Audio CD review:
White Lion - The Essential White Lion

White Lion - The Essential White Lion

Band: White Lion Title: The Essential White Lion Rating: Release Date: 2006-04-10 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Wait - White Lion, Bratta, Vito 2: Tell Me 3: When the Children Cry - White Lion, Bratta, Vito 4: Little Fighter 5: Radar Love - White Lion, Kooymans 6: Broken Heart - White Lion, Bratta, Vito 7: Broken Home 8: Farewell to You 9: Warsong 10: She's Got Everything 11: Love Don't Come Easy 12: Living on the Edge

I actually thought it was good In fact, I decided to buy this and the Best of White Lion (1992) at the same time. I wasn't that big of a White Lion fan when I bought this compilation. The only song I had heard was "Little Fighter" before buying these. It turns out that "Living On the Edge" is my favorite White Lion song, which is on this compilation, and not on the other. I also like "Wait", "Tell Me", and "Lights and Thunder" (on other comp. ) in addition to "Little Fighter. " So I definitely am glad that I bought this compilation. I may decide to buy their other albums as well. . . Disgusting! The stupid singer's voice is almost unbearable, the songs are ballad-ish and too pop like. Like another reviewer clearly stated, this is not a metal band, but a pop band in disguise. The only thing that saves this from being a one star album are the songs Tell Me and Wait. Those are actually pretty good songs. But the rest is disgusting. i just don't get how this band got any commercial success in the late 80's world of metal. When The Children Cry has got to be one of the most lame, dumb, idiotic ballads ever. AWORD OF WARNIN': THIS AIN'T NO METAL ALBUM. A pop band, duh! First of all, the singer's voice bugs be to no end. This truly ain't a metal band. If you have positive things to say about it, listen to Little Fighter (a. k. a. Little Father) and you'll hate it as much as I do. It's just annoying! Tell Me and Wait are okay, but the rest is pure pop garbage. There are something like 6 ballads on here, which annoys me. If your'e looking for another band who calls themselves rock, but in reality are just pop, with something like 50 ballads, see Bon Jovi. 5 stars for the music, 1 star for the packaging! I literally grew up with Vito Bratta's melodic playing and Mike Tramp's deep, heartfelt, emotional singing. First of all let me clearly point out that I happen to be one of the biggest White Lion fans in the world. Watching their videos, reading their interviews, interpreting their lyrics were among my most favourite things as far as music was concerned. They do and always will have a very special place in my heart but I find it extremely disappointing to see some greedy idiots stooping so low in order to make a few more bucks off Vito and Mike's back. Yeah sure. This is the music industry. Sure this is how it works blah blah blah. But look at it this way: This is the VERY reason why there's no White Lion today. This is the reason why Vito Bratta -the founder, songwriter and guitar player of the band- walked away from the music business 12 years ago! It was these things that made him so bitter and let him down. And today, after nearly 13 years of White Lion's back-up some so-called 'intelligent' people are releasing The "Essential" (!)White Lion CD. What the hell?! When was the last time it ever crossed your mind that a WL album or song sounded weak because of the poor mix or low production qualities? Vito and Mike worked with some of the best producers of the 80's like Michael Wagener and Richie Zito, both of whom were very skilfull guys. Plus Vito always knew how his music should sound and what it needed in the studio. Thus all four studio albums and the best of compilation have perfect production! But here is an "essential" collection of White Lion with some people trying to milk whatever's left to milk! That is so pathetic! People are complaining about Mike Tramp's solo effort Remembering White Lion, which Mike re-recorded on his own in 1999. They complain cause it doesn't sound like White Lion enough. Well what about this then?! This is basically a rehash of the SAME material which we already heard 15 years ago. At least Mike was bold, independent-minded and intelligent enough to give his HIS version of White Lion instead of cloning his vocal style from the 80's. Don't get me wrong, WL is still the most important band of my life. Vito is, to this day, still my all-time favourite guitar hero. A better musician (when I say "musician" I mean songwriter, not some "machine" who is all about mindless shred and chops!) never came after him in my books. But it breaks my heart to see the very same people still trying to make more $$$ when they don't realise we could all be listening to Vito's amazing playing had it not been for this greedy music industry. Do yourself and the guys WL a favour, and please buy the REAL studio albums Fight to Survive, Pride, Big Game or Mane Attraction. Even The Best of White Lion, released in 1992, came out a year after the band's break-up. But at least it contained two live tracks which made it a worthwhile purchase. Go for those CDs. There's nothing wrong with the music on this album, it's just about the greedy bloodsuckers! Please don't feed them. Same songs, new package... So treat this as the final chapter. You've heard them all before (and if you haven't you definitely should buy this disc), but White Lion are not coming back. It comes with new photos and a bio/where are they now? on the sleeve. Buy it, love it, and then track down some of Mike Tramp's (ex lead singer) new stuff, you won't regret it!. You can see a complete list of all White Lion discography, or go back to the White Lion tabs