Back to Back

This cd was a no brainer to rate. 17 classic songs packed on one disc, sounds pretty good, but then look again. This is Pretty Maids...and that instantly turns that good into fantastic, top of the heap, best of the best, all arranged, back to back. You better be prepared for true greatness, because that's exactly what you are going to get. My complaints for this compilation are so few, that its mostly nitpicking, but I will cover those later. Ronnie Atkins is one of the best vocalists in the business, with a very unique and different voice, perfectly suited to belting out the high notes, whispering the words to a power ballad, and a really gritty rough and tough metal rasp inbetween. This guy can do it all and does it like no one else. His vocals are just dripping with the full range of emotion. Guitarist Ken Hammer handles the guitar duties, with his bubbling riffs and soaring solos, weaving a spell from the notes he plays. He truly plays with fiery passion, no wooden guitar playing here.

I'll just touch on a few of my favorite songs, I could do a whole webpage just describing all 17 songs and fawning all over them. "Lovegames" from Future World was the first Pretty Maids song I ever heard, and remains one of my favorites. With the addictive hook and heavy keyboard rhythms, this is an instant classic. Much can be said about the many time changes and uniqueness of "Yellow Rain". "Back to Back" is a whirlwind of aggressiveness, almost a power metal song, in fact Hammerfall covered this one on their "Legacy of Kings" album. "Walk Away" and "Savage Heart" are examples of Pretty Maids at their best, AOR hard rock ballads, brimming with emotion and lyrical and musical depth. "Attention" is a song that reminds me heavily of Europe's 'Wings of Tomorrow' album. A nice heavy bottom end, and a strong pop metal sound are the driving force for the song. "Sin-Decade" is a riproarer of a hard rocker, from my favorite 'Maids album. The song "Future World" is an errie look into a proposed future to come, a song that is very haunting with a definite 80s metal sound. Last but definitely not least, is the absolutely enchanting, "Please Don't Leave Me". Forget all other versions of this song, even the original, in my opinion this blows them all away. Lead singer, Ronnie Atkins voice adds so much to this song, with many different shades of feeling. The pain is there, and coupled with Ken Hammer's axework, its overpowering. However, there is also a couple of new tracks, one of them is performed with all lyrics in the Danish language which I don't understand, but its still a smoothly produced rocker, the other, "Forever and Eternal" is one of their prettiest ballads, light and airy, with lots of room for the emotional impact to just overflow, as you know it will. Simply gorgeous.

Pretty Maids is a band that has gone through many changes in their overall sound, yet has stuck with that heavy metal feeling. They have ranged from playing a rawer form of powerful heavy metal, to keyboard driven pop metal with a heavy backend, to an almost AOR/hard rock sound, and have steadily tightened it up more and more, returning to the heavier bottom end while retaining the most important factor in their music, the melody. On this album with such an explosive compilation of some of their most famous and best works, you can hear a sampling of all of their various incarnations. This album is an absolute must for anyone that has never heard the band. There is not one filler track in the whole bunch, and out of 17 tracks that is saying quite alot. Now for my one and only complaint. It should have been a double disc compilation...just think of all the great tunes they left out..."A Place In The Night"..."Credit Card Lover"..."Come on Tough Come on Nasty"..."Your Mind is Where the Money Is"...and so many more.

Rating: 10.0
by Alanna Evans

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