By Monk
It is an inexorable truth that it is impossible to escape the shadows of the past. What has happened in your past life always comes back to remind, and more often than not haunt. In the case of the music business, this is especially true, with artists constantly reminded of projects in which they previously have been involved, something which often hangs over them like the sword of Damocles, threatening to fall and behead their subsequent careers. But, strong artists choose to embrace their legacies and draw it into their psyche, acknowledging the place their previous projects have played in shaping them into the people they are today…
One such artist definitely, and defiantly, has always been Mike Tramp, who has never been afraid to proudly display the words “the voice of White Lion” on his gig posters, but in a way which is neither regretful nor exploitative. He is an artist who has always stood by the body of work he and everyone with whom he has collaborated over the past four decades has produced, and done so with equal amounts of pride, humility and respect (as I have found on the occasions on which I met and spoken with him). So, it perhaps no surprise that, three decades after the demise of the band that propelled him into the global spotlight, he should revisit those glory years and put a more mature twist on the songs, which is just what he does over the course of this 12 song collection.
As Tramp himself says, this is not him trying to sound like the 26-year old he was when most of these songs were first recorded. Rather, it is him delivering the songs as he sounds now, four decades later, but revisiting them in a way which is much closer to the original feel and groove than he has been interpreting them in the interim years, particularly via his hugely popular acoustic shows.
As you would expect, all the big White Lion pops are here, from the psychedelia-infused re-imagining of ‘Lady Of Valley’ through the ever string-tugging ‘Little Fighter’, ‘Cry For Freedom’, a concrete-heavy re-interpretation of ‘Wait’ to the suitably piano-led laconicism of ‘When The Children Cry’, which in itself takes on so much more poignancy given the years that have passed and events that have taken place since it was first recorded.
This is not the sound of an artist attempting to relive a long-lost youth. It is the sound of one acknowledging his past, and paying due homage, while breathing new life into same, in the process proving that classic songs can remain as vibrant and relevant as the first time you heard them, while being allowed to mellow and mature in the same way us listeners do. Well done Mike for giving the fans what they have wanted for many, many years, but in your own inimitable style.
- ‘Songs Of White Lion‘ is released on Friday 14 April.
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