Pretty Maids

Huge fan of the Danish band's first three albums, along with their self-titled EP. They combined elements of hard-hitting heavy metal with melodic rock touches, and done in a way that didn't necessarily put them in the same league as Mötley Crüe.

For me, Red, Hot and Heavy and Future World are their crowning achievements, with the latter receiving the most spins from me. I remember coming across the music video for the title track several years ago, and just hearing Ken Hammer's wailing guitars, complemented along with those atmospheric keyboard licks and Ronnie Atkins' raspy registers made the whole experience such a surprise. There are few bands that could ever make the kind of melodic heavy metal that Pretty Maids is known for.

Jump the Gun, despite being more radio-friendly than its two predecessors, still packs a few punches, with "Lethals Heroes" and "Rock the House" being two of the standouts. Even "Don't Settle for Less" and "Partners in Crime" are well-written songs that have a bit of that Scorpions feel.

As far as the rest of their albums go, I've heard a few of the songs, but they honestly lacked the magic of the first three albums. Closer to sounding like a typical bar band than anything else.

The last two (Pandemonium and Motherland) are not anything like a bar band. Most Pretty Maid fans will tell you they kill it on those. I agree. A few years ago, I got a hold of all their albums (Spectrefate sold me all the hard to find ones for a great price and I filled in the gaps) and I know what you mean about them lacking something. I like everything I've heard but after Sin-Dedade they become a bit tired (though nothing really bad and they all include a few stand out tracks). However, Pandemonium and Motherland are practically flawless albums.

Bar band ? Far from it. They are a solid band with some great releases. I still need to get their last too though.

About a year or so ago, I got a best of collection by Pretty Maids. Some good tunes there, but I'm pretty sure I won't be investing any further into their catalog. In fact, I've been on the fence about keeping the hits disc as well. I just don't know how much play it will see. When I'm "forcing" myself to listen to an album to see if I'll like it, the answer is usually NO.

I haven't heard any of their recent material. But I really enjoy those first 3 albums. Future World being my favorite.

Pandemonium:






Motherland:

I got nothing out of those songs. Boring.

Painkiller wrote:

I got nothing out of those songs. Boring.

Eh, your loss. I love them and find them exciting.

I really dig their new stuff. I haven't delved into their back catalog. I have future world but I haven't given it enough listens.

Pretty Maids has never released a bad album.

Quote :

Pretty Maids has never released a bad album.

Agreed! At present my favorite to spin are Pandemonium, Motherland and Sin-Decade.

I'm also a big fan of their acoustic album, Stripped, from '93. I think the version of "Please Don't Leave Me" on that album is much stronger than the one on Sin-Decade.


I'd love to hear them do more KISS songs:

I like the current version of Pretty Maids over the older version. Regardless of what version, they rocked!

MetalRob331 wrote:

I like the current version of Pretty Maids over the older version.  Regardless of what version, they rocked!

Same here, one of the few old guard bands keeping up an impressive amount of intensity. However, there are a few formulaic duds sprinkled in each album. Overall, though, quite enjoyable.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Pretty Maids has never released a bad album.

No argument from me. I recently had a large shuffled USB playlist of melodic metal including every PM album from Red, Hot, & Heavy through Motherland. Never felt like skipping any song that came up in the rotation.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Pretty Maids has never released a bad album.

Absolutely agree 100%.

One of my favorite bands...ever. Consistently awesome. Lucky to have seen them live. They were GREAT!

I don't necessarily dislike those songs off the recent albums that DallasBlack posted. Rather, they just don't have that same magic of the first three albums for me. Ronnie Atkins sounds decent, but nothing more than that. Not everything is either perfection or pure shit, but I'm sure everyone realizes that.

With that said, which of the post-Jump the Gun releases is closest to the first three albums? Sin-Decade seems alright, judging from a few spins of random songs.

i dont have all their albums but i do enjoy Future World a lot.

I have their debut EP, Red Hot and Heavy, Future World and Lethal Heroes. I don't think I'll go any further than that, but I like what I have and Red Hot and Heavy is probably my favorite from them.

Lost track after Sin Decade, but up to that point everything is stellar and worth keeping. With Jump the Gun being my personal favorite.

Big fan of this band.

Another killer track from PM! I couldn't find the lead track "When God Took A Day Off" on Youtube, but it pairs well with this single (track 2) and makes for an amazing opening to the album, followed by this single, which was released a month ago or so:

Good stuff ! They've released quite a few tracks from this album and it's not due out til next week, if I'm not mistaken.

007 wrote:

Good stuff ! They've released quite a few tracks from this album and it's not due out til next week, if I'm not mistaken.

I believe it comes out next Friday, November 4. The new songs are awesome. Can't wait till next Friday!

I am definitely in.