New old Mike tramp song

[roxxxtar]

Lights And Thunder
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jxiDZ87KN ... FtcA%3D%3D

I mean if you’d never heard the White Lion version, this isn’t bad.
At least he’s cut the acoustic shit out for a minute.

[aznsquirt]

I dig me some White Lion, but the problem for me is that Tramp wrote some great songs and it was felt like it was battling any heavier "edge" that Vito brought.

And that heavier "edge" made a lot of their songs, Lights and Thunder included.

So while it's fundamentally a good song, it's just a weak, sterile version of the original here. Shrug.

[daveg]

I dig me some White Lion, but the problem for me is that Tramp wrote some great songs and it was felt like it was battling any heavier "edge" that Vito brought.

And that heavier "edge" made a lot of their songs, Lights and Thunder included.

So while it's fundamentally a good song, it's just a weak, sterile version of the original here. Shrug.

100% this. I love that song, but sterile is a good description.

[DonJuanDeMarco]

My initial reaction was that Mike has tried for nearly 30 years now to be a solo artist. He says he's keeping rock & roll alive but most of his solo songs are depressing folk songs about feeling sorry for yourself. There are some gems for sure, but they are depressing. Check out Trampthology record for a good overview of his solo career.

Then I think...he's struggling with the demons of his past. Not drugs & alcohol....but just "the past" itself. So he has to revisit White Lion every few years and embrace it by doing stuff like this.

Maybe that is true. Or maybe he just wants something new on the merch table for when he goes on tour?

What are your thoughts, Hobson?

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/89ddee9a-6 ... 15f2929642

[aznsquirt]

My initial reaction was that Mike has tried for nearly 30 years now to be a solo artist. He says he's keeping rock & roll alive but most of his solo songs are depressing folk songs about feeling sorry for yourself. There are some gems for sure, but they are depressing. Check out Trampthology record for a good overview of his solo career.

Then I think...he's struggling with the demons of his past. Not drugs & alcohol....but just "the past" itself. So he has to revisit White Lion every few years and embrace it by doing stuff like this.

Maybe that is true. Or maybe he just wants something new on the merch table for when he goes on tour?

I think, as I hinted at in my last post, Tramp's problem is that at his core he just isn't a rock (let alone metal) guy. His voice/writing style are crooning/dramatic/melodic.

He was a teen pop idol in Denmark and could very easily have ended up in the pop/AOR realm but ended up with White Lion, with Vito's brilliance gave the band just enough "edge" to have rock/metal cred.

Let's not forget their only two real hits were When the Children Cry (the most ballad-sounding ballad ever) and Wait, which is fundamentally a slow-love song. Wait is one of the few examples where the blend of Tramp's songwriting style and Vito's guitar work came together flawlessly.

Lots of other White Lion songs, many of which I like, still suffer from this sort of disjointedness that comes from mashing random guitar riffs into what is fundamentally a pop song.

Freak of Nature is an even better example of this, IMO. They're showing this darker/alternative/grungier image, but the songs, Mike's vocal style, etc are fundamentally the same thing. So you have these generic sounding attempts are "dark" riffs that just kind of get lost in yet another pop song.

So, when Mike talks about "bringing back rock and roll" it's coming from a very strange place, because he's never really been a rocker, haha. But he always feels pressure to harken back/lean on his lineage as "White Lion guy".

I've always been surprised he wasn't one of those guys who got into writing music for other people, where he doesn't have to worry about his image getting in the way.

[poserboy71]

This version is very good and kept my interest.
I've only known Mike Tramp to be a hard working musician and a decent person.
He is doing what is needed to maintain the integrity in his music and persona.
Although he knows he is known for White Lion , he isn't a slave to his past to where he has to look and sound like he once did .

Very refreshing.
If anyone deserves to put his name before his old band's name, it's Mike Tramp.

[dweezil]

I've always been surprised he wasn't one of those guys who got into writing music for other people, where he doesn't have to worry about his image getting in the way.

That kinda surprised me too.
I have to wonder if he was ever offered to write for other people. He probably could have been rolling in cash writing Backstreet Boys tunes.