You gotta love the promo dude. “LIONHEART (ex-IRON MAIDEN)…” in huge letters. The headline shrilly hollers its wares at the audience like some seethingly bright neon sign over at Times Square. So, naive RMR fully believed that staged Heavy Metal would grace our turntable and started looking for Iron Maiden‘s newest clone or something. But upon a closer look, the situation is a tad different.
Dennis Stratton indeed once rocked with Iron Maiden back around 1980 before Dickinson was even invented. And he only plied the one and only self-titled debut album. So, THAT’s the sole claim for fame of the screamy headline up there. Promo dude, please!
In contrast, Lee Small hairily hails from The Sweet, the glam rock outfit from the last millenium.1 Both, Steve Mann and Rocky Newton either are or were active members of MSG. Michael Schenker Group, the band headed by Scorpions‘ Rudolf Schenker’s grumpy brother, not the flavor enhancer. Clive Edwards joins the band from Uli Jon Roth (ex-Scorpions, ex-Electric Sun, now own band). Lionheart formed in 1980, split up in 1986, and rearranged themselves back in 2016. Thus, this band truly is a congregation of wizened old warhorses who try to keep that old rocky fire alive – now with renewed energy to boot. You do start to see where this is heading, right?
This leaves us with a true rock salad of miscellaneous influences. And none reach too far into the maidenesque high-octane Heavy Metal realm. And why should they? Instead, the RMR crew was suddenly transported back into the ’70s and ’80s where rock was hot, plentiful, and just the rage. UFO and good ol’ Whitesnake come to mind right from the start. And methinks that this record sails a tad too close to those Glam Rock folks that we tried so hard to avoid until recently.
But you gotta give to them. The Grace of a Dragonfly sports some of the neatest rock we have come across lately. The band won’t explore new pastures, sure. But you get a rock-solid production that only loses the bass a tad too often. Apart from that, the record offers a neat flow, loads of oldish group chanting, spry yet frugal riffs, and plenty of the best solos that are out there these days. I guess, being part of MSG will drive you to such heights, and it shows beautifully. And nobody’s trying to impress the audience with fancy screams or out-of-control riffing. Which is a very good thing.
Instead, it’s full steam ahead on this old but good rock train. Declaration already gets you those UFO-esque vibes with the keyboard riff that moves close to one of their early records. Flight 192 shines with a snazzy brand of Hard Rock glories old Krokus couldn’t have done better. This Is A Woman’s War goaded us on with a smooth flow and these eagerly cheesy lines that may have garnered the band some quality time in a sleazy Serie B movie of the ’80s. But the arrangement and slick songwriting really sold us. Now, if you look for some equally slick neatly paced rock, head over to The Longest Night.
If only Lionheart wouldn’t sometimes give in so blatantly to these glam rock urges. V Is For Victory – for instance – dangerously navigates about those latitudes Europe’s earlier records sailed in. A track that almost made us flee that record and send it to Davy Jones’ Locker. Yet, the level of cringe remains just about bearable on here.
Ultimately though, The Grace of a Dragonfly is a fun record. It allows a glimpse back to a time when rock was on the menu almost everywhere. Based on a sound that became all the rage decades into the past – and that still scratches an itch of a fair share of today’s youths. And these band members are nobody’s bitch, they won’t try to impress this new brave world. Instead, you will get a dose of what they do best: Hot ‘n’ heavy rock that rolls over to us on some smooth groove from the annals of time when rock was young and exciting.
And long may they continue.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Metalville Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 15 March 2024