Album review: THREE LIONS – Three Lions

April 20th, 2014 by jason

Frontiers [Released 25.04.14]

Three Lions is a dream come true for Bradford vocalist and bass player Nigel Bailey. Twenty years of slogging around local pubs and clubs in his spare time suddenly turned into an opportunity to record an album for Frontiers with Vinny Burns and Greg Morgan…and it all started with emailing some songs to Frontiers.

Three Lions play melodic rock in the broadest sense of the word mixing the obvious influence of both Ten and Dare with a distinct eighties Toto and Foreigner feel.

Lead single Trouble in a Red Dress kicks things off in style with what would have been a big hit back in the late eighties. Hold Me Down starts with a simple riff and vocals and once the chorus kicks in you can’t help thinking of FM. Twisted Soul has a Whitesnake vibe but ultimately doesn’t go anywhere. The first of the ballads kicks in with Winter Sun which never really starts. Holy Water is rock-by-numbers and just too generic and predictable.

Two Hearts Beat as One is another ballad but is like one of those Foreigner/Toto ballads that you always skip.

Best track on offer here has to be the Eastern flavoured Kathmandu which could easily pass as one of Ten’s epic numbers. Magdalene is classic rock through and through and Hellfire Highway motors along nicely. Instrumental Sicilian Kiss brings things to a close with a bluesy Gary Moore-like workout.

The playing and production cannot be faulted and Alessandro Del Vecchio adds keyboard, piano and organ flourishes to several cuts.

Overall this is a worthy release and one that Nigel Bailey and the guys can be proud of but I believe it would have been vastly improved by cutting a couple of the ballads grouped in the middle of the record.

***½

Review by Phil Berisford

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
RIOGHAN Hands (Inverse Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)