Pretty Maids

Pandemonium

Price: 12.95

Review / Notes: As a callow youth (yes I was young once!) peering nervously into the Pandora’s Box of delights that was the rock / metal scene in the late 70’s / early 80’s, my access to new material was understandably limited. Back then my main staple consisted of classic Brit bands such as Rainbow, Deep Purple, Whitesnake and UFO, interwoven later on with a fair degree of the best the NWOBHM had to offer. ‘Foreign’ acts invariably meant namby-pamby radio friendly pap from America (until I discovered Y&T and Blackfoot that is), but as far as Europe was concerned, the Scorpions aside it had little to offer. The launch of Kerrang! changed all that ... all of a sudden my eyes were opened to a scene of which up until that point I’d been blissfully ignorant, in the process broadening my musical horizons exponentially. Quite apart from the veritable flood of turbo-charged American imports assaulting my ears on a regular basis, two early European recommendations stand out to this day – the first was ‘Knights Of The New Thunder’ by TNT, and the second was the self titled EP from Denmark’s Pretty Maids. I’m not gonna give you a huge history lesson on the band as most will probably know it already, but quite why they never achieved the international mega stardom albums like ‘Future World’, ‘Jump The Gun’ and ‘Scream’ demanded, I’ll never know. Always a band who loved to mix muscle and melody in equal proportions, Pretty Maids were at their commercial peak just as Bon Jovi took hard rock global. For the last couple of decades their output has been consistently heavier – perhaps too heavy for some tastes, although personally speaking the likes of ‘Carpe Diem’, ‘Planet Panic’ and ‘Wake Up To The Real World’ all have plenty to offer. It’s been four years since the aforementioned ‘WUTTRW’ and there have been times when it looked as if the band would go under; but no, they’re back and for all those hankering after a return to a slightly less metallic sound, ‘Pandemonium’ could just be the answer to all your prayers! Slick, lean and with a keyboard sound that hasn’t been this prominent in years; Ronnie, Ken and the rest of the gang seem to have been inspired by the recent upsurge in fortunes for all things melodic. Cynics amongst you might suggest that was quite a cold and calculated move on their part, but to that I’d counter just listen to the songs. Crunching riffs and strong melodies, when done properly, should always reach out and touch the listener on some level, and boy do these songs do just that! A veritable rollercoaster ride of emotionally charged highs and lows, the likes of ‘Pandemonium’, ‘Final Day Of Innocence’ (like the modern pop / rock feel), ‘It Comes At Night’ (both the original and the bonus remix) and ‘Beautiful Madness’ represent one of the best legal highs you’ll experience anywhere right now. Distilling the best of their 80’s sound with some of the metal dynamics of the last few albums and then wrapping it in a crisp contemporary (thanks to Jacob Hansen), Pretty Maids have scored a major coup. Giant, then Treat and now Pretty Maids ... don’t quite know what they’re putting in the coffee over at Frontiers, but long may it continue! Quintessential! (D.Cockett)