Vito lives about 15 minutes away from me in SI. I've seen his house. It's modest but nice. Heard it's the same house he lived in as a kid. My guess is Vito was bitter with the music business after the grunge takeover and I don't blame him. Imagine spending countless hours honing your craft to become a worldwide guitar hero and then, in an instant, playing that well becomes uncool. It would be like telling Mike Trout hitting homers is lame, go for bunt singles. The music business sucks all sorts of private parts. Always has.
I must be a masochist but I enjoy it when Pete and Rich give me a kick in the cajones for a band that I completely ignored or dismissed 'back in the day' and that they convince me to go listen to now. Listening to album tracks as the show was watched (and occasionally paused so some tracked could be heard online) once again showed me a band that I now will enjoy diving into their records as if they are new. Thanks, Rich and Pete, for discussing some bands in the 80s that were too quickly dismissed - at least by this listener - because of MTV being my only familiarity. Hope to see you two do some more of those bands. Great show!
@@MetalAsylumNJ Even though Tangier did only two (official) Albums with an early self release Album in the early mid 80’s, but they are fantastic Metal Hard Rock Blues with little touches of Glam and Zeppelin with the great Andy Johns Producing you and Pete should review them 👍🏻😉
Please, do Great White, who was a pretty damn good band for the era. It's a shame that they're primarily remembered for the RI fire, since they put out a lot of great music in the 80's and 90's.
1) Pride 2) Fight to Survive 2) Big Game 4) Mane Attraction. Vito Bratta one of the underrated guitar heroes. Hello Rich, good to see you. Saw the Kamelot ranking again, then heard those old Conception albums. Best norwegian band, not screaming...
Thank you guys for your ranking of White Lion’s studio albums!! It was interesting to know what you picked!! My favorite White Lion albums are : 1.Fight to Survived 2.Pride, 3.Mane Attraction and 4.Big Game. 🎼🎤🎸🎵🥁
Great Job Pete. Thanks a lot. My Favorite albums are : 1. Mane Attraction 2. Pride 3. Fight to survive 4. Big Game 5. Return of the Pride Also really like some of Mike s Solo stuff. His First 3 Solo CDs are really good stuff. Can you do a album ranking of SURVIVOR please? Would be a tough one ... take care and Greetings from Germany
White Lion - Great 80s band ! Very underrated! I like the first album Fight to Survive, Very raw sounding album! All of the other albums were good as well.
One thing that always stood out for me about them was that two of their biggest hits were social conscious songs (When the Children Cry-Famine/war and Little FIghter0 about a Green Peace tug boat that was sunk by eco terrorist). In that era that was a no no.
Yes, good thing songs like "We Are the World," "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and "Stars" didn't come out in that era. What a flop Live Aid would've been too.
Vito was a phenomenal player. As soon as I heard "Wait" on the radio in '88, I went and got the cassette (remember those?) and he instantly replaced EVH as my favorite player. Vito's solos are so intricate. I see so many people on UA-cam copying EVH stuff note for note, but you can count how many can nail Vito's stuff on one hand, and still have fingers left over. One time, I wrote in to Dee Snider's "House of Hair" radio show asking "Whatever happened to Vito Bratta?" His reply: "No lie! Vito was so disgruntled with the way rock music was heading, that he put down his guitar and vowed never to play again." Vito claimed to have injured his wrist, but I never bought that. If he loved playing so much, he would have learned to play left handed. Other people have done that. Vito seems like a quiet, laid back guy who doesn't like crowds. He apparently has no desire to get another band and record albums. But it's a shame to just waste that talent. He still has several fans just hoping for a comeback. I say, if he just uploaded a 5 minute video once a week, or every two weeks, of him just noodling around on guitar in his house, that would be more than enough to satisfy us. It sucks that we can't get new material from Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen because they're dead. Vito is still around (as of Oct. 2021). We can't see Jason Becker play his guitar because he can't move a muscle in his body. And we can't see Vito play again......because he just doesn't want to. 🤨
White Lion is my favorite band of all time. Really glad to see you guys ranking these albums, and I would pretty much agree with your rankings. My ranking would be as follows: 1. Fight to Survive 2. Pride 3. Mane Attraction 4. Big Game 5. Return of the Pride In my opinion, Fight to Survive is one of the most underrated albums of all time. There is really no filler on that record; the guitar tone is just killer. It's also a really interesting look at the beginnings of the band and how their sound and style would evolve over time. Vito's guitar playing a little different here than on their later stuff and, as was mentioned in the video, Mike sings in a much higher register. Awesome video, guys!
Sticking in the realm of great late 80s hard rock bands and since y’all briefly mentioned them, any chance of a Mr. Big or Skid Row ranking in the future?
Great show loved white lion.Just a bit of info for you she's got everything wasn't on the original lp vinyl back here in the uk.It was on the b side of the lights and thunder 12 inch single.Seen them on a uk tour with motley and skid row in 88.My no 1 fight to survive
The top four on my list are all pretty darn good. 5) Return of the Pride (without Vito, it's not the same band.) 4) Fight to Survive 3) Mane Attraction 2) Pride 1) Big Game (though a bit long, this one seemed to cover all of their influences.) Thanks, guys! Edit: I was expecting a bunch of hate in the comments here, but there's none! Very cool! Also, now I'm going to go listen to TNT's "Intuition"!
Great ranking! I bought the debute back in -86, and have loved it ever since! Title track, ”All the fallen men”, ”All burn in hell” and ”El Salvador” are just stunning! My ranking would be the debute first, then ”Pride”, ”Mane Attraction” and ”Big game”. All great albums!
