British Lions: Live at the Old Waldorf, San Francisco 1978 (Angel Air, CD)

The British Lions were a greatly underrated band that sprung from the remnants of legendary British 1970s glam rock band as that decade came to a close. As punk and new wave were all the rage, the former Mott members enlisted ex-Medicine Head singer John Fiddler and adopted a tougher, edgier sound for the times. They made one great album that didn't sell and that was about it (a second album came out after the band broke up). So it's very cool to hear them again on this newly unearthed live recording from the good folks at Angel Air, a British label that specializes in this kind of buried treasure. Mostly reprising their first album, Live at the Old Waldorf finds the Lions in rough, edgy, raw form-tons of rock'n'roll energy, great songs like “One More Chance to Run” and “Break This Fool”, powerful guitars, goofy early synth sounds, and the solid rhythm section of Overend Watts and Buffin. Fiddler's powerful voice gets a little hoarse at times, but he proved he was a first-rate live performer. Sound quality is iffy-soundboard with some fine-tuning-but that adds to its charm. With all the attention being paid to Mott the Hoople lately, thanks to the band's recent reunion and Joe Elliot's excellent tribute CD (which featured a cover of a British Lions song), this is a CD-and band-deserving of attention.