An album one has to respect.
Originally released in 1984 the recording process of this album was financed by "Electra Records", a company which at the time had one power seller under the name of "Motley Crue". This is the debut album by renowned American glam metal band "White Lion". However just when the album was completed "Electra" dropped the band replacing them with an up and coming quartet known as "Dokken". Never the less "JVC" showed great interest in White Lion and the album was released in Japan.
Musically this album goes way beyond the glam metal sound of its successor "Pride". This is hard rock or classic metal as some would like to refer to; No "hair metal" hits here, rather solid rock hymns. Mike Tramp's music pays a tribute to the modern urban life with songs such as "In the City" and the title track. In addition, tunes such as "Cherokee" and "All the fallen men" stand as homage to the predecessors and heroes of the American nation.
Nothing glamorous, nothing pretentious here; overall a very dark, often mid tempo album whose choruses deliver the pain, agony and self examination of the average modern citizen.
Weather you prefer "poser rock" or straight forward "heavy metal" you can invest confidently on this release; this could possibly be the most substantial American hard rock album of the 80s.
It is quite ironic the least successful release in White Lion's multi-platinum history stands out as their most diachronic and inspirational album.
.
Metal Truly Survives Through Epic Albums Like This One
One of the bands that truly added something new and vibrant to the metal scene was White Lion. The year was 1985, heavy metal was on a major up-swing, and many, many bands came out of the woodwork to get a piece of the pie. Led by Mike Tramp's melodious and gritty, pretty-boy-street-kid vocals and Vito Bratta's amazingly talented, virtuoso guitar wizardry, White Lion came on fast and rose to popularity quickly. They were young and spoke to a youthful crowd but also had a heavy stock of mature songs that were focused on everything from love to war to social problems and they even proved ahead of their time by giving credence to the Germanic and Norse myth-ethos that has now turned into a major musical genre all its own. Every pre- and post-adolescent kid really into the metal scene rocked to the title song and whole-heartedly bought into the guts and glory of fighting to survive (even if it was only through the hallways of your local middle school). Today this album still carries its weight muscle-bound. Songs like "Fight to Survive," "All the Fallen Men," "All Burn in Hell," and "El Salvador" stand up to any of the biggest bands' hardcore hits. What I especially appreciate about this cd is the fact that there's not one throwaway song on it. Vito Bratta has frills and sidebars and fret-fireworks in every single song. His opening trills on "Fight to Survive" and his Spanish guitar intro to "El Salvador" make metal shredders go nuts every time they hear them, whether for the first or hundredth time. The two ballads ("In the City" and "The Road to Valhalla") are hard rock worthy, close to epic. The other pop-metal songs ("Cherokee," "Where Do We Run," and "Kid of 1000 Faces") probably don't deserve to be called such since they're honed to such a sharp edge. Although Hauke's production (probably admittedly with limited funds) caused the band to always desire re-recording (a much better sound quality for three of these songs can be found on Rhino Records' _White Lion: The Definitive Rock Collection_), the rhythm guitar crunch that came out of it was part of what kept them from sounding like everyone else playing metal at the time. And as camp as it might look now, every kid who saw the seemingly dead metal warrior's body draped over the feet of a statuesque (literally) and brave-sorrowing lion got chills up his spine. Mike Tramp has currently reformed WL, but he's the only original in the band. If you want the best of the best of White Lion, or just some awesome early 80s metal, get this one. And get it now. It's getting harder and harder to find. One thing is for sure: If you're a heavy metal fan and miss this one, you've let a gem fall from your grasp.
.
Metal Truly Survives Through Epic Albums Like This One
One of the bands that truly added something new and vibrant to the metal scene was White Lion. The year was 1985, heavy metal was on a major up-swing, and many, many bands came out of the woodwork to get a piece of the pie. Led by Mike Tramp's melodious and gritty, pretty-boy-street-kid vocals and Vito Bratta's amazingly talented, virtuoso guitar wizardry, White Lion came on fast and rose to popularity quickly. They were young and spoke to a youthful crowd but also had a heavy stock of mature songs that were focused on everything from love to war to social problems and they even proved ahead of their time by giving credence to the Germanic and Norse myth-ethos that has now turned into a major musical genre all its own. Every pre- and post-adolescent kid really into the metal scene rocked to the title song and whole-heartedly bought into the guts and glory of fighting to survive (even if it was only through the hallways of your local middle school). Today this album still carries its weight muscle-bound. Songs like "Fight to Survive," "All the Fallen Men," "All Burn in Hell," and "El Salvador" stand up to any of the biggest bands' hardcore hits. What I especially appreciate about this cd is the fact that there's not one throwaway song on it. Vito Bratta has frills and sidebars and fret-fireworks in every single song. His opening trills on "Fight to Survive" and his Spanish guitar intro to "El Salvador" make metal shredders go nuts every time they hear them, whether for the first or hundredth time. The two ballads ("In the City" and "The Road to Valhalla") are hard rock worthy, close to epic. The other pop-metal songs ("Cherokee," "Where Do We Run," and "Kid of 1000 Faces") probably don't deserve to be called such since they're honed to such a sharp edge. Although Hauke's production (probably admittedly with limited funds) caused the band to always desire re-recording (a much better sound quality for three of these songs can be found on Rhino Records' _White Lion: The Definitive Rock Collection_), the rhythm guitar crunch that came out of it was part of what kept them from sounding like everyone else playing metal at the time. And as camp as it might look now, every kid who saw the seemingly dead metal warrior's body draped over the feet of a statuesque (literally) and brave-sorrowing lion got chills up his spine. Mike Tramp has currently reformed WL, but he's the only original in the band. If you want the best of the best of White Lion, or just some awesome early 80s metal, get this one. And get it now. It's getting harder and harder to find. One thing is for sure: If you're a heavy metal fan and miss this one, you've let a gem fall from your grasp.