Felix Robinson of ANGEL played bass on the first White Lion album, Fight To Survive. Surprised nobody mentioned it either in the episode or comments. Curious to know if he just played on the album or with the band. Was he the bassist when you saw them live around that time with Krokus Pete? Or was it Dave Spitz or somebody else?
I remember White Lion being very popular in Sweden among my friends. I myself only heard a few songs and couldn't make my mind up on whether they were good or not, and then they were gone, and I forgot about them, until this video. Certain nights come back to mind, nights of happiness, people being too young to get drunk, you know all this.
Thank you for covering a band that has been all too forgotten by the general public. I seem to remember them being laughed at as one of the 80s bands that began with a W alongside Warrant and Winger.
Love the production on Pride. The crisp choral harmonized vocals. Lady of the valley 🔥🔥🔥 I love big game for its heart. The riffs are sincere and it has a different vibe to pride. Not as good as pride but classier than main attraction for me 1.Pride 2. Big Game 3. Main Attraction 4. Fight to Survive
In the late '80s I was into stuff like Slayer and Metallica and all the stuff that jocks in high school didn't listen to. My metal head friends would have slapped me for being in love with the song"Lady of the valley"
I love the first 4 WL albums - I agree with both your lists. I forget how great Mane Attraction is, that, Pride and the Debut can easily swap 1,2 3 positions depending on the day. Pride really saw them gel. I wish I saw them on that Krokus Tour, I saw them, I think they opened for Ace Frehley.... 88-ish? Still remember the MTV concert.
@@damiankarras I love the heaviness of Mane Attraction. Maybe they were a bit too bubblegum for me before but I think it would be time to give those records another shot.
Mane Attraction is a very strong album. There is not even one bad song on it. My favorites from it are Broken Heart 91, Leave Me Alone, Lights And Thunder, and Warsong. The rest of the album is awesome as well. White Lion is one band that I really wish would reunite. I have never seen them live and would really love to if it ever happened.
I love Mane Attraction just a bit more than Pride, the production on Mane Attraction is incredible ( if only Fight To Survive had the production of Pride and Big Game had more bass end )
The story was Vito quit music due to his father taking ill. Too bad. Wonderful player with loads of talent. My ranking would be: 4) Big Game 3) Mane Attraction 2) Fight To Survive 1) Pride - One of my favorite albums of all time. Some amazing guitar work by Vito. Also, I’ve never listened to Return Of The Pride, or whatever it’s called. I gave up when Vito left.
So cool Never thought about TNT and White Lion comparison. LeTekro and Brata so similar. Pride is just a killer record. Lady of the Valley is an anthem
Great review guys! I was fortunate to catch White Lion live in Knoxville on the Pride tour when they opened up for Aerosmith during their Permanent Vacation tour. I could go with either of your lists and would probably drop Return from the list since it was only a White Lion album in name and was really just Tramp's stab at a pay day.
Walked into a record store and they were playing this killer track. Asked the shop guy who it was and he pointed to the mane attraction cd. I was already broke and left the shop bigger in debt, but much happier. (Edit: Lights n thunder was the song playing)
White Lion's been my first concert. Germoney 1988 :) I'm throwin'' the both Freak Of Nature Albums in (plus facourite songs)... 1. Mane Attraction (Leave me alone, She's got everything, Farewell to you) 2. Freak Of Nature (Rescue me, Are you ready) 3. Pride (Hungry, All you need is rock'n'roll) 4. Big Game (Living on the edge, Dirty Woman) 5. Gathering Of Freaks (Enemy) 6. Fight To Survive (Title track) 7. Return Of The Pride (---) Favourite three Mike Tramp Solo Albums: 1. More To Life Than This (Title Track) 2. Recovering The Wasted Years (Falling Down) 3. Remembering White Lion (Wait, All the fallen men/Re-Recordings) HONORABLE MENTION: Freak Of Nature - Outcasts (Demos & B-Sides Compilation). "Disturbing The Peace" is probably the heaviest song Tramp ever recorded!
Vito Bratta had severe wrist injury in 97. I heard on an interview. Staten Island NY guy. Tremendous compliment. Zakk Wylde said one of his favorite guitar solos is WAIT. I didn’t go but in like 2005? 2006? A kid saw him in LaMours Brooklyn NY.
Vito is doing well, he has some issues with arthritis and at the same time his parents who ran the family restaraunt that had been in the family forever, got sick and he took over and never looked back. He does now own the rights to the name and that is why you dont see Tramp going out as WL anymore.
@@ericksaulchangperez9388 Him and Tramp came to a agreement a couple of years ago, Tramp owned him royalties for using the name and international sales, so as part of the agreement he signed over the name to Bratta, and they agreed to never use it unless it is Mike, Vito, James and Greg.
I was lucky enough to see them live and Mike tramp plays over here in Northern Ireland regularly, great guy, personally I love all their albums, but if I had to pick a album it would be their first album 🤘🤘
To add another TNT parallel, I think its a similar situation with Tony Harnell's non TNT; I like it, but it just doesnt scratch that itch like TNT/White Lion does.
Big Game would be at the top. That's the first White Lion cassette that I remember owning as a kid. On that, the band tackled some serious subjects(like divorce on Broken Home and apartheid on Cry For Freedom). Second would be Pride, and Maine Attraction would be third. I have never owned(or heard) the other two. Btw, Blue Monday was dedicated to SRV.
Another interesting comparison of White Lion and TNT is one is an American band with a Nordic singer and the other is a Nordic band with an American singer
The title track Fight To Survive is easily my favorite song from White Lion. I love everything about this song. Vito Bratta's guitar playing and Mike Tramp's singing on it is phenomenal to me. Especially the live version from The Ritz in New York 1988. I have been listening to alot of White Lion since I saw this video.
