Featured Artist
Lion's Share
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Lion's Share Feature
Compiled by EvilG in 1999
I first heard Lion's Share on the 1996 Judas Priest
Tribute CD entitled "Legends of Metal." They covered (at that
time) a not so classic Priest song, "A Touch of Evil" and they
did a great job doing it! I filed their name away in the recesses of my
mind to keep an eye out for. Well as luck would have it Lion's Share found
me in late 1998. Lars dropped us a line with news on their new CD
"Fall From Grace." Needless to say I was quite interested in
hearing it so he sent me a promo copy that you can read a review of in our
reviews section (click here). Out of all the
CD's I've heard lately this one came out on top. Sure it might not of been
the heaviest, but it was the most professional and involved some fine song
writing.
An
Introductory History:
Lion's Share were formed in Sundsvall, Sweden in late 1987
by guitarist Lars Chriss and keyboardist Kay Backlund. The band
immediately began perfecting their brand of classy, progressive metal
through intensive rehearsals and live performances, eventually winning the
first prize at a national band competition the following year.
In an effort to capitalize on their early momentum, the
group made their recording debut at the end of 1988, a seven-inch single
featuring the track "Ghost town queen", which received a number
of positive reviews in various hard rock publications all across Europe.
In 1989, Lion's Share won yet another national band
competition and began recording a follow-up single, an effort which sadly
never saw the light of day due to internal problems within the group's
line-up at the time. After parting ways with the rest of the band, Lars
and Kay spent the bulk of 1990 attempting to find suitable replacements,
but without any success. Frustrated and disappointed, Chriss and Backlund
split up the band.
In 1992, Lars (by this time living in Stockholm) received
an offer from a small Belgian label to be included on a compilation CD
which was to feature some of the most promising new groups from the
European continent. Without a proper line-up the guitarist quickly rounded
up some of Sweden's top musicians to record the original track
"Nothing's Free" with the song's final version featuring Chriss,
Marcel Jacob (Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum) on bass, Conny Lind
(Great King Rat) on vocals, P-A Danielsson (Tiamat, Veni Domine) on
keyboards, and Johan Koleberg on drums.
Satisfied with the results, Lars set about reforming the
group in a brand new incarnation, in which he was eventually joined by the
returning Backlund, Koleberg, ex-Sorceror vocalist Andy Engberg and
ex-Glory bassist Andy Loos. It wasn't long before this line-up of Lion's
Share landed a deal with Japan's Zero Corporation records and Germany's
Long Island records for the release of the group's self-titled debut
album, which ultimately saw the light of day in December 1994 (the
European release through Long Island took place several months later).
After parting ways with Loos due to the pressures of "family
life", Lion's Share eventually enlisted the services of bassist
Pontus Egberg and inked a worldwide deal with the Century Media label, in
the process tightening their sound by becoming heavier and more
guitar-oriented then ever before, as evidenced by the band's sophomore
effort, simply entitled "Two".
In the summer of 1996 the band contributed to the
"Judas Priest tribute Vol.1" with a cover-version of "A
touch of evil", the CD also featured bands like Testament, Saxon,
Fates Warning, Mercyful Fate, Helloween, U.D.O, among others. In Nov-Dec.
of 1996 Lion's Share supported metal legends Saxon on their European tour,
and in April-May 1997 the band did a 3 1/2 week European tour with Iced
Earth and Nevermore. Another tour with Saxon took place in late 1997, and
in early 1998 Lion's Share went on a Scandinavian tour with U.D.O. (ex-
Accept).
By the time the band went into the studio to record their
third album "Fall From Grace", the record company Century Media
had big economical problems and were forced to agree on a termination of
the contract. After finishing the recordings on their own, Lion's Share
soon signed with their new label Avex Inc. (for Japan), which released the
album on February 24th. (catalog no. AVCB 66060). The band are currently
on the look-out for an equally good company to release it in America and
Europe.
Lion's Share is firmly committed to following their hearts
and not the current musical trends when it comes to their songwriting, an
attitude and approach which the group themselves find much more personally
fulfilling. It is the band's hope and belief that the sincerity and the
passion which they pour into their music will ultimately help them find
their audience and provide the quintet with the recognition that they
deserve.
Read
our interview with Lars!
Lion's
Share official webpage