Visual Lies

Lizzy Borden's third LP Visual Lies, often decried as a sellout album, is actually a bit of an underrated gem. Guitarist Gene Allan and future Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Joe Holmes are a big part of that, kicking up quite a storm of riffs and shred. Sure, there's some truth to the accusations, the band making a hopeful movement towards radio and bigger paychecks not unlike what Dokken did between Tooth and Nail and Under Lock and Key. Visual Lies operates in more of a traditional, borderline glam-metal framework, presented with a boomy, big-league knob job from Max Norman to smooth out some of the rough edges. Borden himself tames some of the Geoff Tate/Rob Halford-like wail found on prior LP Menace To Society and compared to that record things feel a little more conservative here in general.

I've always been partial to opener Me Against The World which despite its sleeve-worn teenage rebellion lyrical themes, wins over with great hooks and riffs. The speed metal of Den of Thieves, maybe my personal favorite here, rides a great singalong chorus from Lizzy and the dual guitar work of Holmes and Allen. The title track may be the closest thing to a ballad here. Elsewhere, Lord of the Flies is chock full of dynamite solos, and musical twists and turns, and closer Visions rides a more midtempo, grinding set of riffs with more great solos.

A few of the tracks such as Eyes of a Stranger fail to catch fire, and the production style does sort of threaten to anonymize the band at points, but overall this is a surprisingly sturdy set, the whole thing is fairly uptempo and heavy, with nary a ballad in sight. It holds up well to the metal of its era and certainly undeserving of the noxious "poodle rock" label.

I bought the debut of Lizzy Borden and I sold it again some weeks later, because it housed cheesy, light songs (remember "we all need American metal", a painful experience!) that failed to meet my expectations. I was outraged when I saw that these posers released a double live album with a ridiculous back catalogue of just one EP and one album. But due to whatever reason, the details cannot be clarified anymore, I possess the vinyl of "Visual Lies". Its artwork sucks, the hair cuts, the makeup and the entire band picture sucks, but the music... is pretty great. And that's no lie.

First of all, production-wise the album does not fail. The material has a crispy appearance, although transparency and clarity prevail. Lizzy Borden manage the creation of a warm, organic sound without falling into the trap of commercialism. "Visual Lies" is definitely not over-produced and far away from sterility. I enjoy the absence of keyboards, although the guitars could be a bit sharper. However, that's a very good mix and so the stage is set for nine glorious compositions.

Well, in all honesty, some of them are not totally glorious. However, the hit rate is remarkable and the remarkable amount of memorable melodies reflects the compositional talent of the dudes impressively. The opener of both sides of the vinyl represent the album in a very good way. They combine almost unforgettable chorus lines with a solid heaviness and create nearly perfect examples of lively, melodic power metal songs. This is obviously the core competency of the band. Relatively ponderous numbers like the title track or their partly double bass driven speed metal song "Den of Thieves" also make fun, but they cannot gain access to the top quality level of the aforementioned songs. Either way, the best is yet to come.

Golding's "Lord of the Flies" is ingenious and horrifying simultaneously, Lizzy's eponymous song is simply fantastic. Its bridge belongs to the best power metal parts ever and the chorus is not willing to stand in the bridge's shadow. Each and every note hits the bull's eye, the solo is perfectly integrated and the entire number has a subliminally threatening atmosphere. This song alone justifies the purchase of the album.

All musicians manage their job with great ease and especially Borden's vocals are great. Maybe he is not gifted with an overdose of individuality, but his voice spans an adequate range and he has put heart and soul into his performance. Of course, he plays with the outlaw stereotype in songs like "Me Against the World" or "Outcast". Nevertheless, the lyrics are neither embarrassing nor stupid. So all in all, this work is worth listening to, even from my thrash metal perspective. Maybe now I understand the statement of the debut (we all need American metal!) better than before.