1. Mane Attraction (Very underrated album excellent and best album) 2. Pride (Classic Hard Melodic Rock album) 3. Fight To Survive ( Great debut with some mean hooks) 4. Demos 1983-1989 ( Great archival release) 5. Big Game (3rd album slump i guess but is just ok) 6. Return of the Pride (Weak album with only 2 good songs)
I totally agree with you about Mane Attraction coming in number one 👍🏻 the production alone is amazing and then you have the great Lights And Thunder which for me was a long lost relative of Whitesnakes Judgement Day, I also agree with your list ( except I haven’t heard the Demos 1983-1989 ☹️) Did that Album have anything from the new lineup in the early 90’s with Vito?
Back in the mid 2000's Mike Tramp sold a "Bootleg Series" on his website which was a 7 disk box set which included his 2 pre-White Lion band releases (Studs and Danish Lions), 4 disks of White Lion demos (including the original scrapped recording of Pride done before Michael Wagener re-recorded it, which is totally different and not anywhere near as good ) and then demos from Freak of Nature. Definitely wort wild to find for White Lion fans, just for the original version of Pride.
Check out Denmark’s entry in the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest and check out Mike Tramp before he came to America. It’s quite funny. Mane Attraction is a fantastic album.
He thoroughly covers my favourite genres- prog, hard, bluesy, classic rock and metal. I don’t think there is another channel like SoT in terms of being so comprehensive and well done. There are a few more really good channels. In terms of metal and cd/vinyl collecting I would recommend Fairly Secret Music. Darcy Six Strings great for metal as well. Brendon Snyder is good for reviews/new releases in pop rock/soft rock as well as classic rock.
Also Omaha Introvert- she collects vinyl and cds. Her channel is good for vinyl finds and unboxings. I think she has even broader a taste in music than Pete, she collects almost everything in pop, country and rock.
My list is the same as Rich's - although I have a love/hate relationship with Pride because on the one hand its a superb album but the other I was listening to it a lot with an ex girlfriend who also loved it, so every time I put it on it reminds me of then. Beats out Fight to Survive purely becuase of the sound, as you say Wageners production is great. Mane Attraction is a very very close runner up - and when that came out I was able to see them in Manchester UK with Tyketto as support - a great evening of excellent US hard rock. I like the comparison with TNT and to me Big Game is similar to TNT's Intuition - both were less ballsy than the predecessors, still ok albums though I think I probably tend to go back to Initiation more than I do to Big Game. I havent heard Return of the Pride and judging from your descriptions of it I dont think I'll bother -although if its on spotify I may have a quick listen as I dont believe in dissing any music unless I've heard it (or its patently not a type or style I am drawn to, though even then if I do hear something I like then I like it) and as Pete says it may be one of those albums that if it didnt have the name connection purporting it to be from a band from whom you have a certain expectation is actually quite a good listen.
For me: 1. Pride 2. Big Game 3. Mane Attraction 4. Fight to Survive 5. Return of The Pride For also what it is worth. Return of The Pride is actually good
I realize you are doing a ranking of Epica and Nightwish with Chris Alo soon and I’m so looking forward to both of those shows for sure! What are your thoughts on Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation for female fronted European Goth rock?
@@seaoftranquilityprog I do agree with you Pete that both Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation did peak earlier in their career (as most bands do in my opinion) their newer albums aren’t as good as their earlier works. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I do appreciate that.
@@seaoftranquilityprog Well, I hope you side with Floor - to me, she is the perfect singer for Nightwish. Unlike most other bands that have had vocalist changes, to me Nightwish is the exception in the sense they found their perfect singer for their music / band on their third choice. She was meant to sing nightwish music. I feel floor is the best. Third times a charm. Thoughts ?
Love White Lion.. my rankings: 5- Return of the Pride ( No vito.. kinda hard to put his anywhere else, although I saw this lineup live and they were good, Jamie Law had massive shoes to fill and he did a good job) 4. Pride 3.Fight to Survive 2. Big Game 1. Mane Attraction (although the top 2 is neck and neck in my book.. Blue Monday puts Mane on top for me. As for talking about Big Game being to soft,. you have to remember the year this came out and what Vito and Mike were doing during this time. There was a lot of pressure to make Mtv/Radio friendly songs. But they wanted to continue with writing about subjects.. not just about going out partying and getting laid like most other bands were doing. By Mane Attraction they did what they wanted to do.. The two solos in War Song alone puts this album in the top 2 for me, Lights and Thunder and the remake of their song Broken Heart was a good radio friendly/Mtv song but sadly the scene was changing and it didn't go over like it would had this album came out a year prior. And of course Vito's tribute to SRV who died just when they were going into the studio to start recording Mane Attraction.
This is great guys, so true what you say, just because of the look and the commercial singles there's alot more to these bands, Cinderella as you done...... try Brittny Fox too very talented and some great albums
1. Mane Attraction 2. Pride 3. Fight To Survive 4. Big Game Won’t include anything called White Lion without Vito 👍🏻 Great review guys, please do a review on the Albums of House Of Lords
1. Pride 2.Main Attraction 3. Fight to survive 4. Big Game All album are pretty good, except Pride that I think is one of the best hardrock albums in the 80s. Haven`t heard the last one, will check it out
FACT: you guys must of missed it,but vitto came out and announced that he was stepping away from his rock career to go home and take care of his father who had a stroke. FACT
There are several interviews with members of the band on youtube that explains exactly this. Also, they were kind of dropped (given the silent treatment) by their label after their last tour as "hair metal" was going out of style, so no reason for Vito to get back in the game.
I believe his family owned a small hardware store in Brooklyn and when is dad got sick he decided to go take of the family biz and his pop. Eddie Trunk spoke to Tramp about it years ago.
