Love Ain't No Stranger
| "Love Ain't No Stranger" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Whitesnake | ||||
| from the album Slide It In | ||||
| B-side | "Slow An' Easy", "Slide It In" and "Guilty of Love" | |||
| Released | January 1984 (UK), April 1984 (US) | |||
| Format |
7" single 12" single | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 4:14 | |||
| Label |
Liberty Records Geffen | |||
| Writer(s) | David Coverdale, Mel Galley | |||
Whitesnake singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Love Ain't No Stranger" is a power ballad by the English hard rock band Whitesnake, and is taken from the band's US-breakthrough album Slide It In. The song charted at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart[1] and 34 on the US Mainstream rock charts[2]
The song starts with keyboardist Jon Lords keyboards with emotional vocal delivery from singer David Coverdale. The song keeps a slow tempo until the guitars and drums kick in when the song tempo drastically changes and becomes a hard driving rock song. The slow tempo "ballady" section doesn't emerge again until the very middle and very end of the song. According to the 25th Anniversary Edition booklet of Slide It In, the keyboard intro was originally written for guitars, but was eventually switched to keyboards. Also, Coverdale tells in the edition's booklet that drummer Cozy Powell once told Coverdale that "Love Ain't No Stranger" was the best track he'd ever played drums on.
The song was very well received and has been a Whitesnake live staple for many years. Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic.com described the song as "one of the decade's greatest power ballads, bar none."[3]
A music video was also made for the song, which depicts the band performing the song at a mock concert, with scenes of Coverdale running after an unknown woman. At the end of the video, Coverdale climbs on to a truck and hugs the woman, but as he turns around he sees that the woman has switched and that the woman he was after is standing on the ground. As the truck, along with Coverdale on it, starts to drive away Coverdale stares at the woman as she disappears into the mist.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Love Ain't No Stranger" | David Coverdale, Mel Galley | 4:14 |
| Liberty Records-version | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 2. | "Slow An' Easy" | Coverdale, Micky Moody | 6:09 |
| 3. | "Slide It In" | Coverdale | 3:20 |
| Geffen Records-version | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 2. | "Guilty of Love" | Coverdale | 3:18 |
Personnel
- David Coverdale – lead vocals, percussion
- John Sykes – guitars
- Mel Galley – guitars, backing vocals
- Neil Murray – bass
- Jon Lord – keyboards
- Cozy Powell – drums