Like many ( I suppose) I became a fan of Whitesnake in the 80's, right after their "Slide It In" album. I've never listened to their stuff from earlier than that, other than the original version of "Here I Go Again." Been listening to the 2-cd "Whitesnake-Gold" release from a few year back, the first disc is the early stuff and it is quite good, little more blusier, not blues rock IMO but a different sound than what made them popular.

I like early Whitesnake more than later versions.

When Whitesnake hit big in 1987, Geffen acquired the rights to their back catalog and reissued the albums on CD.

I got many of them and there are some great songs to be had.

"Long, Long Way From Home" is one of them.

I always look at Whitesnake in 3 eras:
The Blues 1978-84
The Metal 1984-90
The reunion eras 1994-97 and 2002-now
All are great, but I went back and played the remastered albums from 1978-84 this year and they are wonderful, wonderful albums. Absolute quality playing by tasteful, un-flashy musicians who knew what to do and why. The guitar tandem of Moody/Marsden was so damn good. I think "Lonely Days, Lonely Nights" is breathtaking.

Imo , the "old" Whitesnake is far superior . If you like what you heard so far you should look into the EMI remasters . They are excellent . The sound is great , they all have bonus tracks and nice booklets . You would probably get the best prices on Amazon UK . There is also an inexpensive and excellent 3cd box set that covers from the beginning up to I think "Restless Heart" , with a couple of Coverdale/Page songs thrown in . The "Live...In The Heart Of The City" is one of the all time great live albums . You cant go wrong with "Lovehunter" , "Saints & Sinners" , "Come An' Get It" or "Trouble" , they are all great albums.

I think that the original version of "Fool For Your Loving" from the Ready An' Willing album is superior to the remake they did with Steve Vai a decade later on Slip Of The Tongue.

Conversely I prefer the re-recordings of "Here I Go Again" and "Crying In The Rain" from the Whitesnake album to the originals that appeared on the Saints & Sinners album.

I always liked how, on the early albums, the ended their liner notes with "We wish you well."