Iron Maiden mainman Steve Harris believes his bandmates haven’t heard his solo album British Lion.
He didn’t want to force them into sitting through the recent release, and only played it to drummer Nicko McBrain when he asked to listen.
Harris tells Decibel: “When someone else in Maiden is working on another project, no one really talks about it. Bruce and Adrian don’t go around broadcasting to the others and I didn’t either.
“Nicko asked to hear it so I played it for him. But the other guys haven’t asked to hear it, so I haven’t played it for them. Simple as that, really.”
The bassist flatly denies the suggestion that his material is made up of Maiden cast-offs.
“This is not throwaway Maiden stuff,” he insists. “These aren’t riffs I could have used in Maiden. It was done with other people, and as soon as that happens it’s not going to be Maiden.”
He accepts three tracks, Us Against the World, The Chosen Ones and A World Without Heaven could sound a little like material from his main band, but only “because they’ve got those harmony guitars.
“In general it’s more riffy,” he continues. “Obviously there’s lots of melody. There’s lots of melody in Maiden as well. Sometimes I think Maiden doesn’t get enough credit for the melody we do have.”
Harris, who’d been working on the solo project on and off since at least 1993, says it’s a relief to have it released at last.
He explains: “I think everyone knows I’m the one that’s busiest in Maiden. When we’re not touring or recording I’m still doing loads of Maiden stuff, video editing and God knows what else, so I get less downtime than the others.
“That’s why it’s taken so long. I was trying to find bits in here and there when the other people were available to work while I was in the UK, which over the last few years has not been very often.”
-Classic Rock Magazine
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