Mike Tramp's White Lion
Last Roar

THE REVIEW

Well, well, well… the Saxon genitive in the band's name is a necessary specification. Indeed, we're not dealing with that ensemble of phenomena, three-quarters Italian-American, led by Mike Tramp (of Danish origin), who went by the name of White Lion. This is merely a band set up by the same blond-maned frontman to rekindle the glories of the past (and perhaps speculate on the good name of the White Lion). Maybe I shouldn’t hide the word 'speculate' behind the veil of parentheses because it's probably indeed a commercial operation that starts from a premise the singer in question is logically aware of: White Lion had, and still have, millions of fans scattered all over the world. And the group had dedicated a final, definitive farewell to them with a song titled 'Farewell To You' in which they sang their goodbye in many languages (from Japanese to Italian), thanking those who had supported and admired them for years. Incredibly, this song, followed by a truly tear-jerking video, becomes a perfect setup for Mike Tramp in 2004 who, after periods in interesting but shadowy bands (see Freaks Of Nature and Capricorn), grabs the opportunity thirteen years after 'Mane Attraction', and decides to offer us twelve tracks randomly picked from the real WL discography.

The recipe is the same, but the taste of this dish, which indeed has much more flavor when consumed hot (i.e., at the first listens), changes a lot, mainly impoverished by the evident absence of a great guitarist like Vito Bratta. This character poured waves of melodic hard rock for over a decade on audiences that recognized his great reputation due to the effort put in to always bring home the bacon. With 'Last Roar', instead, we face lots of melody but poverty in guitars, which fail to play the lion’s part! Bratta alone could fill an album; here it seems simple chords were designed to make the songs flow smoothly, but there was no need. The only thing creating a great vintage/nostalgia effect and giving meaning to this work is Tramp’s voice, always young and warm, only slightly "expanded" by the passing years, which have spared him from a predictable loss of luster. Mike Tramp can take you by the hand and lead you up there, on that eighties wave crest on which White Lion were comfortably resting, opening new world horizons easily with their hard rock.
In this 'Last Roar', rock still reigns, but it's reformulated according to a new and not so effective concept. Unfortunately, commercial or not, this operation opens well with the re-proposal of a track that wasn't very important in WL's career, but one I have always liked a lot. 'All The Fallen Men' is indeed a very apt opener, honestly, I would have chosen the same track. The essence of the album is all here: rhythmic reinterpretation of songs and melody focused on guitars that do not scratch, but caress. Mike’s performance is gritty, he seems like someone wanting to say "Now I’ll show you!" The following 'Warsong' and 'El Salvador' (taken respectively from the last 'Mane Attraction' and the beautiful debut 'Fight To Survive') start showing signs of giving way. I’m especially sorry for the second song, which practically doesn't resemble the original much and, above all, adds nothing interesting, losing that marvelous impact it had as the second last track on the 1988 album. 'Warsong' was a steamroller hard rock track, which is here instead very slowed down. It becomes an almost pompous piece that leaves me quite perplexed. However, it makes sense to include it in the tracklist because even though WL were a politically correct band, they nevertheless criticized some aspects of Americanism (the 'Big Game' cover is wonderful), primarily issues relating to wars.

The work continues to move uncertainly with the syrupy and once wonderful 'Wait', which here transforms into a reflective piece with bland rhythms, searching for footholds (I hope you agree) in the more "spatial" U2 music. A firm tone rise is achieved with 'Little Fighter', well-paced, fun, and engaging as in the past. I would say these first tracks are indeed the most significant, in the sense that from this point the album starts to become boring, predictable, and too light. There are no more jolts, no more roars. The various 'When The Children Cry' (perhaps the most successful WL track, which here seems like an eggplant kept too long in the fridge), 'She's Got Everything' (ugly as sin!), 'Fight To Survive' (limping), 'Lonely Nights' (do what you want here…) and 'Broken Home' become a ball and chain if listened to with detachment and forgetting the nonetheless immediate mental links with the true WL. A different discussion must be made for the closing song. 'Till Death Do Us Part' was a very pompous ballad, baroque, conceived to be an evergreen hit, like GN'R's 'November Rain'. At the time of their last album, however, the guys had truly exaggerated. Here instead the track in question becomes beautiful, slightly faster, and very acoustic. A piece to play on guitar and accompany with light percussion, more or less along the lines of the acoustic version of "I'll Cry For You" by Europe.

Summing up, one can say that 'Last Roar' is a lion’s swipe at the wound the WL had opened in the hearts of their fans. A wound concretized precisely by that melancholic 'Farewell To You'. It took time for the lesion to heal, and Mike Tramp was smart to hit exactly the same spot. Even though it is an album you can sing along with from start to finish, one must not fall into the trap. The nostalgia effect fades after a few listens, leaving room for a longing for White Lion as they once were, those with Vito Bratta, James Lomenzo, and Greg D'Angelo.

Too bad Tramp.