After waiting for his daughter to recupurate, and severing ties with the band's management, record companies and publishers, Coverdale began putting Whitesnake back together. Micky Moody and Jon Lord agreed to return, while guitarist Mel Galley, bassist Colin Hodgkinson and drummer Cozy Powell were brought in as new recruits. Coverdale completed the band's new album with Martin Birch in October 1982 at Battery Studios in London. "Saints & Sinners" was released on 15 November 1982. It reached number nine in the UK and charted in eight additional countries. In the UK, the record was certified silver. Chas de Whalley, writing for "Kerrang!", gave the album a lukewarm review. Save for two tracks ("Crying in the Rain" and "Here I Go Again"), he characterized the rest of the record as generally mediocre. Conversely, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, in a retrospective review, hailed "Saints & Sinners" as Whitesnake's "best album yet". By the time the record was released, Coverdale had signed a new recording contract with American label Geffen Records, who would handle all of Whitesnake's future releases in North America. In Europe, the band remained with Liberty (a subsidiary of EMI), while in Japan, they signed with Sony. A&R executive John Kalodner, who had been a long-time fan of Coverdale's, convinced David Geffen to sign the band. Meeting Geffen and Kalodner had a major impact on Coverdale and his future vision for Whitesnake. He explained: "David Geffen said to me 'If you can make five dollars profit, why not 50? If 50, why not 500? Why not 50,000, why not five million?'" Coverdale soon set his sights on breaking through in North America with Kalodner advising him. Meanwhile, Whitesnake began a supporting for "Saints & Sinners" on 10 December 1982 in the UK.