Track Listing
· More To Life Than This (1)
· Lay Down My Life For You
· Don't Want To Say Goodnight
· Nothing At All
· Day By Day
· Live For Today
· Back From The Dead
· I Won't Let Go (2)
· Goodbye Song
· The Good The Sad and the Ugly (3)

(*) Best Tracks

Discography & (Rank)
· Capricorn (4)
· Remembering White Lion (3)
· Recovering The Wasted Years (1)
· More To Life Than This (2)

Buy it if you liked:
Mike Tramp - Capricorn
Bryan Adams - On A Day Like Today
MIKE TRAMP
More To Life Than This
Ulftone UTCD 070
· Produced By: Mike Tramp
· Running Time: · Genre: Melodic Rock
· Release Date: March 17 · Released: EU
· WebLink: Mike Tramp · LabelLink: Ulftone
91%

Mike Tramp is back with a new solo album, following quickly on from last year's highly acclaimed and well received Recovering The Wasted Years.
More To Life Than This features 10 new songs recorded in Denmark in the last quarter of 2002.
Recovering saw Mike back in the limelight after a 5 year gap between his last studio album of all new songs, Capricorn. Mike has been carving out a solo career now based on a more stripped back rock n roll sound than the ultra-produced hard rock of White Lion.
Capricorn was certainly very stripped back, guitar driven rock, with a classic Bryan Adams singer/songwriter feel to it.
Last year's Recovering The Wasted Years was more polished and immaculately produced, with multiple layers of vocal and instrumental work the foundation of some very strong and emotional songs.
More To Life Than This is different again. Basically this album returns to the stripped back, rawer production style of Capricorn, but continues the lyrical and musical approach of Recovering. It's almost like it should be the album in-between, not after.
Once again the songs are guitar driven, with a simpler live feel to the tracks - just like Capricorn, but the personal lyrics and prominent placement of the Hammond organ - just as it was on the last album.
Overall, this is a slightly rockier album, featuring less acoustic guitars and a tougher, less polished sound.
Track By Track:
The title track More To Life Than This opens this album's account. After a brief intro it's pretty clear that the electric guitar is a bigger factor on this album. The song rocks along in fine style, what now could be described as typical Mike Tramp, featuring personal lyrics, a moody chorus and more uptempo and instantly recognizable chorus.
Lay Down My Life For You features that Hammond organ and a softer electric guitar sound. More laid back and rootsy, it's very Capricorn.
Don't Want To Say Goodnight is more uptempo, rocking along at a good pace, with more organ featured and an overall feel good, happy go lucky vibe. The chorus is pure magic - instant, memorable and ranks as one of the album's best. Throw in a few female backing vocals for the first time and a great little pop/rocker is born.
Nothing At All is a laid back, rootsy, guitar and organ driven ballad. It has a slightly southern feel to it and a slow laid back vibe, but with a strong chorus hook, as usual!
Day By Day is another mid-tempo rock track, more in line with the last album rather than the first. The chorus doesn't have the hooks of some previous tracks, but is easily distinguishable from the verse.
Live For Today is a track that will please those looking for a bit of a rocker. Featuring some great guitar work and an upbeat tempo, the song picks the pace of the album up when needed and runs perfectly into Back From The Dead, another rocker. In fact, this is the pick of the album. I think Tramp fans will love this - a big guitar riff driven rocker with a strong verse-bridge-chorus build up.
I Won't Let Go continues the uptempo pace of the last few songs. Another album highlight, this track features a great melodic verse that leads into a thoroughly fantastic feel good chorus. Steve Lukather provides the song's guitar solo, which only adds to the already excellent atmosphere.
Time again to slow things down and Goodbye Song is perfectly placed. This semi-acoustic track was originally set to be featured on Recovering, so it's no surprise to hear the style matches the last album. A good mid-tempo rock ballad. The difference this time is a first time ever, female lead vocal for the second verse and chorus. An interesting touch and pleasant change of pace.
The Good The Sad and the Ugly finishes the album in fabulously classy style. This is another of my favourite tracks. Clocking in at 6.21, this is a monster ballad. Leading off with a haunting piano melody, the song is melancholy, sentimental and heartbreaking. Some fantastic lyrics and an acoustic guitar/piano/organ musical base provides all the elements of a classic track. But even better, guitar master Eric Johnson provides a killer haunting extended guitar solo that finishes the song. What a way to close any album. Will be one of the ballads of the year without doubt.

