“Mike Tramp, the legendary voice of White Lion, closes out his powerful trilogy with Songs of White Lion Vol. III — a heartfelt tribute to the band that defined his legacy. Revisiting ten classic tracks with a fresh energy and seasoned authenticity, Tramp and his trusted bandmates breathe new life into fan favorites like “Fight to Survive” and “Radar Love.” This final chapter isn’t just a re-recording; it’s a passionate reimagining that bridges past and present with integrity and fire”. So the press release tells us…
Three records in you might assume that the third in the series covering songs by a band who only produced four albums would prove the law of diminishing returns, I mean after all the big guns have already been covered on the previous two records surely? Well, listening to this I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
What started out just two years ago with volume one and was always intended as a trilogy has now seen original vocalist Mike Tramp and his band re-work White Lion originals from their four releases between 1985 and 1991, covering tracks from ‘Fight to Survive’, ‘Pride’, ‘Big Game’ and ‘Mane Attraction’.
Now that we have the final installment, lets do some numbers. Out of the 43 tracks from those four albums ‘The Songs of White Lion’ series covers all but 9 of that original output. It discards only ‘Where do we Run’ & ‘Kid of 1000 Faces’ from the debut ‘Fight to Survive’; omits ‘Sweet Little Loving’ & ‘All Join our Hands’ from ‘Pride’; ‘Baby Be Mine’ and ‘Broken Home’ from ‘Big Game’; and from ‘Mane Attraction’ Tramp and co swerve ‘Leave me Alone,’ ‘Its Over’ & ‘Blue Monday’.
Of those omitted songs ‘Sweet Little Loving’ & ‘All Join our Hands’ were played many times live by the original band, but only ‘Where do we Run’ and ‘Baby Be Mine’ were never played as far as I am aware. So there’s a couple of surprise omissions over the course of the new recordings but nothing major. I’d definitely have picked ‘All Join Hands’ though, so for me that’s the most surprising omission.
Volume 3 concentrates on the leftovers, and those leftovers are mainly from ‘Fight to Survive’ and ‘Big Game’ (4 tracks from each) and the final two selections from ‘Mane Attraction’ in ‘Warsong’ and ‘She’s Got Everything’.
I always rather liked ‘Fight to Survive’ I must admit, I still have the Music For Nations vinyl that came out in about 1992 when vinyl was just about to almost disappear. Deadline recently re-released it in that format both in 2019 (on white) and 2023 (on some sort of splatter). I used to laugh in the early 90’s when people would call ‘All the Fallen Men’ a rip off of Neil Young’s ‘Rocking in the Free World’ as ‘Fight to Survive’ of course pre-dates Neil’s song by a good 4 years!
‘Fight to Survive’ always was a rather dark record mainly due to its tuning and lyrical themes so maybe it was just a record out of time. Production-wise it was a little scratchy and so it’s interesting to hear what Mike and co have made of the rest of the record here. The same goes for ‘Big Game’ which also sees four tracks covered. The remainder of this release sees two songs from ‘Mane Attraction’ the band’s 1991 farewell which in my opinion was their weakest release overall.
We open with Big Game’s ‘Dirty Woman’ a song that I honestly don’t think I’ve heard for years (and B-Side to the ‘Cry of Freedom’ single. Listening to it I’m hoping that it’s a forgotten gem that I should be ashamed of neglecting it. I mean it’s the opening song of this third release so should be there to draw you in? What does strike you from the off is that there’s a more refined and mature tone to Tramp’s vocals that like on the previous two releases works rather well. Here you also get a crisp and clear production that really suits the songs. ‘Dirty Woman’ sadly isn’t the best song you’ll (re)hear this year: cliched lyrics and an underwhelming hook just don’t cut it.
‘Warsong’ has almost the complete opposite impact. A little rough and ready when it appeared on ‘Mane Attraction’ here it shines, it’s slicker more thoughtful and actually stands out as one of the best re-workings here. In general though over the series it’s the songs from the ‘underproduced’ debut have really sounded great and that continues with the 4 selections here.
