| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING When God Took A Day Off Kingmaker Face The World Humanize Me Last Beauty On Earth Bull's Eye King Of The Right Here & Now Heaven's Little Devil Civilized Monsters Sickening Was That What You Wanted Release Date: November 4, 2016 Label: Frontiers Records Website: www,prettymaids.dk www.facebook.com/prettymaids |  |
PRETTY MAIDS IS:
Ronnie Atkins - Vocals Ken Hammer - Guitars Rene Shades - Bass Allan Tchicaja - Drums Kim Olesen - Keyboards (Session)
Ronnie Atkins - Vocals Ken Hammer - Guitars Rene Shades - Bass Allan Tchicaja - Drums Kim Olesen - Keyboards (Session)
It's been a long three years since we've gotten new music from Pretty Maids. That's a long time for a fan like me. They may not be a household name, but any album in the band's catalog has the ability to appeal to one just dipping their toes in the hard rock and metal waters. Memorability is always associated with Pretty Maids. Their skills at writing memorable songs have not diminished since Red Hot & Heavy, but on Pandemonium and Motherland, their music and songwriting ascended to greater heights and the new album Kingmaker continues in that upward trajectory. Riffs the weight of a sledgehammer and majestic melodies fly in from all directions, providing a pleasurable listening experience. It comprises every element a Pretty Maids fan would expect into one delightful package: melody, heaviness and catchiness.
The record starts off heavily with back-to-back rounds of heaviness on "When God Took A Day Off" and the title track. The latter is one of the album's heaviest tracks with a neck-destroying groove and insanely catchy vocal melodies, no better combination. I personally feel the title track should've opened the record. The band as a whole is in top form. The thunder from Rene Shades and Allan Tchicaja is monstrous, the riffs and melodies from Ken Hammer are destructive and soulful, but in all honesty, Ronnie Atkins is the star of the album with his unmistakable and unique voice. His stellar performance prooves why he's one of the best in the business. With the incredible range he possesses, I put him up there with Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford as one of the top 5 metal vocalists of all time.
Metal combined with a pop feel. You either love it or hate it. Several bands have gone down that path, and some have ended up releasing some very uninspired and bland albums, but Pretty Maids is one of the bands that has mastered the art of combining mainstream appeal with heavy crunch and have composed great songs and albums. From epic, soulful ballads, to straightforward crushing rockers, to borderline thrash metal ragers, Kingmaker contains a very healthy balance of all of the above. Tracks like "Face The World" and "Humanize Me" ooze with catchiness and heavier tracks like "King Of The Right Here & Now", "Civilized Monsters" and "Sickening" pound with heavy grooves, while "Last Beauty On Earth" is a soothing mid-tempo ballad.
Simply put, I wouldn't say Kingmaker is the best Pretty Maids album of all time, nor does it top both Pandemonium and Motherland, but it will without a doubt live up to the satisfaction of all Pretty Maids fans out there, and for me, it's one of this year's essential releases and it has secured a spot in my top 10 albums of this year, that's for sure. If you're just getting into Pretty Maids, I hope my testimony about Kingmaker will interest you to check out this album, then go out and buy it and discover more of the band's extensive catalog of great material. I also hope that Pretty Maids come to Canada sometime soon, particularly to Toronto. They are on my bucket list of bands to see. When they come here and whether they'll be headlining or supporting remains to be seen, but I'll be right in that crowd when they do.
Highs: "Kingmaker", "Face The World", "Humanize Me", "King Of The Right Here & Now" and "Civilized Monsters"
Lows: No complaints from me. If you don't like your metal with a pop feel, this album won't appeal to you.
Final Rating: 9.5/10
The record starts off heavily with back-to-back rounds of heaviness on "When God Took A Day Off" and the title track. The latter is one of the album's heaviest tracks with a neck-destroying groove and insanely catchy vocal melodies, no better combination. I personally feel the title track should've opened the record. The band as a whole is in top form. The thunder from Rene Shades and Allan Tchicaja is monstrous, the riffs and melodies from Ken Hammer are destructive and soulful, but in all honesty, Ronnie Atkins is the star of the album with his unmistakable and unique voice. His stellar performance prooves why he's one of the best in the business. With the incredible range he possesses, I put him up there with Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford as one of the top 5 metal vocalists of all time.
Metal combined with a pop feel. You either love it or hate it. Several bands have gone down that path, and some have ended up releasing some very uninspired and bland albums, but Pretty Maids is one of the bands that has mastered the art of combining mainstream appeal with heavy crunch and have composed great songs and albums. From epic, soulful ballads, to straightforward crushing rockers, to borderline thrash metal ragers, Kingmaker contains a very healthy balance of all of the above. Tracks like "Face The World" and "Humanize Me" ooze with catchiness and heavier tracks like "King Of The Right Here & Now", "Civilized Monsters" and "Sickening" pound with heavy grooves, while "Last Beauty On Earth" is a soothing mid-tempo ballad.
Simply put, I wouldn't say Kingmaker is the best Pretty Maids album of all time, nor does it top both Pandemonium and Motherland, but it will without a doubt live up to the satisfaction of all Pretty Maids fans out there, and for me, it's one of this year's essential releases and it has secured a spot in my top 10 albums of this year, that's for sure. If you're just getting into Pretty Maids, I hope my testimony about Kingmaker will interest you to check out this album, then go out and buy it and discover more of the band's extensive catalog of great material. I also hope that Pretty Maids come to Canada sometime soon, particularly to Toronto. They are on my bucket list of bands to see. When they come here and whether they'll be headlining or supporting remains to be seen, but I'll be right in that crowd when they do.
Highs: "Kingmaker", "Face The World", "Humanize Me", "King Of The Right Here & Now" and "Civilized Monsters"
Lows: No complaints from me. If you don't like your metal with a pop feel, this album won't appeal to you.
Final Rating: 9.5/10
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