"Aw, crap, it's one of those glam bands from the 80's!" I'm pretty sure that these were the words you had in your head when you saw the cover of this album with Fizzy Lizzy peering from an old crappy TV set. The fact that Lizzy Borden had tons of make up on, including silver lipstick, fake nails, and really poofy hair in his band's music video for "Me Against the World" doesn't help much, cos man, Lizzy looks absolutely ludicrous, perhaps more ludicrous than all of the members of Motley Crue combined. Looks aren't everything, however, for the album in which "Me Against the World" is on, "Visual Lies" demonstrates some serious work on music. Despite Lizzy's goofy looks, "Visual Lies" doesn't seem to have much of the cliches that Motley Crue suffers from, and, in my opinion, it's how glam metal SHOULD sound. Well no, there isn't as much bite to it as "Menace to Society" or "Love You to Pieces" had, but at least it's an album that I can recommend.

One of the first things to mention is the "power ballad". Many, if not all, glam bands from the 80's were notorious for making these horrendous Whitney Houston-esque love songs that would most likely be the most famous songs of many of those bands (e.g. "Heaven" by Warrant, or "Fly to the Angels" by Slaughter). Guess what, you're never gonna find any of that stuff here! Not a single syrupy boy-meets-girl-and-boy-wants-girl-so-bad song at all! I guess the only thing that might come even close to being a power ballad would be the title track, which is about love and is slower-paced, but despite that, it's not the kind of love song that's sweet and sugary. It sounds more like a ballad with a more ominous and mysterious sound rather than a wimpy and weak radio-friendly song. The backing vocals in the song are somewhat pleasing to listen to as well, for they sound like actual human voices instead of computerized vocals (I'm lookin' at YOU Def Leppard!). "Outcast" might be a teensy-bit close to being a ballad, as well, for it's got a slower tempo during the verses. But the subject matter of the song is rebellion, and therefore it might not qualify as such. That being said, there is no weak song on "Visual Lies". Not a single solitary one.

Lizzy Borden set itself apart from most glam bands in the fact that it tends to use songs with faster tempos (e.g. "Generation Aliens" and "Brass Tactics" on their "Menace to Society" album) and and angry-sounding riffs, and there still are traces of the good ol' Lizzy Borden that can be found here. There's the power chords in "Me Against the World" and "Den of Thieves" that give them quite a punch, but there isn't as much of that on "Visual Lies" as there are on Lizzy Borden's previous releases. There are songs on here that sound more radio-friendly, like "Shock" and "Voyeur (I'm Watching You)", but they aren't stupid-sounding, like anything Bon Jovi-related. "Lord of the Flies" has that sound too, but its riff is more of a chugging riff that has had quite a bit of effort put into it, which is why I seem to like it. They might not be all that aggressive-sounding, but hey, I'm not expecting anything Exodus-like! Lizzy Borden is a glam band, not a thrash metal band!

It might not be their best effort, nor is it my favorite album from them, but "Visual Lies" is actually a pretty good album, all things considered. Some of the songs on here are somewhat built for the radio, but they aren't catchy, stupid, sappy, or all of the above. It's an album that still has some of that bite and still has songs worth listening to. They're more catered towards the glam metal crowd, that's true, but at least they've got some potential, as apposed to Poison. "Visual Lies" is a good album, but if you're wanting to listen to a glam metal album that has some speed metal elements, try "Menace to Society".

There are a few things one has to take into account to avoid an immediate bias against Lizzy Borden. For one, they were 'glam' in the sense that they wore big hair and trashy 80s metal gear like Kiss or Poison. Second, they were a very theatrical band, and they liked their women in leather with hair as big as their own. Third, Lizzy himself, the vocalist, has a voice which can sooth like a crystal scream or wail like a siren, an obstacle for some.

That being said, they are one of the best metal bands ever produced in the United States of America, with a pretty spotless discography. With all that hairspray, I didn't want to believe it either. Sitting at the peak of this body of work, alongside the rock opera of Master of Disguise, is the excellent Visual Lies. This record has a lot in common with Menace to Society or Love You to Pieces, but it's got a cleaner, accessible sound that in no way hinders the marvelous songwriting.

