With over ten years playing in one of the best British rock bands ever, guitarist Doug Aldrich has cemented his place as one of the greats. With fellow American and guitar partner Reb Beach, only band leader David Coverdale has spent more time in the Whitesnake camp. And this snake continues to slither.

With the imminent release of the CD/DVD Made In Japan, recorded in 2011 at the Saitama Super Arena, came the news that iconic drummer Tommy Aldridge would be returning to the drumseat.

The band is gearing up for another busy year of touring and is due to hit UK shores in May on a dream bill with Journey and Thunder. Aldrich was on hand to give us the lowdown.

Geeks of Doom: Are you excited to have Tommy [Aldridge] back in the band?

Doug Aldrich: Absolutely. Tommy is a legend and a part of Whitesnake history. He’s one of the greats on drums. We have been in WS together and I love working with him. We are all very excited.

Any longtime Metallica fan knows that lead guitarist Kirk Hammett has an obsession with horror films. Many of his guitars are decorated with classic horror imagery, like The Mummy, Frankenstein’s monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, and much more. Hammett is an avid collector of horror memorabilia, so it makes sense that the musician would put together a photo book of all of his very rare collection, which will include commentaries on each piece written by Hammett himself.

Hammett was on a recent episode of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show where he talked about the book, titled Too Much Horror Business, and how he’s spent the last two years so far cataloging for the book his vast collection of vintage horror movie toys and posters from the 1920s to the present.

Whitesnake
Forevermore
Produced by David Coverdale, Doug Aldrich, Michael McIntyre
Frontiers Records
U.S: Release: March 29, 2011 (CD/DVD | CD | MP3)
UK Release: April 18, 2011 (CD | MP3)

In the age of the music video, TV in the late 1980s was swamped with big hair and sexy women; examples of both were provided in ample supply by Whitesnake. The band’s big-haired lead singer, David Coverdale, provided us at the time with some of the best rock songs, sung by one of the greatest ever rock voices and responsible for some of the filthiest lyrics in rock (anyone remember “Slow Poke Music”?), all as his model girlfriend cavorted semi-naked in the videos.

Forevermore is Whitesnake’s 11th studio album and marks a tremendous return to the great songs and songwriting of that time, which got most of us listening in the first place.