million copies in the United States and spawning the hit singles "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love" and "Still of the Night".

Aside from a few short-lived reunions related to the release of Greatest Hits (1994) and Restless Heart (1997), Whitesnake remained mostly inactive until 2003, when Coverdale put together a new line-up to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary.

[22] Snakebite contained a slowed down cover of Bobby Bland's "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City", which had originally been used by the band to audition bass players.

[28] In July 1978, the band (now known simply as Whitesnake) entered Central Recorders in London to begin work on their first proper studio album with Martin Birch once again producing.

[32] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia stated: "A few unexpected oddities throw the album off-balance here and there, [...] but all things considered, it is easy to understand why Trouble turned out to be the first step in a long, and very successful career.

[43] Sounds gave the record a positive review,[37] while AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia was more mixed, commending many of the songs, but criticizing the band's studio performance as "strangely tame".

Micky Moody and Jon Lord agreed to return, while guitarist Mel Galley, bassist Colin Hodgkinson and drummer Cozy Powell were brought in as new members.

[78] At this time, Coverdale began steering Whitesnake's music more towards hard rock, which was emphasised by the additions of Mel Galley and Cozy Powell, whose past projects included Trapeze and Rainbow, respectively.

Though initially reluctant, Coverdale agreed after a trip to Geffen's offices in Los Angeles, where he came to the conclusion that Whitesnake's studio approach had become "dated" by American standards.

Keith Olsen was brought on board to remix Slide It In, while John Sykes and Neil Murray were tasked with re-recording Micky Moody and Colin Hodgkinson's parts, respectively.

[109] With the band now left as a four-piece (with Richard Bailey providing keyboards off-stage),[110] Whitesnake supported Dio for several shows in the US, after which they toured Japan as a part of the Super Rock '84 festival.

[123][124] John Kalodner also convinced Coverdale to re-record two songs from the Saints & Sinners album, "Here I Go Again" and "Crying in the Rain", which he thought had great potential with better production and arranging.

[134][135] With the help of John Kalodner, Coverdale recruited Adrian Vandenberg and Tommy Aldridge, as well as guitarist Vivian Campbell (formerly of Dio) and bassist Rudy Sarzo (formerly of Quiet Riot) to the band.

[145][146] The record's success was helped by the heavy airplay Whitesnake received on MTV, courtesy of a trilogy of music videos featuring actress and Coverdale's future wife Tawny Kitaen.

[89] Beginning on 30 October 1987,[149] Whitesnake embarked on a headlining arena tour, which was temporarily interrupted in April 1988, when Coverdale had a herniated disc removed from his lower back.

[152][153] When the supporting tour for 1987 ended in August 1988,[154] Coverdale informed the rest of the band that the next album would be written by him and Adrian Vandenberg, who had established a fruitful working relationship together.

[163] Malcolm Dome, writing for Raw, described Slip of the Tongue as "an album full of generally good songs that rarely sinks below the level of adequacy, but only occasionally explodes".

[160] In February 1990, Whitesnake embarked on the Liquor & Poker World Tour, during which the band headlined the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington for a second time (the show was later released as a live album).

[108][184] Prior to the record's release, Coverdale had been planning a European solo tour with a backing band he likened to Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen.

[204] Jerry Ewing, writing for Classic Rock, described it as a "curio" in the band's discography, falling somewhere between a Whitesnake album and a David Coverdale solo record.

[210][211] The new line-up was confirmed in December; Coverdale would be joined by drummer Tommy Aldridge, guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, as well as bassist Marco Mendoza and keyboardist Timothy Drury.

[247] Writing for IGN, Jim Kaz gave the album a favourable review, in which he stated: "A few faux-pa's aside Good to Be Bad has enough shining, mega-rock moments to endear itself to fans old and new.

[274] Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, in which he proclaimed: "Forevermore, despite its tighter arrangements and more polished production is Whitesnake at its Brit hard rock best.

[299] A collection of re-recorded songs from Coverdale's time in Deep Purple, the idea sprang from talks he and Jon Lord had had about a possible Mark III reunion a few years earlier.

[335] Philip Wilding, writing for Classic Rock, gave the record a positive review, in which he stated: "If you want something to listen to while driving with the top down in some steamy Californian clime, then this Whitesnake is hard to beat.

[13] As the band began playing and writing together, their sound developed further into what has been described by music critics as their blues rock period, which encompasses roughly the first five Whitesnake studio albums.

[394] Whitesnake and main lyricist Coverdale have been heavily criticised by the music press for their excessive use of double entendres and sexual innuendos, most egregiously on tracks such as "Slide It In", "Slow an' Easy" and "Spit It Out".

[397] The lyrics along with his stage personality "solidified an image of Coverdale: the preening, tight-trousered lothario", according to The Guardian's Michael Hann, who also noted that although often ridiculed by the media, by 2015 "there's a certain affection for his magnificently preposterous persona".