The Bottom Line
This is a simpler, less complicated release than Recovering The Wasted Years. Recorded in one set of sessions instead of two and featuring a more stripped back, raw, live feel like Mike's debut album Capricorn, this album will sit perfectly alongside those albums.
This album still features all the elements of Mike's music that fans love - catchy choruses, feel good melodic rock tracks, haunting ballads and some good honest rock n roll, but due to the sheer brilliance of Recovering The Wasted Years, will have a hard time rating as highly as that album. It's not as emotionally intense as the last album, but that fact aside, it's still all class and still another wonderful album.

Line Up
· Mike Tramp: Vocals, Guitars
· Oliver Steffensen, Todd Wolfe: Guitar
· Dan Hemmer: Hammond B3
· Kasper Foss: Drums
· Nicholas Findsen: Bass

Additional Ratings
Songwriting
94%
Attitude
90%
Production
88%

05/08/07: Tyler - yellowguns_18@hotmail.com
Rating: 100
I can't believe I'm the first one to do this...oh well. Anyways, this album, in my opinion, is pure classic. Yeah, people want Top 40 these days, along with all the other supposedly heavy crap on the radio. The thing people gotta realize is, Mike Tramp has aged a lot. He doesn't have the same mindset that he had with White Lion, therefore his songs are a lot different in reflection to that. I agree with Daniel, who said Tramp's music is for real. Rock on!

16/10/03: eddy - ed 1@aol.com
Rating: 3
I bought this on monday and sold it by teusday it,s absoulutely garbage songs have no guts to them very poor indeed save your money,the new album by vera lynn is heavier.

01/05/03: Aaron Baltes - abaltes@maine.rr.com
Rating: 85
This is a good album. Tramp is great at creating an "emotional feel" on his songs, with "positive melancholy" being the best description I can think of. Straightforward rock n roll, with some good rockers and ballads. My only complaint is that sometimes the lyrics are a little too cliche, I think a little tweaking could help. I have never seen Mike live, please, please come to the States and play a gig in Portland, Maine or at least Boston. Rock on!

27/04/03: scott - saurisch@esk.qld.gov.au
Rating: 83
The first time I played this album I thought to myself "There's gotta be more to Mike Tramp than this". A majority of the songs sounded melancholy, depressing and uninspired. A far cry from the melodic rock masterpiece that is White Lion's 'Mane Attraction' with its powerful anthems and uplifting music.

Thankfully there is more to like here than is initially apparent. What we have here is a collection of 10 very stripped back tunes that are simple in their structure yet still hold enough appeal to interest fans of Mike's earlier work. This is not a hard rock album but rather one best categorised as blues rock. It is dominated by slow to mid-tempo tracks with the only upbeat numbers being the title track (a Bon Jovi-esque storyteller like tale of struggle and hardship), 'Live For Today', 'Back From The Dead' and 'I Won't Let Go', all of which carry a positive message of determination and perserverance.

Whilst these latter three tracks go together perfectly as a trilogy, I think the album would have been better served had they been interspersed amongst the slower tunes, thereby improving the overall tempo and flow of the album. But hell, Mike has released over ten albums in his career and I'm only up to.....well, NONE! Perhaps he knows a bit more than I do.

The last two songs, despite being good songs, have the effect of finishing things on a bit of a downer due to their slow pace. I believe 'I Won't Let Go' would have been the perfect choice to close this album on a positive note as 'Always Tomorrow' did on 'Recovering The Wasted Years'.

