Double Album Review — Mike Tramp/Bryan Adams

Mike Tramp-Stray From The Flock & Bryan Adams-Shine A Light

If you’ve heard any of Mike Tramp’s solo records you know that he isn’t trying to recreate White Lion records. And on Tramp’s newest record, “Stray From The Flock”, he takes another step away from his famous 80s hard rock band. Whether it’s a step in a positive direction is another question.

The album opens with “No End To War”. The song’s construction and sound remind me of “Hotel California” by the Eagles, from the opening acoustic guitar riff to the dual guitar solo to the nearly nine minute length of the song. As the title suggests, the content of the song is a bit of a downer and that’s a theme of the record.

The rest of the album has a Tom Petty feel to it, at least musically. “Dead End Ride” and “One Last Mission” are about as upbeat as the record gets. Both are good rock songs that push the tempo a little. “Live It Out” and “Best Days Of My Life” are also decent and keep the tempo up.

But the overall feel of the record is very somber, bordering on sad. “Homesick”, “No Closure” and “Die With A Smile On Your Face” are as depressing as the titles suggest. And at times the songs can drag out a bit. There’s only one song on the record that comes in under four minutes with a whopping six out of ten over the five minute mark. And it’s not guitar solos that extend the songs save for a couple of tracks.

Tramp’s vocals haven’t changed much over the years and he is in fine form vocally. But overall I think the album could use a couple of upbeat songs to break the mood and liven things up a bit. If you are going to write somber songs, it helps to kick it up a notch musically from time to time. I think that would help things out here.

Overall, Tramp still sounds very good but I’m struggling with the mood of the record. A couple of heavier tracks would have done wonders.

80 out of 100

Track Listing

01. No End To War
02. Dead End Ride *
03. Homesick
04. You Ain’t Free Anymore
05. No Closure
06. One Last Mission *
07. Live It Out *
08. Messiah
09. Best Days Of My Life *
10. Die With A Smile On Your Face

• Best Songs

You would be hard pressed to find a musician that could match the run Bryan Adams was on in the 80s and early 90s. Adams hit the mainstream with Cuts Like A Knife, went to number one with Reckless and continued his string of fantastic records with Into The Fire and my personal favorite, Waking Up The Neighbours.

But Adams took a major detour with 2015’s “Get Up”. He brought in Jeff Lynne of ELO to produce and the album sounds like an ELO album, which is fine if you like ELO, but as a fan of Bryan Adams, I was disappointed.

Lynne is gone for “Shine A Light” although his influence can still be heard. Ed Sheeran and even Jennifer Lopez make appearances as this album is a bit all over the place.

The opening track, “Shine A Light” is co-written by Sheeran and is a decent song. It’s catchy and Adams sounds as good as ever. It’s an acoustic driven song that could use a little more beef to it. But it’s a good start.

The album comes to a crashing halt with J-Lo’s appearance. “That’s How Strong Our Love Is” is weak, and that’s being nice. I don’t understand why Adams would go down this road? It’s unnecessary and just not a good idea which leads to a bad song.

Thankfully the album gets going again with “Part Friday Night, Part Sunday Morning” which reminds me of Bon Jovi’s “Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning”. This track represents the best part of the record but also the missed opportunity of this record. This song is begging for some guitar and Adams employs a fantastic player in Keith Scott. But for some reason Adams doesn’t utilize Scott on this record much and it comes through.

There are some good songs here. “All Or Nothing” is classic Adams, “Nobody’s Girl” has a cool U2 vibe to it as does “I Could Get Used To This” in a very different way. And the traditional Irish tune “Whiskey In The Jar” is a nice touch to close out the record.

“Shine A Light” is definitely a step in the right direction after the disappointing “Get Up” but a couple of poor decisions, the biggest being the relative absence of Keith Scott, keep this record from being a winner. I would love to hear a version of this record with Scott up in the mix and given some freedom.

But it is good to see Adams writing a few really good songs again. It gives me hope that maybe he can put it all together on his next record, whenever that is.

85 out of 100

Track Listing

1. Shine A Light *
2. That’s How Strong Our Love Is ft. Jennifer Lopez
3. Part Friday Night, Part Sunday Morning *
4. Driving Under the Influence Of Love
5. All or Nothing *
6. No Time for Love
7. I Could Get Used to This
8. Talk to Me
9. The Last Night on Earth
10. Nobody’s Girl *
11. Don’t Look Back
12. Whiskey in the Jar *

*Best Songs