# Flesh & Blood (Whitesnake album)

Flesh & Blood is the thirteenth studio album by British hard rock band Whitesnake, released on 10 May 2019 through Frontiers Records. A music video was released for the lead single "Shut Up & Kiss Me". The album reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart and topped the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart, selling 4,894 copies on its first release.

## Background

David Coverdale stated that the band "put everything we had and more into making this album". U.S. musician Joel Hoekstra, who joined Whitesnake in 2015, co-wrote six of the album's tracks with Coverdale. As well, U.S. musician Reb Beach co-wrote five of the tracks. The riff of song "Gonna Be Alright" was one of Coverdale's unused ideas during the recording of Coverdale–Page (1993).

## Touring

The band embarked on a supporting tour in April with dates in North America, followed by a European tour over the summer. However, part of the world tour including Australia, New Zealand and Japan was delayed due to band members health issues and the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Classic Rock | |
| Metal.de | 6/10 |
| Metal Hammer (Germany) | 6/7 |
| Rock Hard | 8/10 |
| The Rockpit | (favorable) |
Philip Wilding of Classic Rock felt that listeners "hoping that the new Whitesnake album record will recall Coverdale's smoky, Lovehunter past should look away now", but for those that "want something to listen to while driving with the top down in some steamy Californian clime, then this Whitesnake is hard to beat". Thomas Kupfer for Rock Hard argued "although it doesn't belong in the ranks of the really great classics in the band's canon, it is a very good hard rock album that certainly knows how to set a tone". Mark Diggins of The Rockpit considered it is possibly the band's best album in decades.
Loudwire named it one of the 50 best rock albums of 2019.

## Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
| Whitesnake David Coverdale – vocals Reb Beach – guitar Joel Hoekstra – guitar Michael Devin – bass guitar Tommy Aldridge – drums Michele Luppi – keyboards, backing vocals Technical Michael McIntyre – engineering & recording Christopher 'Muffin Man' Collier – mixing & mastering Scott Hull – mastering (at Masterdisk, New York) | Design Hugh Gilmour – artwork & design Management David Coverdale – executive producer Reb Beach, Joel Hoekstra, Michael McIntyre – producer Tom Gordon & Jeremiah Wynn – assisted producer |

## Charts

The vinyl LP charted on the UK Official Vinyl Albums Chart at the 5th position.
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 86 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 13 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 22 |
| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) | 26 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 51 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 4 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 64 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 3 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) | 12 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 61 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 11 |
| Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) | 20 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) | 13 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) | 31 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 2 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 20 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 9 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 2 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 7 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 131 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) | 6 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 5 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) | 22 |
| US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) | 5 |