Ronnie Atkins - One Shot (Album Review)

Written by Alex Stojanovic

TRACK LISTING

Real
Scorpio
One Shot
Subjugated
Frequency Of Love
Before The Rise Of An Empire
Miles Away
Picture Yourself
I Prophesize
One By One
When Dreams Are Not Enough

Release Date:  March 12, 2021
Label:  Frontiers Music srl
Website:  www.prettymaids.dk
www.facebook.com/RonnieAtkinsOfficial

PERSONNEL:
Ronnie Atkins - Vocals    /    Chris Laney - Rhythm guitars, keyboards & backing vocals
Allan Sorensen - Drums    /    Pontus Egberg - Bass

When you talk about underrated bands and singers, Ronnie Atkins from Pretty Maids is one of the most underrated in my book.  To me, it's criminal that he's rarely to never mentioned in a conversation about the amazing rock/metal vocalists from the 80s, but I can understand it, because aside from their dedicated and decent-sized following, Pretty Maids were never one of the bands from the 80s that had a massive breakthrough, but their first three albums (Red Hot & Heavy, Future World and Jump The Gun) are the classics in the band's discography.  Back in 2019, Pretty Maids released their latest album Undress Your Madness, but touring plans for the album were scrapped for two reasons.  One, the ongoing pandemic, and two, Ronnie was diagnosed with lung cancer before the pandemic was even announced.  In early 2020, he announced that he was in remission, but he then came back later in 2020 announcing that he was diagnosed with incurable stage 4 cancer.  That hit all of us fans like a freight train.

​Ronnie decided that instead of just riding it out, he would carry on living and put together a solo album, and fulfill some other commitments while he can, which is the best attitude to have.  For his solo album, One Shot, he enlisted the help of his Pretty Maids bandmate Chris Laney, and he gathered a bunch of friends to play on it, including some past Pretty Maids members like ex-drummer Allan Sorensen and ex-keyboardist Morten Sandager.  Rounding out the main band is Chris Laney on rhythm guitars and keyboards, and Pontus Egberg on bass.  Some of the guitarists handling solos on the album include Pontus Norgren of HammerFall, Kee Marcello, Olliver Hartmann and John Berg, and some of the additional backing vocals are handled by Linnea Vikstrom Egg, and Soilwork's Bjorn Strid.

​The best way to sum up this album is that if you're familiar with the sound and the direction of the last four Pretty Maids albums from Pandemonium to Undress Your Madness, you can expect that same production and direction on One Shot.  There are several songs on here that sound like they came straight from a Pretty Maids album, like the opener and first single "Real", as well as "Frequency Of Love", "Picture Yourself", "I Prophesize" and "One By One".  I've always said that Ronnie is not only one of the most underrated rock/metal vocalists, but one of the most underrated vocalists in general.  He has such a cool and unique voice that is instantly recognizable.  The only downside about this album is that I was kind of expecting it to have some songs that went in a slightly different direction, but instead, it sounds like another Pretty Maids album.  That doesn't mean the music isn't good though.

​Listening to One Shot gives me conflicting emotions because it's quality melodic hard rock, but it's also knowing that one of my favourite singers is battling incurable cancer.  I'm sure Ronnie has more music left in him, and I'm sure that since it will be a while before playing live becomes a reality again, he will probably be doing a lot more writing while he can with Pretty Maids, Nordic Union and maybe another solo album.  We wish Ronnie all the best during his brave battle.

Highs:  "Real", "Frequency Of Love", "Picture Yourself" and "One By One".

Lows:  This album can be classified as another Pretty Maids album.

FINAL RATING