Snakes In Paradise - Step Into The Light

Back in 2000, I was lucky enough to see Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Hammy O, but to be honest what I was really excited about that night was the support band, The Company of Snakes. I longed for the days when Whitesnake were a proper band, and here was Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody and Neil Murray playing as if it were 1980 all over again. I’m pretty sure the singer that night was Robert Hart, but later that year he was replaced by Stefan Berggren. Fast forward quite a few years, and we have what is being mooted as the latest version of the band (which started life as The Snakes, then The Company of Snakes, then M3). But, and this is a huge “but”, it doesn’t contain any ex-members of Whitesnake, which was the whole point, but just Berggren along with (I’m guessing from the names) some other Swedish musicians. There is no doubting that he has a great voice (although his choices on “After The Fire Is Gone” wouldn’t leave one to think that), but this album just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The songs are not worth talking about, often get faded out (a cardinal sin), and while the cover is very reminiscent of classic Whitesnake, that is easily the best thing about the whole album. I just hope no-one goes to see these guys thinking they are going to get a classic ‘Snake experience, as if the album is anything to go by, that’s not what is going to happen. Yuk.