Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Lionheart
Label: AOR Heaven Records
Release: 2017
Runtime: 50:59
Rating: 4.5/5
The undisputed N.W.O.B.H.M. legends Lionheart, a band that put out one album in the mid-eighties and then fell apart ignominiously, much like a good number of their peers, got back together last year after 30 years and announced a new album. And we actually got it. At the end of August, »Second Nature« came out on AOR Heaven Records.
The Lionheart story began in 1980, when the band was founded by guitarist Dennis Stratton (Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis), singer Jess Cox (Tygers of Pan Tang), guitarist Steve Mann (Liar), bassist Rocky Newton (Wildfire) and drummer Frank Noon (Def Leppard). Throughout the eighties, a pretty eventful stretch for the band, the Lionheart core was always Stratton, Newton and Mann, while the band went through quite a few singers and drummers over the years. The vocalist spot was filled by Rueben Archer, John Farlham and Bob Hawthorn, with Stratton and Newton occasionally patching the singer’s role too. Behind the kit over the years sat: Les Binks (Judas Priest), Nicko McBrain (Trust, Iron Maiden, Pat Travers Band) and Clive Edwards (Wild Horses). After a long period of silence, the band reunited in 2016 at the initiative of Rockingham festival promoter Dave Herron. That was followed by a slot at this year’s Sweden Rock festival, and in the meantime the band also put together material for a new studio album. “Second Nature”, as it’s called, was recorded between November 2016 and May 2017, produced by Steve Mann in his own studio in Hanover, Germany. This summer Lionheart already pulled off a successful (short) Japanese tour alongside Praying Mantis. They’ve got UK dates announced for November and December. As touring companions they picked yet another legendary British rock outfit, Airrace.
So how does »Second Nature« sound? Given the biographical rundown above and the track records of the bands cited, the easiest conclusion is that it’s a happy mix of everything. The new album shares the most stylistic ground with Praying Mantis, then with the Uriah Heep albums »Head First« and »Abominog«, and the shorter Praying Mantis era, when they were called Stratus and Bernie Shaw lent his vocals to the one and only Stratus album, definitely counts too. Shaw, mind you, has been singing for Uriah Heep non-stop since 1986. When it comes to stylistic similarities, the names Sweet and Grand Prix have to be added, and among comparisons with their contemporaries it’s worth stressing that the announced tour pairing with their countrymen Airrace makes perfect sense. Whoever likes Airrace will adopt Lionheart on the spot. The funny thing is that Lionheart played old-school heavy metal in the beginning, which is why critics lump them in with the NWOBHM wave, but then, much like Praying Mantis, they changed their style quite a bit on the debut and got involved with the radio-friendly AOR sound of the time, and the old fans turned their backs on them. In the choruses, the new album occasionally even stretches toward the west coast AOR feel of Journey and the last two solo albums by Rob Moratti, and in terms of musicality it’ll feel like home to most fans of classic Def Leppard too, although, as already mentioned, the following description pins down »Second Nature« best: a combination of Praying Mantis, the Uriah Heep of the first half of the eighties, Airrace, and a hefty dose of inspiration from Sweet. The way the choruses are written, pompously decked out with multi-part vocal harmonies, tells you all of it. The same goes for the production and for the way the old »eighties« keyboard sound is woven into the arrangements.
That said, the album certainly doesn’t lack punch. The guitar phrases are elemental and the guitars sharp enough to give the welcome edge, even though the melodies flirt with eighties pop all the way through (that’s AOR sound for you). The opener comes closest to that, while the rest of the album has more of the classic heavy metal element. Worth mentioning too is that new singer Lee Small is actually »unrecognizable«. Considering the vocal approach he used in Surveillance and on the latest album by the cult British AOR rockers Shy, which you can feel was inspired by Glenn Hughes and also Steve Overland (FM, Shadowman, Overland), Small takes a path of completely clean, »straight« lines here, without any »soul« acrobatics. At the same time he builds a strong vocal dominance and authority. He’s extremely compatible, both in tone and in his »newfound« approach. An excellent vocal execution by an excellent singer, in other words.
Lionheart’s polish and seasoned craft also show in how superbly they rearranged Chris De Burgh’s Don’t Pay the Ferrymen and Every Boy in Town by the cult NWOBHM band Taurus. Anyone who doesn’t know the originals would instantly think they were Lionheart originals. And how well they just »fit« into the album »Second Nature«.
With »Second Nature«, then, Lionheart have delivered a really lovely, polished, consistently high-quality and compact album that walks the thin line between classic metal elements and the distinctly melodic-rock side of hard rock and AOR. For eighties nostalgics and fans of the bands mentioned in this review, it’s an album you absolutely have to check out. You can tell the ideas are old and have been carefully ripening over the years, so the tracks are, one and all, very well arranged and polished down to the last detail. From the first second to the last. Let’s hope the band holds on to this inspiration and pours it into the next studio album soon.
Lionheart – Don’t Pay the Ferrymen (official video):
Line-up
Lee Small – vocals
Dennis Stratton – guitar, backing vocals
Steve Mann – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Rocky Newton – bass guitar, backing vocals
Clive Edwards – drums
Production
Steve Mann
Track list
1. Prelude
2. Give Me the Light
3. Don’t Pay the Ferrymen
4. Angels With Dirty Faces
5. 30. Years
6. On Our Way
7. Second Nature
8. Prisoner
9. Every Boy in Town
10. Time is Watching
11. Heartbeat Radio
12. Lionheart
13. Reprise