For some reason Big Game is my favorite album. I always see people place it as the worst one (return of the pride dont count ofc) but i just dont get why. I think it has the best guitar solos (just listen to Going home tonight) all of the songs are very catchy, have great solos and great choruses. The only song i dont really like is Babe be mine. My list: 1. Big Game 2. Mane Attraction 3. Pride 4. Fight to survive 5. Return of the pride
I agree. Lights and Thunder is my favorite WL track but I'd probably pick Big Game as my favorite album. Mostly because it was the first WL album I listened to front to back over and over again and fell in love with the songs. Bratta's guitar riffs are incredible on that album but should've been more at the forefront. He sometimes is lost in the mix. The rest of the WL catalog, I'm only familiar with the radio hits.
@@LuchaLibertaria i got to see them when they started out in 86-87 Saw them at club Manhattan in ny state opening for motorhead. They were the house band at lamorz so i saw them a ton pre fight to survive
My ranking: 1. Pride 2. Main attraction 3. Big Game 4. Fight to Survive 5. Return of the Pride Please, ranking the albums of Cinderella, Skid Row, TNT, Great White, Bon Jovi (from 1984 until 1995, for example), Warrant, L.A. Guns, Eclipse 4.
26:00 It is distressing when the hosts don't mention basic info on Wikipedia. From Wikipedia: in 2007, Vito gave an interview with Eddie Trunk and revealed a wrist injury. Apparently, he could only play classical guitar without pain. If the pain is still there, it must be a major factor in the silence. Imagine being compared to EVH (he even RESEMBLED Eddie) and then not being able to make music. That's brutal.
Hi Pete ...from Belgrade - Serbia . One question from Chuck Closterman - " After 200 years people will only mention Beatles and Bob Dylan ( more like poet ) . What you think about this statement ?
White Lion was a great band with a phenomenal lead guitar player Vito Bratta. I love all their albums and I remember seeing them in a small cameo in Tom Hanks comedy movie The Money Pit back in 1986. My ranking would have to be. 5. Demo Anthology 83-89 4.Big Game 3. Fight To Survive 2. Mane Attraction 1. Pride Even though Return Of The Pride has the White Lion name on it, I don't consider it a White Lion album because Vito Bratta is not on it. For me it does not exist on the White Lion discography. It is a decent album, but not a White Lion album.
Vito absolutely has the right to say 'I'm done'. But when viewed from a bigger lens, the best, most virtuoso musician from the 20th century has a duty to keep trying to better himself. Vito stands with anyone else from Bach to present-day. He's a catholic/christian and is hiding his light under a basket.
Vito's solo on wait is still amazing after all these years. It's such a glorious, beautiful six string masterpiece.
Vito lives about 15 minutes away from me in SI. I've seen his house. It's modest but nice. Heard it's the same house he lived in as a kid. My guess is Vito was bitter with the music business after the grunge takeover and I don't blame him. Imagine spending countless hours honing your craft to become a worldwide guitar hero and then, in an instant, playing that well becomes uncool. It would be like telling Mike Trout hitting homers is lame, go for bunt singles. The music business sucks all sorts of private parts. Always has.
How did I miss this when you posted it! Loving that you are spending more time on 80s style hard rock. Keep em coming!
I must be a masochist but I enjoy it when Pete and Rich give me a kick in the cajones for a band that I completely ignored or dismissed 'back in the day' and that they convince me to go listen to now. Listening to album tracks as the show was watched (and occasionally paused so some tracked could be heard online) once again showed me a band that I now will enjoy diving into their records as if they are new. Thanks, Rich and Pete, for discussing some bands in the 80s that were too quickly dismissed - at least by this listener - because of MTV being my only familiarity. Hope to see you two do some more of those bands. Great show!
Thank you, glad to hear. Yes, we will be doing more 80s hard rock metal bands. So many and such great music
@@MetalAsylumNJ Even though Tangier did only two (official) Albums with an early self release Album in the early mid 80’s, but they are fantastic Metal Hard Rock Blues with little touches of Glam and Zeppelin with the great Andy Johns Producing you and Pete should review them 👍🏻😉
This one came as a surprise, I hope there are more 80’s hard rock band countdowns to come.
Yes, I'd love to rank more 80s hard rock metal bands
Mr Big is one I’d love to see. Skid row too. Slaughter would also be fun too, if they’re fans of them
@@MetalAsylumNJ How about Malmsteen, Pretty Maids and U. D. O.?
Yessss i loved too 80's bands ranking like Lillian Axe, Cinderella, Little Caesar, Quireboys, L.A. Guns, WASP etc....
Please, do Great White, who was a pretty damn good band for the era. It's a shame that they're primarily remembered for the RI fire, since they put out a lot of great music in the 80's and 90's.
1) Pride 2) Fight to Survive 2) Big Game 4) Mane Attraction. Vito Bratta one of the underrated guitar heroes. Hello Rich, good to see you. Saw the Kamelot ranking again, then heard those old Conception albums. Best norwegian band, not screaming...
Glad you mentioned El Salvador. My introduction to the band. Great list!
Thank you guys for your ranking of White Lion’s studio albums!! It was interesting to know what you picked!! My favorite White Lion albums are : 1.Fight to Survived 2.Pride, 3.Mane Attraction and 4.Big Game. 🎼🎤🎸🎵🥁
Great Job Pete. Thanks a lot. My Favorite albums are :
1. Mane Attraction
2. Pride
3. Fight to survive
4. Big Game
5. Return of the Pride
Also really like some of Mike s Solo stuff. His First 3 Solo CDs are really good stuff.
Can you do a album ranking of SURVIVOR please? Would be a tough one ... take care and Greetings from Germany
Don't have anything but a greatest hits CD...so not likely, sorry.
