VANDENBERG’S MOONKINGS, whose output we have previously described as “Glam-metal, dramatically performed, with just the right amount of pedigree, quality and efficiency…” have revealed a stripped back version of Whitesnake’s Vandenberg/Coverdale composition “Sailing Ships” [from the Slip of the Tongue album.]
The new interpretation comes from new record ‘Rugged and Unplugged’ which was released 23rd November 2018 via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group.
Rugged and Unplugged is a beautifully stripped back acoustic album which features songs from across Adrian Vandenberg’s career and provided the opportunity to strip down big orchestral arrangements on songs such as ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ and ‘Breathing’ to focus on Vandenberg with acoustic guitar and the voice of Jan Hoving.
Like the 2017 album ‘MK II’ (reviewed here) it was produced by Vandenberg himself and recorded between Vandenberg’s home studio and Jan Hoving’s farm.
We had a listen to Sailing Ships:
This is an intrinsic and clear reading of the song, with beautifully woven sail-makers fabric and luster-filled finger-picking plus the gravitas of some outstanding vocals.
The song is so good, in fact, that Vandenberg and Coverdale can be excused for appropriating the slow tempo chords found in “Stairway to Heaven” and recorded eighteen years earlier. Whichever way you listen to this — and we suggest you lay on a coach by the waves — it is seraphic!
Check out the acoustic/covers album here: Rugged and Unplugged