WHITE LION – Return Of The Pride

It’s been well over a decade since the last White Lion album was released. Now, Mike Tramp is back with a new band and new songs. Return Of The Pride features these songs:

1. Sangre de Cristo
2. Dream
3. Live Your Life
4. Set Me Free
5. I Will
6. Battle At Little Big Horn
7. Never Let You Go
8. Gonna Do It My Way
9. Finally See The Light
10. Let Me Be Me
11. Take Me Home (European Bonus Track)

It’s very brave of the band to invoke the word “pride” in the title, isn’t it? The word is now synonymous with White Lion. It’s also synonymous with Vito Bratta, but (of course) he isn’t featured on this recording. The album features appearances by:

Mike Tramp – Vocals
Jamie Law – Guitar
Claus Langeskov – Bass
Henning Wanner – Keyboards
Troy Patrick Farrell – Drums

The album isn’t bad, but it also isn’t phenomenal. Return Of The Pride is a long time coming. Mike Tramp’s voice sounds both familiar and gravely. That isn’t necessarily a good thing. The songwriting really doesn’t impress, but tunes like “Finally See the Light” and “Live Your Life” are winners. Almost nine minutes in length, “Sangre de Cristo” blows every other album track out of the water. It’s long, dark, and melodic – exactly what you want from a Glam band during reinvention mode. Above all else, the track has depth – which is appropriate for such an album. It’s pretty clear Tramp wants to be taken seriously with both his music and career aspirations.

Return of the Pride is above average – just don’t expect to hear anything as strong as “Wait.”