We have of course heard some of the best from that record but here the title track and a song I’ve always been partial to ‘Cherokee’ really cut the mustard. The former takes the foot off the pedal and adds more emotional depth, whilst ‘Cherokee’ (a single prior to the release) is quite simply my favourite here and more than stands the test of time reminding me of Tramp’s early solo work in approach. (I used to love hearing him play that one solo when he lived Downunder). I’d buy the record just for this one!
The other two tracks from that debut are also better than you might remember them ‘All Burn in Hell’ is a heavier number that sounds great here and has a lot of energy. I must admit it was one I’d forgotten about, and ‘In the City’ whilst not quite as heavy, is given a cool measured treatment and has a decent hook.
That just leaves us three tracks from ‘Big Game’ – ‘If My Mind is Evil’, ‘Don’t Say It’s Over’ and the evergreen Golden Earring classic ‘Radar Love’. If I’m completely honest though those first two tracks are lovingly reworked and sound superior to the originals they’d be amongst the few White Lion songs that do very little for me. As I mentioned at the start of the review there’s a couple that didn’t make it on any of the three releases that I’d rate above them.
We sadly lost George Kooymans of Golden Earing earlier in the year so the inclusion of their best known song comes as a fitting reminder of not just how great White Lion’s rather faithful cover was at the time, but how timeless that song is. I’d have it up there with some of Classic Rock’s greatest like ‘More Than a Feeling’ by Boston, ‘Hold The Line’ by Toto and ‘Hold Your Head Up’ by Argent. I love this reworking almost as much as anything on here.
Over the three records Tramp sings in a lower key with a more intimate, more mature tone. There’s no attempt to recapture his youthful range and that in a nutshell is why it works so well. I’d have loved to have taken that even further with a few acoustic or semi-acoustic takes on some of the ballads. That approach gives the songs more emotional resonance but a little less punch, and that’s fine by me.
Mike Tramp is one of the loveliest guys in Rock and Roll and this third release is just what the doctor ordered. I honestly prefer most of the reworkings on these three records to those that got us moving back in the 80’s. That’s some going on the third release in this set. Tramp might be the star but the guitar work of Marcus Nand is spot on too. Like all reworkings there’s a trade off and here the more measured approach comes at the expense of some of the original fireworks.
Available on CD, Vinyl, and digital.
Tracklist:
1. Dirty Woman
2. Warsong
3. Fight To Survive
4. She’s Got Everything
5. In The City
6. If My Mind Is Evil
7. Cherokee
8. All Burn In Hell
9. Don’t Say It’s Over
10. Radar Love
MIKE TRAMP Live Dates:
7/11 – Pickerington, OH @ Picktown Palooza
7/26 – Thalmässing, Germany @ Pyraser Brauerei
8/1 – København N, Denmark @ Rust
8/2 – Rejmyre, Sweden @ Skogsröjet Festival
8/9 – Interlaken, Switzerland @ Brienzersee Rockfestival
8/31 – Pryor, OK @ Rocklahoma
9/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel & Casino
9/20 – West Hollywood, CA @ Whisky A Go Go
9/23 – Millersville, PA @ Phantom Power
9/25 – Foxborough, MA @ Six String Grill & Stage
10/16 – Green Bay, WI @ EPIC Event Center
10/18 – St Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
11/5 – London, United Kingdom @ Underworld
11/7 – Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom @ Hard Rock Hell
11/8 – Buckley, United Kingdom @ The Tivoli
11/9 – Sheffield, United Kingdom @ Corporation
11/11 – Sirevåg, Norway @ Ogna Scene
11/12 – Trondheim, Norway @ HAVET
11/14 – Bergen, Norway @ Madam Felle
11/15 – Hamar, Norway @ Festiviteten Bar & Scene
11/16 – Oslo, Norway @ Herr Nilsen
11/20 – Helsingør, Denmark @ Karosserifabrikken
11/21 – Sønderborg, Denmark @ Sønderborghus
11/28 – Ishøj, Denmark @ Kulturium Ishøj Bibliotek
11/29 – Assens, Denmark @ Tobaksgaarden