Great white was another fantastic blusey heavy rock band with some great success
Yess, i loved ranking GW albums, or top 10 songs
I really liked GW up to Let it Rock. After that album and since they lost their bite
@@MetalAsylumNJ let it rock was their last really good album
Congo Square, my absolutefavoritefuckingreatawesomehuuggee track
White Lion - Great 80s band ! Very underrated! I like the first album Fight to Survive, Very raw sounding album! All of the other albums were good as well.
One thing that always stood out for me about them was that two of their biggest hits were social conscious songs (When the Children Cry-Famine/war and Little FIghter0 about a Green Peace tug boat that was sunk by eco terrorist). In that era that was a no no.
Yes, good thing songs like "We Are the World," "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and "Stars" didn't come out in that era. What a flop Live Aid would've been too.
Vito was a phenomenal player. As soon as I heard "Wait" on the radio in '88, I went and got the cassette (remember those?) and he instantly replaced EVH as my favorite player. Vito's solos are so intricate. I see so many people on UA-cam copying EVH stuff note for note, but you can count how many can nail Vito's stuff on one hand, and still have fingers left over.
One time, I wrote in to Dee Snider's "House of Hair" radio show asking "Whatever happened to Vito Bratta?" His reply: "No lie! Vito was so disgruntled with the way rock music was heading, that he put down his guitar and vowed never to play again." Vito claimed to have injured his wrist, but I never bought that. If he loved playing so much, he would have learned to play left handed. Other people have done that.
Vito seems like a quiet, laid back guy who doesn't like crowds. He apparently has no desire to get another band and record albums. But it's a shame to just waste that talent. He still has several fans just hoping for a comeback. I say, if he just uploaded a 5 minute video once a week, or every two weeks, of him just noodling around on guitar in his house, that would be more than enough to satisfy us. It sucks that we can't get new material from Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen because they're dead. Vito is still around (as of Oct. 2021). We can't see Jason Becker play his guitar because he can't move a muscle in his body. And we can't see Vito play again......because he just doesn't want to. 🤨
White Lion is my favorite band of all time. Really glad to see you guys ranking these albums, and I would pretty much agree with your rankings. My ranking would be as follows:
1. Fight to Survive
2. Pride
3. Mane Attraction
4. Big Game
5. Return of the Pride
In my opinion, Fight to Survive is one of the most underrated albums of all time. There is really no filler on that record; the guitar tone is just killer. It's also a really interesting look at the beginnings of the band and how their sound and style would evolve over time. Vito's guitar playing a little different here than on their later stuff and, as was mentioned in the video, Mike sings in a much higher register.
Awesome video, guys!
Love love Lights and Thunder and Cry For Freedom. I definitely wore out their greatest hits CD in my car then and even now.
Solid Melodic Hard Rock band, My ranking:
1- Pride
2- Fight to Survive
3- Mane Attraction
4- Big Game
HM: Demo Anthology '83-'89
5. Return Of The Pride
4. Big Game
3. Fight To Survive
2. Pride
1. Mane Attraction
Love this band! Always saw them as the peak of glam.
5. Return of the Pride
4. Mane Attraction
3. Fight to Survive
2. Big Game
1. Pride
Sticking in the realm of great late 80s hard rock bands and since y’all briefly mentioned them, any chance of a Mr. Big or Skid Row ranking in the future?
Great show loved white lion.Just a bit of info for you she's got everything wasn't on the original lp vinyl back here in the uk.It was on the b side of the lights and thunder 12 inch single.Seen them on a uk tour with motley and skid row in 88.My no 1 fight to survive
Since you guys mentioned TNT; you should rank their albums! :D
The top four on my list are all pretty darn good.
5) Return of the Pride (without Vito, it's not the same band.)
4) Fight to Survive
3) Mane Attraction
2) Pride
1) Big Game (though a bit long, this one seemed to cover all of their influences.)
Thanks, guys!
Edit: I was expecting a bunch of hate in the comments here, but there's none! Very cool! Also, now I'm going to go listen to TNT's "Intuition"!
Great ranking! I bought the debute back in -86, and have loved it ever since! Title track, ”All the fallen men”, ”All burn in hell” and ”El Salvador” are just stunning! My ranking would be the debute first, then ”Pride”, ”Mane Attraction” and ”Big game”. All great albums!
Felix Robinson of ANGEL played bass on the first White Lion album, Fight To Survive. Surprised nobody mentioned it either in the episode or comments. Curious to know if he just played on the album or with the band. Was he the bassist when you saw them live around that time with Krokus Pete? Or was it Dave Spitz or somebody else?
Pretty sure I saw them with Felix on the Fight to Survive tour then with Lomenzo on Pride.
Actually ‘When The Children Cry’ was their biggest hit, peaking at number 3 on the Hot 100. ‘Wait’ peaked at 8.
Pride my No.1,..But all the releases worth the price of admission for Vito's playing alone!
I remember White Lion being very popular in Sweden among my friends. I myself only heard a few songs and couldn't make my mind up on whether they were good or not, and then they were gone, and I forgot about them, until this video. Certain nights come back to mind, nights of happiness, people being too young to get drunk, you know all this.
Thank you for covering a band that has been all too forgotten by the general public. I seem to remember them being laughed at as one of the 80s bands that began with a W alongside Warrant and Winger.
Love the production on Pride. The crisp choral harmonized vocals. Lady of the valley 🔥🔥🔥 I love big game for its heart. The riffs are sincere and it has a different vibe to pride. Not as good as pride but classier than main attraction for me
1.Pride
2. Big Game
3. Main Attraction
4. Fight to Survive
Their cover of Radar Love was great!
Their cover of Radar Love was pretty cool.
