Steve Harris, bassist and principal songwriter of the legendary Iron Maiden, mentored the hard rock/heavy metal quintet British Lion as a side job in the 1990s, writing and producing for them. After British Lion split up, he stayed in touch with vocalist Richard Taylor and guitarist Grahame Leslie. They, and their later collaborator, guitarist David Hawkins, would eventually use the British Lion name and release an album (also called British Lion), which was credited solely to Harris. As opposed to Harris' primary gig with Iron Maiden, British Lion had a classic hard rock sound influenced by acts Harris had grown up with such as the Who, UFO, and Thin Lizzy, which allowed him to try different playing techniques than those he employed with Iron Maiden. BL undertook a small-scale tour of modestly sized venues -- very different from the arenas to which Harris had become accustomed -- in effect, taking him back to his roots. The next years found Harris occupied with Iron Maiden, but eventually, British Lion were able to get back together to record again. In 2020 they finally released their long-awaited second album, The Burning -- the first credited to British Lion as a "proper" band -- and undertook their first U.S. tour. The Burning combined the hard rock feel of the first album with old-fashioned, high-energy, melodic heavy metal very much in the Iron Maiden vein, but with more of a sense of fun and less of the literary, portentous lyrical themes that often characterized Maiden. ~ John D. Buchanan