Sep. 26, 2012 - Issue #884: Strangelove
British Lion
British LionSteve Harris {recordings_bands_mg} British Lion {/recordings_bands_mg}
EMI,
2
The good news is that Iron Maiden bass player and mainstay Steve Harris has made his first solo album into something that he couldn't have done with in his day job. The bad news is that Harris's work in Maiden is far, far superior to what he's done here. British Lion sounds like some old friends having a go at some '70s-style classic rockers in the garage. There are moments of the bass brilliance you might expect from a Harris solo album—a couple melodic riffs in "The Chosen Ones"—but those are few and far between and inevitably crushed by the mediocrity of the rest of the songs—the bland pop of "Eyes of the Young" and the mid-tempo sludge of "These Are the Hands." The album's best track is closer "The Lesson," which also happens to be the easiest to envision as an Iron Maiden song. Unfortunately, even that falls short, illuminating just how important the other five members of Maiden are when it comes to giving life to Harris's songwriting and bass playing.
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