When all the stars align (management, records, songwriting, in demand live performances) any act can recover from a lull in popularity. Take Danish melodic metal band Pretty Maids – who delivered many key songs of appeal in the 1980’s from “Back to Back” to “Future World”, only to find the 1990’s a decade of uphill climbs while other down tuned, alternative and grunge rock bands gained the lion’s share of attention and sales. However the first four years of this current decade have been very fruitful, as 2010’s Pandemonium won praise from generations young and old, and the follow up in last year’s Motherland was just as impressive.
Seeking to bridge the gap between some of those ‘lost’ records of 1995-2006 while working on material for the next studio album, Louder Than Ever is a 12 song album consisting of 4 new songs and 8 older ones, freshly re-recorded with their current producer Jacob Hansen behind the boards. “Deranged”, “My Soul to Take”, “Nuclear Boomerang”, and “A Heart Without a Home” are the latest Pretty Maids compositions, adequately spread out of the course of this 54 minute effort. All are on par with the last two studio recordings, for my tastes Pretty Maids can excel at the softer, power ballad buildup tracks like “A Heart Without a Home” just as much as your standard metal anthem arrangements, of which the heavier “Deranged” and “Nuclear Boomerang” work best.
As far as the song choices on the older material, Jacob’s knob twiddling expertise gives “Playing God” and “Snakes in Eden” that extra fiery attack and modern punch that they were probably lacking in their original incarnations. My opinion on digging into the well to re-record material is it’s very difficult to replace your original memories of certain songs, but who am I to question the desire of musicians to get the best quality product they can on the market?
For those who recently got into Pretty Maids and want to know what they’ve been writing and performing over the last decade and a half, Louder Than Ever is a nice interim release while awaiting their next studio platter.
Matt Coe, HMS
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