.
White Lion's best album - finally remastered!
Fight to Survive didn't make much of a splash when it was released in 1984. It's a shame that White Lion's debut album is so hard to find, because it may well be their best release. It wasn't until 3 years later that their second album, Pride, brought them the attention they deserved.
Fight to Survive is a solid album and a great example of the kind of melodic hard rock/heavy metal that was so powerful in the mid to late 1980's. It features the single Broken Heart, which was re-recorded for White Lion's final album Mane Attraction. Broken Heart is probably my favorite White Lion song. Other standout tracks include the title track and El Salvador. Singer Mike Tramp and guitarist Vito Bratta worked quite well together on this album, and managed to record some very melodic songs with great guitar hooks and smart lyrics. Like later releases, which always had at least one song that just didn't seem to fit (Dirty Woman from Big Game is a good example); Fight to Survive's only dud is the song Kid of 1000 Faces. That one song aside, I give White Lion's debut album a very high rating.
This is a must-have album for all White Lion fans, as well as fans of the whole 80's hard rock/hair metal scene. It's one of those albums that totally captures the spirit of that era.
NOTE: For the longest time, the only way to get this great album was to buy an expensive Japanese import. Fortunately Fight to Survive was reissued by AOR Heaven in 2005. This is good enough news all by itself, but the best news is that the album was digitally remastered under the supervision of Mike Tramp himself. After hearing both the old and new releases, I can tell you the difference in sound quality is very noticeable. The reissue also features 8 bonus live tracks. They're a nice enough addition I suppose, but they're not all from the Fight to Survive era (only two songs are from this album), so I can't really see how it made sense to include them here. Still, the remastering alone makes the reissue a more than worthwhile purchase, especially for those who may have missed the album the first time around.
.
Great debut!
Mike Tramp's voice is enjoyable, the rythym section is tight and Vito Bratta is one of the best guitarists ever. This is one of the best debuts ever in my opinion. This is one of the most talented "hair" bands ever.
1. Broken Heart- 10/10 A great opener with an awesome soft section and a greta melodic track overall. The riff is very catchy as is the chorus. Vito Bratta's solo is amazing as he throws in some great tapping and an awesome fast trill at the end.
2. Cherokee- 8. 5/10 A great solid 80's metal track. Another very catchy song with more good vocals and a great riff. Some cool sound effects too. Another awesome solo from Vito with some more tapping, harmonics and some good shredding too.
3. Fight to Survive- 10/10 A great guitar intro from Vito. An awesome crunchy riff from Vito that sounds like something eEdie Van Halen would be proud of. Some great bass work by james Lomenzo on this track too. Vito's harmonics scream too. Great vocals from Mike Tramp on this one. A great solo by Vito does some very cool stuff with the whammy bar aswell as some cool palm muted lines.
4. Where Do We Run- 10/10 A great melodic song. This song has a very catchy riff and a great chorus. Vito Bratta's solo is out of this world as he shreds away and adds a lot of emotion to it. Vito's second solo that fades out at the end is as good as his first.
5. In the City- 10/10 An excellent ballad with some great vocals. Vito's guitar tone is perfect. The chorus is excellent too. Another out of this world solo from Vito who shreds away and adds some great whammy bar lines and some more excellent harmonics.
6. All the Fallen Men- 10/10 Another awesome melodic song. Vito's riff and tone are perfect again. Mike Tramp's vocal performance is excellent too. Some great lyrics too and the chorus is excellent again. An awesome heavy bridge too that leads into another god like solo. Vitos shredding and tapping is amazing as this solo is very Randy Rhoads influenced.
7. All Burn in Hell- 10/10 One of the best songs on the album. Tramp's vocals fit this song perfect. The chorus in this song is one of the best ever! Vito's tone and riffs are awesome once again. The heavy bridge is pure metal too. Vito's solo is excellent too with all of the palm muted lines, whammy bar dives, finger tapping and harmonics you need. This is 80's metal at it's best!
8. Kid of 1000 Faces- 10/10 A great heavy riff on this one. Another great chorus. Most of the track sounds like Van Halen to my ears. An awesome short solo from Vito who makes the most of the limited time given for this solo. Great drumming in this one too.
9. El Salvador- 10/10 An awesome intro with Vito trading off with himself between acoustic and electric guitar before bursting into another great crunchy riff. This track is a great fast paced song with a perfect guitar tone. Mike Tramp's vocals are excellent too. Another awesome chorus too. Vito's solo is amazing again as he shreds all around the neck but with a ton of feel and his playing is very lyrical.
10. The Road to Valhalla- 10/10 This is another excellent song. The song is a traditional ballad for the first 3 minutes before the electric guitar comes in. A great solo from Vito again who plays with a ton of feel.
This is my favorite White Lion album. Vito's guitar performance on this album is one to go down in history. Mike Tramp's vocals are great and the whole band is very tight. This is also probably White Lion's heaviest and rawest album. This is without a doubt one of the best hair metal albums ever in my opinion. The band is
Mike Tramp- Vocals
Vito Bratta Guitar
Greg D'Angelo- Drums
James Lomenzo- Bass.
You can see a complete list of all White Lion discography, or go back to the White Lion tabs
|
