| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING FW30 Future World We Came To Rock Love Games Yellow Rain Loud 'N' Proud Rodeo Needles In The Dark Eye Of The Storm Long Way To Go Mother Of All Lies Kingmaker Bull's Eye Little Drops Of Heaven Sin-Decade Release Date: May 22, 2020 Label: Frontiers Records Website: www.prettymaids.dk www.facebook.com/prettymaids www.twitter.com/pmaids www.instagram.com/prettymaidsofficial |  PRETTY MAIDS IS: Ronnie Atkins - Vocals / Ken Hammer - Guitars Rene Shades - Bass / Chris Laney - Keyboards & guitars Allan Sorensen - Drums |
During their 35+ year career, Pretty Maids have released sixteen studio albums, having just released their latest one: Undress Your Madness, and a few live albums as well. Back in 2017-2018, the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of their signature album Future World, and have played shows where they played the album in its entirety. One of those shows was in Tokyo, Japan in November 2018, which the band filmed and recorded for a new live release titled Maid In Japan: Future World Live 30th Anniversary. I personally have never been the biggest fan of live albums, but I thought I'd give this one a review, because Pretty Maids are a band that I really like a lot, and after I heard some of the songs from the setlist on this album, it peaked my interest.
One thing that stands out is the production. Ever since Pandemonium, the band have been working with Jacob Hansen, whose production style is very identifiable. Every album he has produced over the years has the exact same tones. Pretty Maids also used him to mix Maid In Japan. The thing is though that when we get to tracks like "Kingmaker", "Mother Of All Lies", "Bull's Eye" and "Little Drops Of Heaven", which were all featured on the albums produced by Hansen, it feels like I'm just listening to the studio versions of those songs again, with only ever-so-slight differences in the vocals. If the band used a different producer for the live release, it would've made these songs in particular stand out because they have a slightly different production quality. However, hearing Hansen's tones on the Future World songs like "Love Games", "Needles In The Dark", "Rodeo" and "Eye Of The Storm" was rather cool. If you're one of those people that found the original production quality a little weak, this new production quality, courtesy of Hansen, really gives the songs a new life in a way.
Ronnie Atkins is one of the top vocalists in hard rock and metal, and it's criminal that he doesn't get enough recognition. I've always said that he's up there with Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio. As many of you heard, Ronnie was diagnose with lung cancer last year, but the good news is that he's on the mend. Like I said at the top, live albums were never really my thing, but I really love live DVDs. It's one thing to listen to live recordings, but when you see the band playing the songs, whether in person or on screen, it makes the experience of hearing the song a whole lot better. I'm writing this review after listening to the audio from the album rather than watching the DVD. Pretty Maids certainly have no plans on repeating the performing of Future World in its entirety ever again, so if you didn't have the opportunity to hear or see the band play the album in full, this CD / DVD / vinyl will provide you with that experience, especially if you're a die-hard fan.
Highs: It's cool to hear Future World songs with a more modern production.
Lows: The non-Future World songs (except for "Sin Decade") sound just like they did on the studio albums.
One thing that stands out is the production. Ever since Pandemonium, the band have been working with Jacob Hansen, whose production style is very identifiable. Every album he has produced over the years has the exact same tones. Pretty Maids also used him to mix Maid In Japan. The thing is though that when we get to tracks like "Kingmaker", "Mother Of All Lies", "Bull's Eye" and "Little Drops Of Heaven", which were all featured on the albums produced by Hansen, it feels like I'm just listening to the studio versions of those songs again, with only ever-so-slight differences in the vocals. If the band used a different producer for the live release, it would've made these songs in particular stand out because they have a slightly different production quality. However, hearing Hansen's tones on the Future World songs like "Love Games", "Needles In The Dark", "Rodeo" and "Eye Of The Storm" was rather cool. If you're one of those people that found the original production quality a little weak, this new production quality, courtesy of Hansen, really gives the songs a new life in a way.
Ronnie Atkins is one of the top vocalists in hard rock and metal, and it's criminal that he doesn't get enough recognition. I've always said that he's up there with Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio. As many of you heard, Ronnie was diagnose with lung cancer last year, but the good news is that he's on the mend. Like I said at the top, live albums were never really my thing, but I really love live DVDs. It's one thing to listen to live recordings, but when you see the band playing the songs, whether in person or on screen, it makes the experience of hearing the song a whole lot better. I'm writing this review after listening to the audio from the album rather than watching the DVD. Pretty Maids certainly have no plans on repeating the performing of Future World in its entirety ever again, so if you didn't have the opportunity to hear or see the band play the album in full, this CD / DVD / vinyl will provide you with that experience, especially if you're a die-hard fan.
Highs: It's cool to hear Future World songs with a more modern production.
Lows: The non-Future World songs (except for "Sin Decade") sound just like they did on the studio albums.
FINAL RATING
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