On disc: Pretty Maids

 
 Carpe Diem
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Carpe Diem
 
- Katja Henning -
 
 


 
 Planet Panic
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Pandemonium
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Pandemonium
 
- Katharina Syczewski -
 
 


 
 It Comes Alive
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Motherland
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Motherland

(Frontiers Records - 2013)



 
 

 

Pretty Maids are back! After Pandemonium it won't be easy to deliver a strong successor and so Ronnie Atkins, Ken Hammer and the rest of the bunch took time to work on Motherland.



They kick off with Mother Of All Lies, a typical Pretty Maids rocker with heavy riffs and enchanting vocal lines. But see yourself!











Spoken words take you into Confession, an interlude which leads you into the heavy rocker The Iceman which has all the trademarks of Pretty Maids' sound. A bit softer is Sad To See You Suffer, a song which would work in an acoustic version, too. Very catchy and somehow familiar... A kind of power ballad is Infinity, not the kind which gives you goose bumps, but enchanting. This time Pretty Maids present a lot mid-tempo rocker, but it doesn't matter, coz you won't find much fillers... For Bullet For You they slow down a bit, but not too much. Perhaps not one of the strongest tracks on Motherland, but still more than a decent tune. With Who What Where When Why they are back on track! This one is one of my favorites, coz it's heavy, modern, melodic, traditional, emotional, catchy - everything I want to hear in a Pretty Maids tune! The closer will make you spin the disc again, it's a touching heavy rocker with balladesque passages and mid-tempo parts. Once again it's Ronnie Atkins voice which will grab you!



Perhaps Motherland isn't as strong as Pandemonium, but hell this album is good!!! Check it out!



 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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It Comes Alive

(Frontiers Records - 2012)



 
 

 

Danish rockers Pretty Maids celebrate their 30th anniversary with a new live album - It Comes Alive! Ronnie Atkins and his mates recorded their latest live document in Switzerland, at Pratteln's Z7 - a place which has seen many great bands and which Pretty Maids played quite frequently. The album was recorded during their Pandemonium tour, but for the live recordings they spiced up the set list with a lot classics!















They kick off with Pandemonium and I.N.V.U., but soon take the audience back in time - even if their hits are played later on. I like the fact that they recorded a complete show instead of picking songs from different shows, coz this way the atmosphere is perfectly documented. The show lasted almost 2 hours and in the box set you also get a DVD of that show - unfortunately I just have the audio's for reviewing, and that's a pity, coz Z7 is such a great place! Singer Ronnie Atkins is talking to the fans and invites the fans to sing along at the opening passage of Walk Away. Sure, every fan will have a song - or songs - he misses, but the set list is offering a lot of gems from the Danish! And dynamic duo Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer obviously enjoy playing live and with the younger guys they really rock the house. Okay, Ronnie's voice is a bit raspier these days, but he's still an expressive singer who knows how to handle low passages and loud shouts. One of the highlights is Queen Of Dreams, even if it sounds a bit different nowadays, I still remember them playing this one when I saw them in the 80's... Another highlight for me is Clay, coz I really love the Carpe Diem album!  Even if I would have chosen a different track from this one. But before it's time for Clay they offer a slightly different version of Savage Heart which shows keyboarder Morten Sandager supporting the song in his own way. At other songs like Yellow Rain you can say the songs aged, they sound a bit different but it's still fun to listen to!



Fans of the Danish will surely love their latest live album, especially as it's also their first DVD! Hard rockers and metal fans who don't own albums of Pretty Maids - shame on you! -, this is a good way to get an idea about the band and see / hear how they sound!





Track list:



1. Pandemonium

2. I.N.V.U.

3. Hell On High Heels

4. Wake Up To The Real World

5. Destination Paradise

6. Another Shot Of Your Love

7. Scream

8. Walk Away

9. It Comes At Night

10. Queen Of Dreams

11. Savage Heart

12. Clay

13. Yellow Rain

14. Rock The House

15. Back To Back

16. Rodeo

17. Love Games

18. Future World

19. Little Drops Of Heaven

20. Please Don't Leave Me

21. Red Hot And Heavy

 

 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Pandemonium

(Frontiers Records - 2010)



 
 

 

After 4 years Pretty Maids finally have a new album ready to unleash. It's called Pandemonium and it's a real surprise, coz the Danish rockers really rock! I'm a fan of them for 20 years and I've been with them through ups and downs, but this one floored me! With the opener, the title track Pandemonium they deliver a tune which makes you really looking forward to hear the other eleven tracks! And the songs are powerful and offer a lot variety. Catchy keyboard sounds meet heavy riffs and the intro builds up tension right from the start. Ronnie's vocals are more aggressive then you expect and gives the tune the certain something. It's like they melted Back To Back and Planet Panic into one. Next in line I.N.V.U. which is a modern 80's tune, a great mid-paced song which. A potential hit and a song every headbanger should dig. No way to sit / stand still when you hear it! No doubt, Pretty Maids always have some beautiful ballads in store like Drops of Heaven which is also the first single and Breathless. Just sing along! They pick up speed for Cielo Drive and compared with their last releases this time they offer more fast rockers. There are no fillers, just killers! At their 12th studio album the Danish seems to be revived, it's full of playfulness, power and this time the songs have balls! Nothing less then 10 out of 10, coz this is the best Pretty Maids album ever! At least for me.
 
