01 Lights and ThunderAfter another long overdue listen to this album I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d love to see the return of White Lion. Mane Attraction has long been my favorite White Lion album although I’ve been a fan of them since the first time I heard Pride, their also excellent second album.

Vito Bratta’s fretwork on this album is pure hard rock nirvana. Thick juicy riffs wrapped around stinging solos from Bratta, spot on vocal work by Mike Tramp and tight and heavy as hell rhthyms from James Lomenzo on bass and Greg D’Angelo on the sticks makes this White Lion’s most impressive work. Beautiful songwriting by Tramp and Bratta and the cohesion as a band to pull it off is quite simply stunning.

It’s also their heaviest record and man does it crank! If these guys had put this album out even a year earlier than it’s April 1991 release it might have become a highly recognized hard rock masterpiece. As things turned out with the massive changes in rock due to Nirvana’s explosion in ’91 this CD was largely ignored. Compounding matters was the departure of Lomenzo and D’ Angelo shortly after it’s release. Thus, the premature end of White Lion’s career.

From the opening storm of Lights and Thunder to the closing notes of Farewell to You, MANE ATTRACTION is an opus, a paean to the best music and musicians in popular music history, and a one of the most underappreciated works in hard rock and heavy metal.

This is the best work of White Lion’s career helped along by fantastic production by Richie Zito. If you are always on the prowl for great music you may have missed or constantly on the hunt for (puns intended) masterful musicianship you need to spend an hour with MANE ATTRACTION.

This is the finest farewell album by any of the bands of that era and turned out to be a prophetic piece of work that foretold the end of a glorious and too short career.

Here is a sample of their super work:

http://youtu.be/Gz3sN5cguJc

http://youtu.be/0Bdgns1KakY

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman