{"id":45718,"date":"2014-10-08T07:58:20","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T12:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=45718"},"modified":"2014-10-08T07:58:20","modified_gmt":"2014-10-08T12:58:20","slug":"mike-tramp-museum-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/mike-tramp-museum-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Tramp | Museum<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Mike_Tramp-Museum-1400px\"Mike Tramp is a name that you surely recognize \u2013 from his early days spent singing in a front of a Danish teenybopper audience, through White Lion and Freak Of Nature eras to current solo work he\u2019s pursuing since 1998 Capricorn<\/em> album. But throughout this time, a lot of things has changed \u2013 first of all, it may not be easy to recognize a platinum-blonde heartthrob who fronted White Lion in a dark-haired fifty-three-year old with his fingers wrapped around the strings of an acoustic guitar. But also music-wise Mike Tramp now is miles away from White Lion or Freak Of Nature \u2013 and, sadly for his \u201880s-era fans, his new solo album Museum<\/em> is no counterpart to Fight To Survive<\/em> or Mane Attraction<\/em>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to check out the opening song of the album to realize the change. First goes the acoustic-based mid tempo \u201cTrust In Yourself\u201d that is a neat song musically and certainly a well-crafted independence manifesto lyric-wise, but not entirely rockin\u2019 piece\u2026 or, if not being too economical with the truth, one that is more pop rock than rock. \u201cNew World Coming\u201d sounds somewhat folk-ish but dull, and yet is enriched with thoughtful lyrics. More interesting is \u201cDown South\u201d with some surprising sound effects and tasteful bluesy flavors and although the orthodox blues lovers may sneer at Tramp\u2019s unconventional approach and modern bluesy twist to his music, the track is far from being forgettable. <\/p>\n

As the first sounds of \u201cBetter\u201d approach, you might have had your hopes for a sugary power ballad that will make you reminisce yourself about White Lion\u2019s grandiose slow-ish moments. But to tell you the truth, it\u2019s not the same league \u201cWhen The Children Cry\u201d occupied. What is more, it simply pales by comparison even with its follow-up on Museum that is a groovy acoustic song \u201cFreedom\u201d. If it wasn\u2019t for the strings parts in the background, \u201cCommitment\u201d would be nothing special and with \u201cAnd You Were Gone\u201d, the seventh song on the album, you may have already noticed the acoustic storytelling formula starts to wear out a bit. Perhaps it was Mike Tramp that\u2019s realized it himself, hence the funky groove and bluesy echoes of \u201cSlave\u201d that together with \u201cDown South\u201d belongs to the tight number of the record\u2019s highlights. At this point we can only wonder how splendid Museum would have been if only the former White Lion frontman have indulged his love of contemporary blues more often …<\/p>\n

Next is the nostalgic ballad \u201cMother\u201d the lyrical aspect of which outshines the musical content again (if not to count the neat but scarce guitar solo). It\u2019s followed by \u201cTime For Me To Go\u201d, a final song and, at the same time, another pop rock ennui. It\u2019s not a piece of music that is unpleasant to listen to, but another one that is dull and awfully similar to the ninety percent of its predecessors.
\nYears after his band White Lion has called it a day, Mike Tramp changed more than just his hair color and the contents of his scenic wardrobe \u2013 his new solo album Museum<\/em>, similarly to its predecessor Cobblestone Street, is yet another proof of this fact. It\u2019s the same path that the retired rockers such as Bryan Adams or Bon Jovi tread nowadays, with the majority of their new songs mercilessly following the same scheme \u2013 the radio-friendly, contemporary pop rock sound that may be fine in small doses, but that is also easily forgettable and a bit repetitive. On a positive note, however, the folk-ish flavors of the album are to be praised as well as the two blues-infused tracks that are definitely above average. There\u2019s much praise to be expressed with regard to the lyrical side of things, too (although even in his hair band days Tramp happened to distance himself from the \u201cgirls, girls, girls\u201d babble \u2013 think of songs such as \u201cCherokee,\u201d \u201cThe Road To Valhalla\u201d or \u201cCry For Freedom\u201d). <\/p>\n

Speaking shortly, Museum is a mature, but slightly unenlightened album recorded by a talented musician who apparently focused more on his self-expression via lyrics rather than music. It may seem boring for a die-hard \u201880s rocker and may not convince every White Lion fan, but it also has its moments and (mostly lyrical) value. This being said, let\u2019s also hope Mr. Tramp will be eager to re-visit his fondness of Southern blues with the next solo album rather than enrich his repertoire with a dose of dull acoustic ballads every listener has already had enough with his 2014 release. If it happens so, the future looks bright for the former White Lion pin-up boy, so let\u2019s keep our fingers crossed, giving Museum<\/em> at least one try in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Genre: Pop Rock, Folk Rock, Acoustic<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMike Tramp \u2013 all instruments, vocals<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tTrust In Yourself
\n2.\tNew World Coming
\n3.\tDown South
\n4.\tBetter
\n5.\tFreedom
\n6.\tCommitment
\n7.\tAnd You Were Gone
\n8.\tSlave
\n9.\tMother
\n10.\tTime For Me To Go<\/p>\n

Label: Target Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/miketramp.dk\/home<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MikeTrampOfficial\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 5.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Mike Tramp is a name that you surely recognize \u2013 from his early days spent singing in a front of a Danish teenybopper audience, through White Lion and […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":45720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8839,2317,5867,6616,10084,9262,10085],"class_list":{"0":"post-45718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-acoustic","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-folk-rock","11":"tag-mike-tramp","12":"tag-museum","13":"tag-pop-rock","14":"tag-target-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}