| Mike Tramp Songs I Left Behind | Frontiers FRCD224 |
|
|
As with many musicians, Mike Tramp always records a few extra songs per album and weaves what he considers the most fitting tracks into the final running order that will be released as an album. Songs I Left Behind is an obvious title for a collection of those extra songs that were left off an album at the time as they didn't quite fit, or already were represented by a song that sounded similar. This CD is an absolute no-brainer for fans of Tramp, as it delivers an extraordinary 16 additional tracks never before released. There are no surprises for the style here either – if you own Capricorn, Recovering The Wasted Years or More To Life Than This, you won't be surprised to hear a selection of melodic rock songs driven by Mike's dual acoustic/electric guitar and vocal style. Highlights include the opener, Sometimes, which featured on the Melodicrock Vol. 2 release, the breezy uptempo rocker Do It While You Can, the harder edged Over And Out, and the sentimental ballad Love Won't Wait – which has a very familiar ring to it. Yes, the 4 best tracks are all stacked at the beginning of the album, but there are other highlights, such as Before The Night (a stripped back ballad) and Show Me (a gritty rocker, unlucky not to be included on an album already). If there was any issue of complaint, it would be that the overall collection of songs is fairly laid back and certainly stacked with ballads and mid-tempo numbers. Not too many rockers here and the pace of the last half of the album is a little slow. But these are unreleased songs, so the flow of a regular album is harder to achieve and not as high a priority. A couple of extra rarities are included – the original version of Falling Down – complete with different versus and an original version of Darkness, the classy ballad, which has a totally different feel here. Both songs are better as they are known today, but these versions give a good insight into the writing process.
|
12/07/05: Arney - daveandmel@kooee.com.au
24/12/04: JOHN WILLIAMSON - jthunder@dmv.com
24/12/04: Arnaud - aa@reality.zzn.com
Rating: 85
This is a typical Mike Tramp release, which I don't mind as I like his formula & style heaps.Where he really stands out is his live performances, gives it all & really knows how to perform & gives the audience a great time.This releases like his others takes a few listens to grow on you, but when you get the melodies in your head they are hard to get out & that the sign of a good song & thats what the album is full of.I introduced White Lion & Tramp to my sister & she has been hooked since.She tells me that a copy of this album sits permanently in her cars cd player & that she listens to it everywhere she goes.So thats a good reveiw in itself as she is normally only interested in the radio friendly top 40 stuff promoted to the mainsteam.Hard to beleive this is an album of songs that didn't make the grade for previous releases it's so good.
Rating: 99
Some of these songs are real lost gems, and also in my opinion better then some of the material on his albums. CAPRICORN was and is his best solo album in MIKE TRAMP solo collection, and SONGS I LEFT BEHIND is his second. DARKNESS is prob. my favorite track on this entire album, it is a start to finish and replay album
Rating: 92
A great compilation, a big present for Christmas 2004. Thanks a lot Mike !
ADD YOUR OWN REVIEW! (Ratings out of 100)
