Metal Lady?

Someone sent me a link to this video and asked me if I knew anything about this band... I don't, but it sounds pretty cool nonetheless (even though I can't understand a word that's being sung)... anybody out there familiar with "Metal Lady?" I gather they/she are from Hungary. Thought this was odd enough to post.

A live version of the same song posted above... "Metal Lady" looks kinda like the singer from Vixen. Not bad.

Yeah, this band was from Hungary and released two albums. Both in the early 90s. I don't have them, but I wouldn't mind finding them (not that it would be an easy task to track them down).

Pretty cool stuff! Not many have heard of them. Very underground.

I really like the song! Sounds like something Stormspell should reissue.

Oh, yes, that sounds great!

Who wants a bootleg??!!!

http://www.soundsofpurgatory.com/metalladylorettametalladyloretta.aspx

Woot! Now THAT's what I call an album cover!!

The more pix I find of this chick, the more I go "Ooh yea, that's the kinda sugar papa likes."

But Freddy, those don't look like recent pics....

SpectreFate wrote:

But Freddy, those don't look like recent pics....

I can dream, can't I? Way to go Mr Buzzkill.

But seriously, from what little I've been able to find on the Net about this band/chick, they/she released two albums (1990 and 94) and then disappeared off the face of the earth. So yea, I'm sure the pix ain't recent. But what the hell. I still drool over vintage Samantha Fox pictures to this very day.

Anyway, I found some scoop on the mysterious Metal Lady on a site called "The Corroseum"...

Quote :

It's female fronted! It's Hungarian! It's orange and full of cats! It's... METAL LADY! Yes, this is possibly the rarest Hungarian Metal LP ever and quite a beauty to behold. The 4 felines airbrushed ontop of a photograph of the electrified Ms. Metal herself (I presume?) on the front and a totally radiant castle-pic on the back will surely get most collector's undies in a bundle. Any other reasons why we should sell our souls and grandparent's life insurances for this piece of plastic & paper? Well, "Legendak Es Mesek" for starters. 5 minutes of excellent Euro-metal very much in the same style as their colleges OSSIAN and POKOLGEP. Incidentally it's no coincident that the sound of 'The Deathmachines' is so prevalent, since METAL LADY, The Band, is mostly made up of POKOLGEP members. Like the other classic Hungarian bands the songwriting varies in quality, some brilliant, some very average stuff. "Kicsi Katonam" has such a mellow and uppity chorus I had a hard time stomaching it at first listening, but in the end it's insipid catchiness got the better of me. Another highlight is "Kegyetlen Hajsza", the mandatory Power Metal-warmachine. These songs combined with the stunning artwork almost makes the album a must-buy, however, the blandness of the remaining material drags it down to just above curiosity-level. You've got your 2 ballads, your ACCEPT-leftovers and JUDAS PRIEST-fillers, but nothing that leaves this much wanted lasting impression. Nothing original here in other words, although Biro Ilona's vocals are quite unusual. There's noone I can really compare her with (a Dagmar Krause-comparison might fall on deaf ears..) It's rather dark, disciplined, almost masculine, yet still melodic and more than a little enjoyable. Hm... yeah, brilliant or just average, I think I still regret trading away this baby way back then:(

METAL LADY would record at least one more album in the years to come, these only available on CD ("s/t" was vinyl only) and are said to be very rare as well. Stay vigilant! (oh, and Heavy of course...)

KILLER BAND! I'm a proud owner of the original self titled LP
I have the 2nd one on mp3s but it's a crappy one.

BTW, you can find a bunch of naked Metal Lady's photos online as well

I liked it, never heard of Metal Lady but not bad.

kmorg wrote:

I really like the song! Sounds like something Stormspell should reissue.

This was a mock-up band consisting of pop-singer Ilona Biro and POKOLGEP as back up band. They were quite successful in Hungary for awhile with massive and expensive media promotion. Good luck to whoever wants to license the copyrights

stormspell wrote:

Good luck to whoever wants to license the copyrights

...Which explains the bootlegged CD that Spec posted above, eh?

SpectreFate wrote:

But Freddy, those don't look like recent pics....

I posted this same vid over at Heavy Harmonies forum and a member there from Hungary claims he's met her a few times. Apparently she was a former fitness instructor before going into music. He sez she doesn't do metal anymore but still makes "esoteric stuff" -- and sez she "still looks good." Good to know.

sovdat wrote:

BTW, you can find a bunch of naked Metal Lady's photos online as well

Well, geez, don't give us any links or anything.

She was pretty young when she did Metal Lady (born 1967 according to Google) so I bet she still could be quite a gorgeous lady, yeah.

She had one or two solo albums in the 90-es, some sort of techno pop with Egyptian motives. Somewhat like Enigma on crack

stormspell wrote:

This was a mock-up band consisting of pop-singer Ilona Biro and POKOLGEP as back up band.

So in other words, some Hungarian music producer guy decided that his country needed its own DORO, so he manufactured one?

stormspell wrote:

She was pretty young when she did Metal Lady (born 1967 according to Google) so I bet she still could be quite a gorgeous lady, yeah.

She had one or two solo albums in the 90-es, some sort of techno pop with Egyptian motives. Somewhat like Enigma on crack

Sounds like something I'd enjoy! I like avant-garde stuff like that, and Enigma rules.

Enigma does rule.

I have the two METAL LADY albums on original tapes that i bought in Budapest many years ago. On the first album, POKOLGEP members play the music. She was never into metal but because metal was popular back in 1990, she jumpt in it.
I like her firs album very much. Pure heavy metal.
Anyway, the spanish band SANTA had also an increible female vocalist and she was realy into metal. She also released two solo albums under her name AZUZENA, the second being very good(the first not). She died some years ago. Sad but true.

Okay, so I couldn't help myself... I downloaded the first "Metal Lady" album off of a blogspot the other day (I figured there's no harm in it in this case since the album's been outta print forever) and gave it a few listens...must've been made from a vinyl or tape rip cuz you can hear hisses and crackling noises at the beginning and end of each song. The track I posted at the top of this thread is definitely the best song on the record. The rest of it isn't bad, but "Metal Lady's" unusual vocal style gets a little grating after awhile... by the middle of the album I had a mental picture of Alvin the Chipmunk singing Accept's greatest hits in Hungarian

In short, an interesting footnote to metal history/novelty item but not a must have. I certainly wouldn't pay $19.99 for the bootleg that Spec posted above.

Found what appears to be a recent photo of Ilona "Metal Lady" Biro ... looks like she's still holding up. Kinda got that "Stifler's Mom" thing going on.

Thanks for the info. I'll pass on tracking this stuff down as well.

Besides I have a heck of a lot of other stuff I need anyway ...