Vito Bratta‘s melodic guitar work, Mike Tramp‘s signature style of vocals, and Greg D’Angelo‘s drumming on their records (let’s not forget James LoMenzo‘s solid bass work) showed a solid unit of musicianship adding radio friendly songs, along with a heaviness that could appeal to the hard rock fans as well as the Top 40 radio listeners. Whether fans lumped them in with the “One Hit Wonder” hair bands (which the band had several hits, debunking that theory), thanks to the power ballad infomercials on television, or just because they had a limited run, White Lion are one of the most underrated bands of that rock era. Guitar player Vito Bratta was all over the guitar magazines at the time (some writers billed him as the next Eddie Van Halen), but still many don’t mention them today when it comes to being one of the awesome bands in the late 1980s-1990s.

White Lion were one of those bands that had a following. From playing it in my buddy’s car cruising around the streets riding to the local roller skating rink (he passed away a few months ago), to when I started drumming in local bar bands playing it in my car coming home at 3:00 am, I consider this release one of the best in its time. In fact, a few months ago, Sleaze Roxx‘s own editor Olivier challenged me on Facebook to list albums that influenced me, and Big Game was one of the first I wrote down. It seems like I was always playing it that I don’t even remember the day I actual bought the cassette, which I still own for memories, even though I upgraded it on CD. I could write a novel about how much White Lion‘s Big Game release was an influence in my teen years (I won’t, don’t worry).

White lion little fighter