Beginning with "Slide It In", Whitesnake's sound developed more into hard rock, with Coverdale explaining: "I wanted the blues element in the band's identity to 'rock' more." Neil Murray would later attribute this shift partially to John Kalodner, who began pushing Whitesnake in a heavier, more guitar-based, "American-sounding" direction. John Sykes also played a pivotal role in Whitesnake's evolution, with Murray remarking how Sykes "wanted the band to be more American style". The band's self-titled album saw Whitesnake moving towards a sound Coverdale described as "leaner, meaner and more electrifying". This later period of Whitesnake's career has been described as hard rock, heavy metal, and glam metal. Coverdale would later admit that by the late 1980s, Whitesnake had become a "heavy metal comic", stating: "If people confuse Whitesnake with Mötley Crüe or any of these things, looking at the pictures [...] you can undestand why." Musically though, Coverdale has rejected the notion that Whitesnake were ever a heavy metal band, stating: "I've never embraced that label on my music, other than I'm really loud. All of my songs have emotional and physical content. It has nothing to do with the emotionless metal."