Pride for sure! Vito kicking ass
In the late '80s I was into stuff like Slayer and Metallica and all the stuff that jocks in high school didn't listen to. My metal head friends would have slapped me for being in love with the song"Lady of the valley"
Lady of the valley is their best song for sure
They were a great band, Vito was one of the absolute best
I love the first 4 WL albums - I agree with both your lists. I forget how great Mane Attraction is, that, Pride and the Debut can easily swap 1,2 3 positions depending on the day. Pride really saw them gel. I wish I saw them on that Krokus Tour, I saw them, I think they opened for Ace Frehley.... 88-ish? Still remember the MTV concert.
Mane Attraction is the best to me.
Me too. Then Big Game, then Pride. Fight To Survive is almost unlistenable to me. The vocals on ‘Valhalla’ are cringeworthy.
@@damiankarras I love the heaviness of Mane Attraction. Maybe they were a bit too bubblegum for me before but I think it would be time to give those records another shot.
I agree
I agree...broken heart and its over are my favorites
Mane Attraction is a very strong album. There is not even one bad song on it. My favorites from it are Broken Heart 91, Leave Me Alone, Lights And Thunder, and Warsong. The rest of the album is awesome as well. White Lion is one band that I really wish would reunite. I have never seen them live and would really love to if it ever happened.
Woooow, I wasn't expecting this.
Fucking awesome.
Love Mane attraction. Underrated some what.
All first 4 records are tops👍
I love Mane Attraction just a bit more than Pride, the production on Mane Attraction is incredible ( if only Fight To Survive had the production of Pride and Big Game had more bass end )
The story was Vito quit music due to his father taking ill. Too bad. Wonderful player with loads of talent. My ranking would be:
4) Big Game
3) Mane Attraction
2) Fight To Survive
1) Pride - One of my favorite albums of all time. Some amazing guitar work by Vito. Also, I’ve never listened to Return Of The Pride, or whatever it’s called. I gave up when Vito left.
So cool Never thought about TNT and White Lion comparison. LeTekro and Brata so similar. Pride is just a killer record. Lady of the Valley is an anthem
Great review guys! I was fortunate to catch White Lion live in Knoxville on the Pride tour when they opened up for Aerosmith during their Permanent Vacation tour. I could go with either of your lists and would probably drop Return from the list since it was only a White Lion album in name and was really just Tramp's stab at a pay day.
Walked into a record store and they were playing this killer track. Asked the shop guy who it was and he pointed to the mane attraction cd. I was already broke and left the shop bigger in debt, but much happier. (Edit: Lights n thunder was the song playing)
White Lion's been my first concert. Germoney 1988 :) I'm throwin'' the both Freak Of Nature Albums in (plus facourite songs)...
1. Mane Attraction (Leave me alone, She's got everything, Farewell to you)
2. Freak Of Nature (Rescue me, Are you ready)
3. Pride (Hungry, All you need is rock'n'roll)
4. Big Game (Living on the edge, Dirty Woman)
5. Gathering Of Freaks (Enemy)
6. Fight To Survive (Title track)
7. Return Of The Pride (---)
Favourite three Mike Tramp Solo Albums:
1. More To Life Than This (Title Track)
2. Recovering The Wasted Years (Falling Down)
3. Remembering White Lion (Wait, All the fallen men/Re-Recordings)
HONORABLE MENTION:
Freak Of Nature - Outcasts (Demos & B-Sides Compilation). "Disturbing The Peace" is probably the heaviest song Tramp ever recorded!
Gotta agree with Rich Catino on this one. I think Pride is their best album.
Vito Bratta had severe wrist injury in 97. I heard on an interview. Staten Island NY guy. Tremendous compliment. Zakk Wylde said one of his favorite guitar solos is WAIT. I didn’t go but in like 2005? 2006? A kid saw him in LaMours Brooklyn NY.
Pride and mane attraction are tied at the top for me then fight to survive and then big game. Ill have to check out the demo anthology.
Pride is a banger!
Vito is doing well, he has some issues with arthritis and at the same time his parents who ran the family restaraunt that had been in the family forever, got sick and he took over and never looked back. He does now own the rights to the name and that is why you dont see Tramp going out as WL anymore.
Why does he own the name?
@@ericksaulchangperez9388 Him and Tramp came to a agreement a couple of years ago, Tramp owned him royalties for using the name and international sales, so as part of the agreement he signed over the name to Bratta, and they agreed to never use it unless it is Mike, Vito, James and Greg.
@@kikiki4592 thank you for the info
Big Game has some great songs! Little Fighter, Don't Say it's Over!
For me it's :
1-Pride
2-Mane attraction
3-Fight to survive
4-Big game
5-Return of the pride
I was lucky enough to see them live and Mike tramp plays over here in Northern Ireland regularly, great guy, personally I love all their albums, but if I had to pick a album it would be their first album 🤘🤘
I really like Mike Tramp's solo stuff. it's a lot different, but, he can write nicely catchy songs.
To add another TNT parallel, I think its a similar situation with Tony Harnell's non TNT; I like it, but it just doesnt scratch that itch like TNT/White Lion does.
Big Game would be at the top. That's the first White Lion cassette that I remember owning as a kid. On that, the band tackled some serious subjects(like divorce on Broken Home and apartheid on Cry For Freedom). Second would be Pride, and Maine Attraction would be third. I have never owned(or heard) the other two. Btw, Blue Monday was dedicated to SRV.
My ranking goes:
1) Pride.
2) Mane Attraction.
3) Big Game.
4) Fight to Survive.
5) Return of the Pride.
Another interesting comparison of White Lion and TNT is one is an American band with a Nordic singer and the other is a Nordic band with an American singer
The title track Fight To Survive is easily my favorite song from White Lion. I love everything about this song. Vito Bratta's guitar playing and Mike Tramp's singing on it is phenomenal to me. Especially the live version from The Ritz in New York 1988. I have been listening to alot of White Lion since I saw this video.
