Band : Howard Leese
Album title : Secret Weapon
Label : Frontiers Records
Distributor: Rough Trade Benelux
Release Date : 03/07/2009
Release : CD

In case of this artist you may without any doubt call him a veteran.  He signed his first record deal at the age of 15.
In 1974 he met the Wilson sisters.  He first produced a demo for them, and joined Heart  a year later in 1975, and stayed with the band for some 22 years, not only playing in the band, but also co-producing some of their albums.

After departing with Heart he played in the back-up band of Paul Rodgers, and finally was asked in 1998 to join the Paul Rodgers Band, and recently even became a touring member of the reformed Bad Company.

Now, at the age of 58, he finally wrote a solo-album, and what a cracking album it is.  The opening track starts with a guitar riff that  could have come straight of any ZZ Top  album, and then goes on to become a song with vocals similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd;
A bit further on the record there’s a song sung by Jimi Jamison, and this song can easily match any real Survivor song – Vital Signs – When Seconds Count Era.
Other contributors to the album are Joe Lynn Turner, Paul Rodgers (of course) and Keith Emerson.
Some might say there are too many instrumental songs on the album, but I do not share that opinion.  Even if they are instrumental, the quality of execution is excellent.

89/100

Erik Morren.