Lion was an American band that was formed in 1984 by Ex-Steeler drummer Mark Edwards. It consisted of a British singer Kal Swan, and guitarist Doug Aldrich, along with bassist Jerry Best. They should be remembered for the “Transformer’s” Theme song released in 1986, but alas, nobody remembers the name of the band that recorded it. Only the song itself. They also released “Powerlove” from the movie The Wraith which also included a song by Ozzy Osbourne. Again, everyone remembers the song, but nobody remembers the band.
Their debut album “Dangerous Attraction” was released in 1987 and became one of my favorite albums of the Hard Rock genre. The video for “Powerlove” got some rotation on MTV, but disappeared rather quickly and it seemed like Lion fell off the planet.
I was in Japan in 1989 and went to a record store to check out some cool Japanese vinyl. As I was looking through the L’s, mainly for some Lillian Axe, I came across a new Lion album called “Trouble In Angel City”. I was taken aback, as I didn’t know they were still together. As I didn’t have a record player in Japan, I had to wait 6 weeks till I got back to the states to listen to it. And when I did, it was AWESOME!!!! I listened to it over, and over again. I searched every music store in Tucson for this on cd but could not find it anywhere. I later found out that it was pretty much released only in Japan.
Shortly after the release, the band fell apart. Aldrich joined Hurricane, then House of Lords, then reunited with Lion singer Kal Swan and recorded 3 Bad Moon Rising albums. Again, only released in Japan. Now, all these years later, Doug Aldrich is the guitar player for Whitesnake and he kicks ass.
Both Lion albums are 2 of my favorite albums from the 80’s. I found them both on Amazon some years ago and paid a small fortune for them as they are out of print and were only available as Imports. If you like great hard rockin music with great hooks, melodies and guitar solo’s, I suggest you check these releases out. Besides Whitesnake, Aldrich also has a band called Burning Rain that has 3 releases out. Everything he touches is amazing. I have all of his music on my ipod and listen to it daily. So, check them out and as always….
Peace out my peeps!!!!
