New Steve Harris "British Lion" streaming

[Jind]

The new solo project by Steve Harris of Iron Maiden fame is streaming in complete form over at MetalHammer: http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/s...-album-streaming-exclusively-on-metal-hammer/

It's been produced by Kevin Shirley and has a pretty 70's classic rock vibe from what I've listened to so far. The lead singer is not the most powerful singer in the world but I'm getting used to him as I listen deeper into the album. As one would expect from a Steve Harris focused album, the bass is very upfront in the mix.

I'm digging it so far and will be ordering a copy - between it and the new Black Country Communion disc "Afterglow" due out the end of October it will be a good month or so for more classic type rock.

 

[luismars]

Really? The songs are ok but the sound is awful. Too much bass, too much voice. I'm not an ace mixer, but there're something about it that really makes me hate it.

 

[BrettT]

I agree..mix sucks ass. Music is really blah.

 

[JeffTD]

Not only is the production awful, but the performances all pretty much suck; vocals and guitars especially.

 

[Metal Overload]

Production aspects aside, im liking it a lot, don't judge by the first song, best ones are are in the middle... but i'm a Classic Rock fan... worth the listen.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

The songs are not bad but I dont know Kevin keeps working with those big bands nowadays. His mixes are clearly outdated, he got stuck in 70/80. Of course that this kind of sound doesnt need a modern mix a la andy sneap. But man this is poorly mixed, seems almost he didnt do much to the tracks.

 

[Trevoire520]

Mix is terrible, and that's coming from someone who likes the mixes for Brave New World, Final Frontier and AMOLAD. I get a funny feeling it's Steve saying "I want it raw" still no excuse for the muddiness though, and the drums don't sound great either.

Basslines are great! But there's a few tracks on there that I really feel should have been saved for a Maiden album as they have that sound and would have came out much better with Bruce/Nicko etc.

Overall I feel the album is quite average to be honest, lacks any real excitement and energy.

 

[~BURNY~]

Shirley should retire. I'm a huge fan of the 70's sound. This is just badly mixed.
Music is okayish, nothing to write home about and the performance isn't great.

 

[grywolf627]

Shirley should retire. I'm a huge fan of the 70's sound. This is just badly mixed.
Music is okayish, nothing to write home about and the performance isn't great.

I agree. I too am a huge fan of 70's (and 80's) things. After all, I'm FROM the 70's. But most everything back then sounded better than this. This sounds like a terrible garage recording. Sorry Jind. I usually agree with you on a lot of things...but not this.

 

[DanLights]

Oh my god the mix really is shit, nothing compared to Shirley's Maiden mixes or anything he's done, mud city!

Just 3 seconds in killed the mood, but I'll try to listen to it all cause I love Steve Harris and Maiden and Kevin Shirley.

Edit: Was the drummer recording in his sleep? Such a lame performance

 

[Firaxis]

I've seen a couple of interviews with Kevin Shirley where he said Harris was really pushy about the sound he wanted and that he didn't like how some of the records ended up sounding. Maybe it was similar here.

 

[DanLights]

I've seen a couple of interviews with Kevin Shirley where he said Harris was really pushy about the sound he wanted and that he didn't like how some of the records ended up sounding. Maybe it was similar here.

it is commonly known that in Maiden Harris has always been really bossy about the sound he wants, and IMO it always worked well for Maiden, but this sounds nothing like the Maiden albums, I wonder what went wrong

 

[Firaxis]

it is commonly known that in Maiden Harris has always been really bossy about the sound he wants, and IMO it always worked well for Maiden, but this sounds nothing like the Maiden albums, I wonder what went wrong

I think I meant to say "maybe that's what Steve wanted it to sound like"

 

[colonel_claypoo]

I don't know what to say. I didn't even have high expectations and this album even falls short of that.
I will just try to listen to the bass because that's what's the most interesting for me anyways.

 

[DanLights]

After listening to the first four songs, I can tolerate the horrible mix a bit more, cause some of the songs are pretty cool, it'll probably grown on me, but I can't get over the mediocre performances, they ALL sound like they recorded in their sleep, specially the singer and drummer. Harry sounds like Harry though, still love him

 

[26]

listened to it at 6 in the morning and it clearly made sense to me in a context of what a guy like Steve Harris wants his solo album to sound like.

 

[vespiz]

Yechh..

 

[Severu]

The only thing about this album I find interesting is that we can hear 'Arry using Jazz Basses and MusicMan basses, aside from his trusted P. Mix is just plain bad imho. This is coming from a huge Steve Harris/Maiden fan, btw...

 

[DanLights]

Production aspects aside, im liking it a lot, don't judge by the first song, best ones are are in the middle... but i'm a Classic Rock fan... worth the listen.

I'm gonna have to agree with this statement, the songs in the middle are much better than the first two, it even makes me overlook the crappy mix, but man that first song sucked.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Really? The songs are ok but the sound is awful. Too much bass, too much voice. I'm not an ace mixer, but there're something about it that really makes me hate it.

The low end it´s not even there and the fret noise is annoying. I cant enjoy something without a decent low end. The last maiden albuns were bad but this is even worse.