''Return of the Pride'' is the fifth and final

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

featuring original material by

White Lion The white lion is a rare color mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest r ...

. The album was released in 2008 on March 14 (Europe), April 9 (Japan), April 29 (North America). The album was produced by singer

Mike Tramp Michael Trempenau (born 14 January 1961), better known as Mike Tramp, is a Danish singer best known for his work with the glam metal band White Lion. Since 1998, he has also released several solo albums. In 2012, Tramp went on a solo acoustic to ...

and bassist Claus Langeskov and recorded during 2007 in both Australia and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Background and recording

''Return of the Pride'' is the first original White Lion studio album since their 1991 album '' Mane Attraction'' and is the only studio album with the new-line up which still features original lead singer

. The album is a sequel to the band's 1987 album ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

''. Following the release of the compilation album ''

The Best of White Lion ''The Best of White Lion'' is the first greatest hits compilation album from the glam metal band ''White Lion'', released in September 1992. The compilation features all of White Lion's charted singles from their three most successful albums: ''P ...

'', the band was mostly known as Tramp's White Lion or White Lion 2 for legal reasons with former members but is now once again simply known as White Lion. Following the release of ''Return of the Pride'', Tramp faced a tumultuous time of professional indecision as he tried to decide between continuing his solo career or pouring his energy into White Lion. In 2009 Tramp released the album The Rock 'N' Roll Circuz which was initially intended to be the next new White Lion album but a new solo band was formed instead.

Tour

The band did a world tour to support the album. The tour began April 17 in Las Vegas and April 18 in Los Angeles at the House of Blues with RATT. The tour continued through Mexico and South America, and then in Europe on June 8 at Sin City in Wales followed by cities such as London, Paris, Oslo, Madrid, Barcelona, and Bologna, ending in Copenhagen on August 16. White Lion also toured India and played to 42,000 at Shillong, Meghalaya, and a 30,000 plus crowd at the Dimapur stadium in Nagaland. The band was invited to India by the head of the Tripura Royal Family Maharaja Kirit Pradyot Deb Burman.

Reception

''Return of the Pride'' received mostly lukewarm reviews from fans and critics alike. ''Sea of Tranquility'' criticized the album for deviating from the core White Lion sound commenting the album "has absolutely nothing in common with the real White Lion." Reviewer Murat Batmaz noted that some of the songs were strong as Mike Tramp solo numbers but did not work under the White Lion moniker due to the absence of guitarist Vito Bratta. ''Sputnik Music'' gave the album a similar rating. It was defined as being "conventional" and " othorrible." The review also argues that the abundance of keyboards is due to the guitarist not being up to the standards of Bratta. While the reviewer praised Tramp's vocals on some of the songs as being "strong" and "clear," they also pointed out that songs like "Take Me Home" were like a "third-rate" version of "When the Children Cry." ''Melodic Rock'' was more positive about the release, awarding it a 91 out of 100. The reviewer likened the songs to older White Lion albums such as ''Pride'' and ''Mane Attraction'' and considered them an "extension of ramp's songwriting" ''Rock Eyez'' gave the album three stars and remarked: "this record is somewhat of a mixed bag to me with some truly good songs and a few misses along the way. Come to think of it, if you look back at the last couple WHITE LION releases before this (“Big Game” and “Mane Attraction”) you sort of got the same thing, so this maybe is closer to the old WHITE LION than I originally thought." ''The Metal Forge'' praised the epic song "Sangre De Cristo" comparing it to White Lion's "Lights & Thunder" but also pointed out that he couldn't "help but feel a little misled, cheated and disappointed" with the album in general. Greg Prato of ''All Music'' heaped praise on guitarist Jamie Law noting it is "no small task" to fill in Vito Bratta's shoes and described the album opener "Sangre de Cristo" "surprisingly heavy."

Track listing

#"Sangre de Cristo" - 8:44 #"Dream" - 5:08 #"Live Your Life" - 4:52 #"Set Me Free" - 4:59 #"I Will" - 4:13 #"Battle at Little Big Horn" - 7:32 #"Never Let You Go" - 4:50 #"Gonna Do It My Way" - 4:24 #"Finally See the Light" - 4:55 #"Let Me Be Me" - 4:00

Bonus tracks

*"Take Me Home" (European bonus track) - 3:50 *"Dream" (Alternate version) (Japanese bonus track) *"

Wait Wait or WAIT may refer to: Music * Wait (musician), British town pipers Albums and EPs * ''Wait'' (The Polyphonic Spree EP), by The Polyphonic Spree * ''Wait'' (Emanuel Nice EP), a 2002 EP released by the band Emanuel Nice * ''Wait'' (Stee ...

" (Live) (North American bonus track) *"

When the Children Cry "When the Children Cry" is a power ballad performed by Danish-American glam metal band White Lion. It is the third single and 10th and final track on their 1987 album, '' Pride''. It peaked at number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, num ...

" (Live) (North American bonus track)

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Jamie Law -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s *Claus Langeskov - bass *

Troy Patrick Farrell The white lion is a rare color mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati Game Reserve, Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Henning Wanner -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Singles

*"Dream" *"Live Your Life"

References

External links

Official Mike Tramp WebsiteOfficial Troy Patrick Farrell Website
{{Authority control White Lion albums 2008 albums Frontiers Records albums