This is far from Mike's best work (just my opinion) but is still well worth a listen. After several spins, these songs present themselves as laid back, easy listening songs about the ups and downs of life. There are no heavy guitars or driving rhythms to fire you up and get the blood pumping but there is still a time and place for this style of music if the mood suits. This is rock and roll of a simple nature; raw and straight forward. Enjoy it for what it is.

P.S. Does anyone know what Vito Bratta is up to these days? Does he still play?

19/04/03: Martin Wanegårdh - Chelsea@edguy.nu
Rating: 95
What an album! The lyrics, the melodic songs and his voice are absolutely brilliant! This is a perfect mix of his earlier soloworks, I can even smell a little bit of White Lion in some parts of the album. Buy "More to life than this" now!

06/04/03: Daniel - seemann39@hotmail.com
Rating: 99
Well done Mike! Again this is a great album...great lyrics, songwriting and musicianship. Mike's music is for real, it is no artificial "plastic music" like there is so much on the radio and TV these days. I have been listening to Mike since "Pride" and I like all of his stuff, be it WL, FON or his solo albums.
It is just great that there are still artists like Mike who make good and honest music.
Again, both thumbs up for "More To Life Than This". Anyone who likes Mike's music should get a copy of his new album...it is just great!!!
Peace to the world!!!

04/04/03: Freddy De Keyzer - freddydekeyzer@hotmail.com
Rating: 55
Boy, what a bad record this is. Sorry, because Mike has done great things with White Lion ! But this is typical singer/songwriter material and not good at all ! Boring, boring, I can't find any other words. One of the worst records of recent times, and that means a lot !

01/04/03: Glenn Odin - themightylord@lycos.com
Rating: 98
Sensational album from one of the most underated talents to emerge from the 80's. This album is pure class and fits alongside his previous two solo discs perfectly. Saw Tramp in Sydney and Melbourne over the weekend just passed(Mar 30/31) and he still kicks some serious butt on those White Lion classics. He also did an instore acoustic performance at Utopia where he played The Good The Sad And The Ugly which sounded phenomenal - hope to see him return and tour this album. I rate Tramp alongside Jon Bon Jovi as one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our time. Buy this cd NOW!

31/03/03: Jason - jrutkowski@bigpond.com
Rating: 32
Some good songs destroyed by a woeful mixing and production. I don't know how anyone can rate this as a classic which 90+ would cause. This does not come close to comparison of the White Lion Albums. I saw Mike Live and that was brilliant (and a better sound than this album.

30/03/03: Dave - jemzax@ihug.com.au
Rating: 99
Just came back from Mike's WhiteLion concert in Sydney (30/3/03), wonderful night for all the OZ's 80 Rock fans.. Such a great singer and performer..
Heard him played several tunes live from this album, sounds great too.. msut have for Mike or WhiteLion fans..

27/03/03: John Elway - megjimp@ida.net
Rating: 60
I have no idea why this guy's records are so highly praised by this site. Tramp's voice is whiny and weak (This was covered well in White Lion with superior songs and musicianship.) . The tunes are extremely forgettable. If you're a While Lion fan, don't pick up any of this guy's discs thinking you might relive some of the glory days. He's turned his back on hard rock and his records are just plain boring.

20/03/03: Melih - Cavli
Rating: 99
This album has everything.I loved it.
Thanks Mike, I was waiting for a long time for this album and it's even better than what I expected.
You make my life better, your lyrics are a summary of what I go through or how I feel.

17/03/03: mc hammer - .
Rating: 99
Typical Mike Tramp album! It's once again a record with very personal feelings. Tramp rocks and is one of the best songerwriters in the world!

12/03/03: Dan Friml - dan@haremscarem.net
Rating: 95
Yeah.. I loved White Lion, Freak Of Nature and of course I enjoy the Mike's solo records. And this one is (in my opinion) his best! Great songs, great sound and finally Mike's voice! There's nothing more to say... Just one thing. After I did a phone interview with Mike (for one Czech rock magazine) I have to say, he's really cool person... He rocks!

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