 










Katharina Syczewski

(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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Pandemonium

(Frontiers Records - 2010)



 
 

 

It's been four years since Pretty Maids released Wake Up To The Real World, but now they are back with Pandemonium, their 12th studio album in almost 30 years. And it seems that they are really back, like the fresh blood - drummer Allan Tschicaja and keyboarder Morten Sandager - revived them. Tschicaja joined them just before the recordings of Wake Up To The Real World, and so had little influence.



They kick off with the title track, a heavy, keyboard-laden rocker which shows them heavy and aggressive - and they incl. some snippets of an Obama speech. But they also have a catchy hook to offer. I.N.V.U. is another heavy rocker, but they slow down a bit and the emotional vocals of Ronnie Atkins show once more what a great frontman Mr. Atkins is. The song reminds me a bit of their Carpe Diem era... With Little Drops Of Heaven they have a balladesque tune which should get them some airplay at rock radio... Songs like One World One Truth show Pretty Maids alive and kickin'! Heavy riffs, expressive vocals and catchy melodies always been their trademarks - and that's what they still deliver. A fast, riff-based track is Cielo Drive, perhaps heavier then many expected them to be... One of the highlights - at least for me - is It Comes At Night, here the Danish show all their trademark sounds, but also add something new. The closer Breathless is a quite typical balladesque rocker, but shows one more time that Pretty Maids know how to write catchy tunes.



Pretty Maids are back with a strong album, for me it's not a masterpiece, but one of their best albums. This album won't disappoint any fan of the Danish!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Planet Panic

(Massacre Records - 2001)



 
 

 

Opening with Virtual Brutality a track with the typical sounds of Pretty Maids, but also some new sounds added. Planet Panic is the 15th release of singer Ronnie Atkins & co.! And still they sound fresh! During the last 2 decades the band played a lot live and the Danish dynamite became a trademark for melodic metal. A track like He Who Never Lived is unusual for the quartet, a hard rocking track, groovy, but different to the stuff we know from them.... But they never loose their own identity! This is probably the hardest rocking album of Pretty Maids, new sounds just give them an up-to-date sound. It's impressive how they manage to combine this. Natural High starts slow, a hard rock song with a sing-along chorus and a emotional guitar solo of Ken Hammer. A kind of ballad... The next track starts with a kind of drum solo before it's breaking loose a melodic metal bonfire and is called Who's Gonna Change! This might be one of the new highlights of the coming live shows... Last track on the album is called Enter Forevermore and is great powerful ballad which shows the emotional side of Ronnie Atkins. At the same time it's different to what they’ve done in the past. Not their best ballad, but a decent end for the new opus.



A few might need time to get used to the new sounds they added to their sound, but give it a try and let it spin a few more times!!! But it's worth spending time, you will love it!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Carpe Diem

(Massacre Records - 2000)



 
 

 

A new album of the Danish... Friends ask me "How does it sound?"... It's a typical Pretty Maids album containing all the known incrediances. Violent Tribe is the name of the opening track which starts powerful, but has it's more mellow parts. At all the CD offers 12 tracks from powerful, fast tracks to soft rockers like Clay or Wouldn't Miss You. With Until It Dies there is a song which starts slowly and get more powerful, it also has epic parts and so someone compared it with Savatage... I agree and disagree at the same time, coz there are similarities in the composition and partly the guitars remind me of them, but beside that it's a classic Pretty Maids song which lives from Ronnie's vocals. Well done, guys!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Carpe Diem

(Massacre Records - 2000)



 
 

 

Most will know that the Danish band Pretty Maids is around for about 20 years and that they stick to their guns whatever is the latest trend. And that didn't change with Carpe Diem! Thank God! But this time it needs a few more spins to sneak into your mind - and then they stay! Songs like Violent Tribe, Carpe Diem, Tortured Spirit and For Once In Your Life are the faster ones while they slow down a bit with Until It Dies, but don't get fooled! The song becomes a real rocker! Melodic rockers you get with Wouldn't Miss A Thing, Clay, Unwritten Pages and Invisible Chains in the typical Pretty Maids style. As always it's the raspy voice of Ronny Atkins which ennobles the tunes. Great fun to listen to this album!
 
 










Katja Henning
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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