Killer Band!!! 1.Pride 2.Fight to Survive 3.Mane Attraction 4.Big Game 5.Return of the pride
1. Mane Attraction (Very underrated album excellent and best album)
2. Pride (Classic Hard Melodic Rock album)
3. Fight To Survive ( Great debut with some mean hooks)
4. Demos 1983-1989 ( Great archival release)
5. Big Game (3rd album slump i guess but is just ok)
6. Return of the Pride (Weak album with only 2 good songs)
I totally agree with you about Mane Attraction coming in number one 👍🏻 the production alone is amazing and then you have the great Lights And Thunder which for me was a long lost relative of Whitesnakes Judgement Day, I also agree with your list ( except I haven’t heard the Demos 1983-1989 ☹️) Did that Album have anything from the new lineup in the early 90’s with Vito?
nailing it on that White Lion / TNT connection
Back in the mid 2000's Mike Tramp sold a "Bootleg Series" on his website which was a 7 disk box set which included his 2 pre-White Lion band releases (Studs and Danish Lions), 4 disks of White Lion demos (including the original scrapped recording of Pride done before Michael Wagener re-recorded it, which is totally different and not anywhere near as good ) and then demos from Freak of Nature. Definitely wort wild to find for White Lion fans, just for the original version of Pride.
Check out Denmark’s entry in the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest and check out Mike Tramp before he came to America. It’s quite funny.
Mane Attraction is a fantastic album.
Mabel, yeah. They were a very popular band with teenage girls, especially in Spain they got quite huge there.
no one can touch.......... pride !!!!
Pete’s channel is by far my favorite channel on you tube. Hands down. No doubt. Thoughts ?
He thoroughly covers my favourite genres- prog, hard, bluesy, classic rock and metal. I don’t think there is another channel like SoT in terms of being so comprehensive and well done.
There are a few more really good channels.
In terms of metal and cd/vinyl collecting I would recommend Fairly Secret Music.
Darcy Six Strings great for metal as well.
Brendon Snyder is good for reviews/new releases in pop rock/soft rock as well as classic rock.
Also Omaha Introvert- she collects vinyl and cds. Her channel is good for vinyl finds and unboxings. I think she has even broader a taste in music than Pete, she collects almost everything in pop, country and rock.
My list is the same as Rich's - although I have a love/hate relationship with Pride because on the one hand its a superb album but the other I was listening to it a lot with an ex girlfriend who also loved it, so every time I put it on it reminds me of then. Beats out Fight to Survive purely becuase of the sound, as you say Wageners production is great. Mane Attraction is a very very close runner up - and when that came out I was able to see them in Manchester UK with Tyketto as support - a great evening of excellent US hard rock.
I like the comparison with TNT and to me Big Game is similar to TNT's Intuition - both were less ballsy than the predecessors, still ok albums though I think I probably tend to go back to Initiation more than I do to Big Game.
I havent heard Return of the Pride and judging from your descriptions of it I dont think I'll bother -although if its on spotify I may have a quick listen as I dont believe in dissing any music unless I've heard it (or its patently not a type or style I am drawn to, though even then if I do hear something I like then I like it) and as Pete says it may be one of those albums that if it didnt have the name connection purporting it to be from a band from whom you have a certain expectation is actually quite a good listen.
Eddie Trunk interviewed Vitto seven years back. It's on UA-cam
Definitely
I'd like to see a Savoy Brown ranking sometime.
They have like 30-40 albums...probably not likely though a Top 10 favorite albums is doable.
I've only ever listened to Pride. I'll have to remedy that. Thanks guys.
For me:
1. Pride
2. Big Game
3. Mane Attraction
4. Fight to Survive
5. Return of The Pride
For also what it is worth. Return of The Pride is actually good
I realize you are doing a ranking of Epica and Nightwish with Chris Alo soon and I’m so looking forward to both of those shows for sure! What are your thoughts on Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation for female fronted European Goth rock?
they are ok, but I wouldn't say I'm wildly into either of them. Both peaked pretty early on in my view, latter albums are not as enjoyable.
@@seaoftranquilityprog I do agree with you Pete that both Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation did peak earlier in their career (as most bands do in my opinion) their newer albums aren’t as good as their earlier works. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I do appreciate that.
@@seaoftranquilityprog Of the three Nightwish singers, Tarja, Annette, and Floor - do you have a preference?
@@analogkid2869 Well, watch the show tomorrow night...all will be revealed!!!
@@seaoftranquilityprog Well, I hope you side with Floor - to me, she is the perfect singer for Nightwish. Unlike most other bands that have had vocalist changes, to me Nightwish is the exception in the sense they found their perfect singer for their music / band on their third choice. She was meant to sing nightwish music. I feel floor is the best. Third times a charm. Thoughts ?
I really enjoyed Capricorn.
4. Mane Attraction
3. Big Game
2. Fight to Survive
1. Pride
Great segment. White Lion gets a bad rap, but that first record is awesome. Need a Black Oak Arkansas countdown!
Pete mentioned before that he only has the live disc.
I could be wrong but, didn't Vito have a hand issue?
Yes.
