British Lion is the debut solo album from Steve Harris, best known as the bassist and primary songwriter for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Following the initial announcement of the album's release in July 2012, Classic Rock revealed that the project originated with a band, named British Lion, which Harris had been mentoring in the early 1990s. Harris confirmed this during an interview with Classic Rock the following month, explaining that he became involved after "Graham Leslie [guitar] came to me with a cassette of songs... and I thought they were really good, so I said I’d try to help his band do something. I ended up managing them and producing them and writing with them. After the original band split up, he "kept in touch with Richie [Taylor, vocals] and Graham, and then Richie was working with another guitarist called David Hawkins, who’s a really talented guy, and so we started writing songs together." After several years of work, due to Harris being occupied with Iron Maiden, the album ultimately consists of "six songs written with Richie and David, there’s one with just me and Richie, and the others are me, Richie, Graham and a couple of other guys that were around at the time."
Harris has also stated that he intends to tour the album at some stage, remarking that, although "there are no shows arranged yet", "I know we’ll be playing clubs, which is great because I’ve not played clubs for years".
Kerrang! deemed British Lion "a brilliant album", describing it as "the sound of an incredibly talented songwriter stepping outside of what he'd normally do and indulging himself in something a bit different with a group of excellent musicians." Metal Hammer were also positive towards the release, praising the "infectious re-imaginings of the UFO and Thin Lizzy albums that inspired their creator as a kid," concluding that "This is a big hearted and ferocious triumph." Although they criticised the album's lyrics, Classic Rock complimented vocalist Richard Taylor and guitarist Graham Leslie, concluding that "British Lion is an album that is both exactly what you'd expect, and far better than that."

1. "This is my God"              Steve Harris, David Hawkins, Richard Taylor 4:57
2. "Lost Worlds"                 Harris, Hawkins, Taylor 4:58 
3. "Karma Killer"                Harris, Hawkins, Taylor 5:29 
4. "Us Against the World"        Harris, Hawkins, Taylor 4:12 
5. "The Chosen Ones"             Harris, Taylor 6:27
6. "A World without Heaven"      Standard 7:02
7. "Judas"                       Harris, Hawkins, Taylor 4:58 
8. "Eyes of the Young"           Harris, Leslie, Roberts, Taylor 5:25 
9. "These are the Hands"         Harris, Hawkins, Taylor 4:28 
10."The Lesson"                  Harris, Hawkins, Taylor 4:15 

Total length: 52:11