Customer Reviews

Lethal Heroes

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

horrible name, most excellent album. not many know about this record, and its a low down dirty shame. Rockers: Title track, Rock the House, Young Blood, Jump the Gun, Savage Heart. A definite must-have if you find yourself NOT getting off on "Slippery when Wet" time and time again. the music these mofos make is so powerful it makes jon bon jovi look like edie brickell. ROCKS.

I've noticed that the terms "underrated" or "should have been huge" get tossed around quite a bit, especially referring to hard rock bands from the 1980's and early 1990's. I firmly believe that these terms apply to Pretty Maids more than any other band. This Danish band's style of powerful and melodic heavy metal should have made them a household name in the 80's, or at the very least a major player in the metal scene. Why they never caught when similar, albeit lighter, bands like White Lion and Dokken (who I also love) were achieving wide success is a mystery. Perhaps the band name was too wimpy for the average metal fan? I imagine this has hurt Pink Cream 69 (another killer melodic metal band that Pretty Maids fans should LOVE, by the way) in a similar fashion.

Whatever the reason, Pretty Maids never quite caught on like they should have, especially given the quality of their albums. Case in point is 1990's Lethal Heroes, which was also called Jump the Gun in some markets. Heavier than the average hair metal album, and more melodic than most traditional or power metal albums, Lethal Heroes struck the perfect balance between power and melody, and had much in common with that era's releases by bands like Crimson Glory, Fifth Angel, Leatherwolf, and even some of the Tony Martin Black Sabbath albums. Lethal Heroes has everything I look for in a melodic metal album - great guitar hooks and solos, powerful vocals, well-written songs, and keyboards that are used as an accent rather than a crutch. It even boasts Deep Purple alumni Roger Glover and Ian Paice as backup musicians!

This really is a fantastic album and one that belongs in every 80's metal fan's collection. If, like me, you missed this one back in the day, it's time to correct that oversight. You won't be disappointed!

Pretty Maids is a band that just never got the recognition they deserved and still deserve. These guys are amazing. The songs are very solid all the way across this album but what makes this band so remarkable is the lead singer, Ronnie Atkins has the unique ability to sound like he is singing a duet. He has a rough (not cookie monster rough) style he uses that sounds great at the right point in a given song but then he seamlessly rolls back into his regular voice which is equally great. I'm telling you, my first Maids album was Future World and all I had was the cassette version and I was sure they had two vocalists.

Style wise they are a unique mix of Loudness (minus the Japanese accent) and The Scorpions around the Blackout and Love at First Sting era. Don't pigeon hole them there though, they have their own unique sound and I can always tell it's the Pretty Maids when I hear them playing.

I won't review it song by song, but I will say that all of the tracks are worth your while and some of them are absolutely amazing. Lethal Heroes, Savage Heart and Jump the Gun are my favorites.

I found this band in the mid 80's. Future world was the first I heard from them and it is very intelligent and guttsy music. You know it's 80's metal but just like Kansas using a violin... they do the same with the harpsachord in future world. This band should not be overlooked by any metal fan. Not to be cocky but I was 90% right about the 80's bands and this one didn't make it due to poor marketing. I was there for Bon-Jovis first album and that is no glamour for me but I knew they were going to make it big. Buy the albums you won't be disapointed.

Well crafted and incredibly produced if somewhat goofy melodic metal. Think Europe with a harder edge. "Jump the Gun", "Young Blood" and "Savage Heart" are about as good as any of the MTV Headbangers Ball hits from the lates 80s, except this album was not widely released until 1990 at the end of the metal era. Ronnie Atkins vocals on many of these songs are among the best ever in metal, and worth buying this CD for that alone.