Got Mane Attraction on vinyl from Korea at a record show back then 5 bucks. By 1992, vinyl was pretty much gone
Love White Lion.. my rankings: 5- Return of the Pride ( No vito.. kinda hard to put his anywhere else, although I saw this lineup live and they were good, Jamie Law had massive shoes to fill and he did a good job) 4. Pride 3.Fight to Survive 2. Big Game 1. Mane Attraction (although the top 2 is neck and neck in my book.. Blue Monday puts Mane on top for me. As for talking about Big Game being to soft,. you have to remember the year this came out and what Vito and Mike were doing during this time. There was a lot of pressure to make Mtv/Radio friendly songs. But they wanted to continue with writing about subjects.. not just about going out partying and getting laid like most other bands were doing. By Mane Attraction they did what they wanted to do.. The two solos in War Song alone puts this album in the top 2 for me, Lights and Thunder and the remake of their song Broken Heart was a good radio friendly/Mtv song but sadly the scene was changing and it didn't go over like it would had this album came out a year prior. And of course Vito's tribute to SRV who died just when they were going into the studio to start recording Mane Attraction.
This is great guys, so true what you say, just because of the look and the commercial singles there's alot more to these bands, Cinderella as you done...... try Brittny Fox too very talented and some great albums
To me personally pride is my favorite white lion album and there's an interview with vito on yt with Eddie trunk from 07
That long ago? I remember listening to it
@@oobs35 yeah can't believe how time flies
I’m with you on dirty woman. That’s a GREAT song. Very sleazy chorus. Either that or Radar Love is my favorite track off that album
1. Mane Attraction
2. Pride
3. Fight To Survive
4. Big Game
Won’t include anything called White Lion without Vito 👍🏻 Great review guys, please do a review on the Albums of House Of Lords
1. Pride
2.Main Attraction
3. Fight to survive
4. Big Game
All album are pretty good, except Pride that I think is one of the best hardrock albums in the 80s. Haven`t heard the last one, will check it out
FACT: you guys must of missed it,but vitto came out and announced that he was stepping away from his rock career to go home and take care of his father who had a stroke. FACT
There are several interviews with members of the band on youtube that explains exactly this. Also, they were kind of dropped (given the silent treatment) by their label after their last tour as "hair metal" was going out of style, so no reason for Vito to get back in the game.
I believe his family owned a small hardware store in Brooklyn and when is dad got sick he decided to go take of the family biz and his pop. Eddie Trunk spoke to Tramp about it years ago.
Btw, "Freak of Nature-" Gathering of Freaks is great!
For some reason Big Game is my favorite album. I always see people place it as the worst one (return of the pride dont count ofc) but i just dont get why. I think it has the best guitar solos (just listen to Going home tonight) all of the songs are very catchy, have great solos and great choruses. The only song i dont really like is Babe be mine. My list:
1. Big Game
2. Mane Attraction
3. Pride
4. Fight to survive
5. Return of the pride
I agree. Lights and Thunder is my favorite WL track but I'd probably pick Big Game as my favorite album. Mostly because it was the first WL album I listened to front to back over and over again and fell in love with the songs. Bratta's guitar riffs are incredible on that album but should've been more at the forefront. He sometimes is lost in the mix. The rest of the WL catalog, I'm only familiar with the radio hits.
Lots of good nights watching them perform at Lamourz
Did you also see them when they were called Lions / Danish Lion?
@@LuchaLibertaria i got to see them when they started out in 86-87
Saw them at club Manhattan in ny state opening for motorhead. They were the house band at lamorz so i saw them a ton pre fight to survive
Pride is the only album I have of White Lion,Lady of the valley is brilliant
My old boss in the music biz signed these guys to his label Grand Slamm. Wish Vito Bratta would return like Jake E. Lee did.
You have seriously waited this long to rank these dudes> Wow
My ranking:
1. Pride
2. Main attraction
3. Big Game
4. Fight to Survive
5. Return of the Pride
Please, ranking the albums of Cinderella, Skid Row, TNT, Great White, Bon Jovi (from 1984 until 1995, for example), Warrant, L.A. Guns, Eclipse
4.
26:00 It is distressing when the hosts don't mention basic info on Wikipedia. From Wikipedia: in 2007, Vito gave an interview with Eddie Trunk and revealed a wrist injury. Apparently, he could only play classical guitar without pain. If the pain is still there, it must be a major factor in the silence. Imagine being compared to EVH (he even RESEMBLED Eddie) and then not being able to make music. That's brutal.
1. Mane Attraction
2. Pride
3. Fight To Survive
4. Big Game
5. Return of the Pride
Hi Pete ...from Belgrade - Serbia .
One question from Chuck Closterman - " After 200 years people will only mention Beatles and Bob Dylan ( more like poet ) . What you think about this statement ?
For the record, Pride went double platinum and Big Game went gold.
Would love to see a ranking of prog rockers Greenslade.
TRES Cool Band!!!
Oui.un groupe cool.
@@franciskocher200 Oui, un Band superbe!!!
1) Mane Attraction
2) Pride
3) Fight to Survive
4) Big Game
I think Mike Tramp singing "wait", should replace those talking crosswalk signs that say WAIT lol
White Lion was a great band with a phenomenal lead guitar player Vito Bratta. I love all their albums and I remember seeing them in a small cameo in Tom Hanks comedy movie The Money Pit back in 1986. My ranking would have to be.
5. Demo Anthology 83-89
4.Big Game
3. Fight To Survive
2. Mane Attraction
1. Pride
Even though Return Of The Pride has the White Lion name on it, I don't consider it a White Lion album because Vito Bratta is not on it. For me it does not exist on the White Lion discography. It is a decent album, but not a White Lion album.
When Big Game was released.............everybody was puzzled by how different from Pride it was......I might even use the term " Disappointed " !!!!!!
When The Children Cry could be considered the Stairway To Heaven of the 80's.
Vito absolutely has the right to say 'I'm done'. But when viewed from a bigger lens, the best, most virtuoso musician from the 20th century has a duty to keep trying to better himself. Vito stands with anyone else from Bach to present-day. He's a catholic/christian and is hiding his light under a basket.