''Come an' Get It'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by English

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

, released in 1981. It was, at the time, Whitesnake's highest-charting release in the UK, hitting No. 2 and being kept off the top spot by

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English Rock music, rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were call ...

' '' Kings of the Wild Frontier''. " Don't Break My Heart Again" and "Would I Lie to You" were released as singles, the former making the UK Top 20. The album received a CD release on 8 April 1988 in the UK. EMI remastered the album in 2007, adding six bonus tracks, mainly rough mixes.

Cover art

''Come an' Get Its cover art was designed and created by British artist Malcolm Horton. Horton had been contacted by an old friend John Ward, who was at the time road manager for Whitesnake. He explained that the band did not like any of the ideas for the album cover their record label EMI had come up with, so he suggested getting Horton involved. The final artwork shows a white snake trapped inside a glass apple on the front cover; on the reverse, the glass apple is shown shattered, which represents the power of seduction/temptation becoming too strong. The snake's open mouth shows its tongue, which is painted to look like a

vulva In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female sex organ, genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, lab ...

. Horton has addressed the album's "explicit" cover, saying: However, it did not stir as much controversy as the infamous cover of the band's second album, '' Lovehunter'' (1979). The 2007 EMI reissue redesigned the mouth to more closely resemble a regular snake's tongue.

Commercial performance

At its debut, ''Come an' Get It'' debuted at No. 2 in the UK chart, the highest debut in the band's discography ever in their native country, but was prevented from the top spot over

' '' Kings of the Wild Frontier''. It eventually stayed 23 weeks up in the charts. The album charted on 7 countries, with

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

charting on No. 3,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on No. 20,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on No. 41,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on No. 26, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on No. 24. In the US, it only debuted on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

chart at No. 151 and kept showing for 6 weeks, unlike the moderate successes of their previous album 'Ready an' Willing' that formerly stayed for a total of 16 weeks at that time in 1980. The album was certified by BPI within silver status on 27 April 1981, then gold on 16 September 1981, eventually reaching platinum (300,000 copies). The album also received a gold award by

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include prom ...

in 1981.

Touring

The band first embarked on a promotional supporting tour on 14 April 1981. The act headlined

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...

's 1981 " Don't Say No" album at that time. They were then joined by headlining British heavy metal band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

, " World Wide Blitz Tour" alongside other acts with

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

and

Foghat Foghat are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. Their best known song is the 1975 hit "Slow Ride". The band has released 17 studio albums, including ei ...

in July through August, respectively. The tour also included their very first appearance in

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as th ...

performance at

Castle Donington Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport. Etymology The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another su ...

on 22 August 1981 headlined by

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

. The tour would come to an end on 12 December 1981 at Stadthalle Freiburg located at

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, lasting for an approximate five months.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Whitesnake albums 1981 albums Albums produced by Martin Birch Liberty Records albums Polydor Records albums Mirage Records albums Atlantic Records albums