Lionheart: Second Nature (Remastered)

Usually an album has to wait around 20 years before it gets the remastered with extra tracks treatment, but in this case it’s been a mere 5 years. So, why the reissue now? Well it’s a case of the album effectively disappearing due to a European deal lapsing, so in their wisdom Metalville have decided the time is right to unleash this album once more.

I was one of those that purchased Second Nature on first release, so I’m more than familiar with its contents, and pretty fine they are too.

The original line up from 1984`s superb Hot Tonight album is pretty much intact, that’s Dennis Stratton and Steve Mann on Guitars, Rocky Newton on Bass and Clive Edwards on Drums, and there’s the added bonus of including the immense vocal talents of Lee Small, which elevates the material to even greater heights.

After the brief introduction that is `Prelude` comes `Give Me The Light` which really does set the tone for the whole album, with its classy, melodic hook and a dynamic yet sympathetic production that compliments the material perfectly, which goes without saying is evident throughout the rest of the album too.

The cover version of Chris DeBurgh`s `Don’t Pay The Ferryman` is given a completely new lease of life and songs such as `Angels With Dirty Faces` and the title track itself ooze a classiness that’s hard to ignore. The epic `Prisoner` has echoes of the dual guitars of Thin Lizzy from days gone by which tells you just how good this is, and `Heartbeat Radio` would have been THE perfect song for American FM radio back in the glory days.

Of the 2 bonus tracks `Mary Did You Know` is a shimmering ballad that demonstrates just how good a vocalist Lee Small is, and the cover of The Beatles old chestnut `Paperback Writer ` is given due reverence, but it’s hard to improve on the perfection of the original.

This is Melodic/Hard Rock at its finest…. plain and simple. First time around with their aforementioned debut back in the 80`s and the initial release of this album, maybe the record buying public weren’t quite ready for Lionheart`s particular brand of Rock Music. I’m just hoping now that the time is finally right for these guys, as this is an album that you ignore at your peril.

Track Listing
1. Prelude
2. Give Me the Light
3. Don’t Pay the Ferryman
4. Angels with Dirty Faces
5. 30 Years
6. On Our Way
7. Second Nature
8. Prisoner
9. Every Boy in Town
10. Time Is Watching
11. Heartbeat Radio
12. Lionheart
13. Mary Did You Know
14. Paperback Writer
15. Reprise

Added: January 9th 2022
Reviewer: Malcolm Smith
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
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Language: english

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