There’s not really much to say about Lion beyond their 1987 album ‘Dangerous Attraction’. It’s like the band went into hiding or something during 1988.
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Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Lion
ALBUM: Trouble In Angel City
LABEL: Grand Slamm
SERIAL: SLAMCD 5
YEAR: 1989
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Kal Swan – lead and backing vocals * Doug Aldrich – guitars, backing vocals * Jerry Best – bass, backing vocals * Mark Edwards – drums, backing vocals
Additional Musicians: Rick Seratte – keyboards, backing vocals * Scott MacLachlan, Victoria Seeger – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Come On * 02 Lock Up Your Daughters * 03 Can’t Stop The Rain * 04 Love Is A Lie * 05 Victims Of Circumstance * 06 Stranger In The City * 07 Hungry For Love * 08 Hold On * 09 Lonely Girl * 10 Forgotten Sons
WEBLINKS: Wikipedia Page
Lion Background
There’s not really much to say about Lion beyond their 1987 album ‘Dangerous Attraction’. It’s like the band went into hiding or something during 1988.
Lion had departed Scotti Bros and hooked up with Grand Slamm Records, a small New Jersey based label. They also had Lillian Axe and Alcatrazz on their books. The former released albums in the 90’s. The latter had reissues done of their earlier 80’s albums.
Their new record, which was their third and final, came out in June 1989. It flew under the radar for many. Myself included.
The Songs
The first thing to point out is the reworking of five songs from 1986’s ‘Power Love’. My guess is the band weren’t happy with the original recordings, hence an update.
The updates included: ‘Love Is A Lie’, ‘Victims Of Circumstance’, ‘Stranger In The City’, ‘Hungry For Love’ and ‘Forgotten Sons’. Added to this was a cover of Slade‘s’ Lock Up Your Daughters’.
Of the remaining four tracks, we get a hint in the direction Lion were moving. Both ‘Come On’ and ‘Can’t Stop The Rain’ feature keyboard introductions similar to ‘In The Name Of Love’. There’s a hint of Whitesnake too, but much better in my opinion. These two are melodic and hard rocking,
‘Hold On’ has a hackneyed songtitle. It’s very commercial, like many bands of the same era. Think Fifth Angel as an example. ‘Lonely Girl’ is the token acoustic ballad. It’s only a brief interlude at 1 min 42s.
In Summary
Lion initially didn’t get much traction in the USA. It was first released in Japan mainly because they were popular there than at home.
‘Trouble In Angel City’ wasn’t a great shaker and mover. Trouble eventually caught up with band several weeks after the release. Drummer Mark Edwards suffered some serious injuries after a motorbike crash during a Motorcross event. The band folded soon after.
More info can be found on their Wikipedia page (link above).
Lion on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