Every track on the album is loaded with memorable riffs and charming vocal melodies. The guitars are expertly crafted: every hook, every melody, every lead, no wasted notes. "Me Against the World" is power metal lite, deriving its energy from the constant, steady thump of its rhythm guitars and big NWOBHM chorus. In fact, Lizzy's entire style is like a beautiful dedication to the masters of NWOBHM who paved the road for 80s hard rock. "Shock" is another another mid paced track with the huge vocal hooks and delicate, memorable guitars. "Outcast" starts with a great riff, and slows for an emotional, acoustic verse. This verse alone has better vocals in it than many bands have on their entire records...and of course, another of those amazing chorus hooks that should have ensured this band would have dominated radio play if the $$ weren't changing hands for other bands to do so. "Den of Thieves" picks up speed at just the right time on the record, and the guitar work during the verse is simply stunning, with some kickass leads to boot. This is one of my hands-down favorite Lizzy tunes, and for the power metal's fans time and money, the one you want to hear the most on this album.

The title track "Visual Lies" uses some gentle melodic picking lines to create an incredible atmosphere before the swollen, glorious vocal hooks that could easily have given Cinderella or Def Leppard a run for their money. "Eyes of a Stranger" may not be the equal to Queensryche's track of the same name, but it's an excellent melodic mid paced fist pumper. "Lord of the Flies" once again picks up the pace for some more extremely memorable speed metal. It's almost a shame that so many of the songs on the album are slower, not that they're bad by any means, but it would have been a pleasure to hear an entire album where Gene Allen and Joe Holmes were allowed to just go off. "Voyeur (I'm Watching You)" also has some delightful licks but based off more of a blues hard rock vibe. The album ends with the great "Visions" and its swinging hooks and rollicking percussion.

Visual Lies is easily the best produced album of 1987, I don't hear many albums in the 21st century that come close to sounding this good. Every note is at the perfect level and no element of the music dominates another. With a vocalist this graceful and talented, that's not an easy feat. The guitarwork deserves an award for both its restraint and the sheer amount of quality found in every track. This album is a major achievement and it's a crime the band doesn't get the credit it deserves. While not as directly heavy, the material is easily as catchy as a Primal Fear or Hammerfall, in fact it's superior.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Lizzy has the voice, no argument here. What he needed was some good ideas to exploit it. I think "Visual Lies" is indeed the peek for his band and his career. The band's previous work was coated with brilliance but here we find it in the largest of amounts. Why? Because Lizzy actually proves that "Hair Metal" or "Glam" or whatever you want to call it can provide some exquisite songs to the heavy metal movement.

I truly cannot name a song that fails to be above medium. The guitar work is awesome, heavy and solid and some of the riffing here is the most memorable anyone could find in any genre. The lyrical themes though emotional and "sensitive" are turning in a revengeful specter. We are victims of love...yes, but we are not gonna take it!

“Me Against the World” is the hymn many would like to have taken credit for but the 'rich kid' Lizzy had what it took to compose it. Simply mesmerizing it makes you start singing from the first verse. “Shock” (without the backing vocals) could have been the epitome of U.S. Metal in those days. “Lord of the Flies” maybe not the catchiest but surely is the best song in this wonderful album and that alone says a lot, just listen to the guitar section of the song. Who can claim a more memorable and uplifting riff? The rest of the songs are varying from superb to excellent and the production is exceptional helping every song to reach its full potential.

Nobody could imagine a better album by a band with lip-gloss and you should have in mind that those were the days of Twisted Sister and W.A.S.P. therefore the competition was great. It seems like there was a theatrical competition between Blackie (in those days he used to drink "blood" from a skull) and Lizzy (he was dismembering with an axe the model of Love You to Pieces album) which pushed them both to the best of their work. The only part of the album that is rather annoying is the melodic parts that fail to add anything more than reasons for debate for the best Lizzy Borden album.

All W.A.S.P. and Twisted Sister fans are already familiar with Lizzy Borden those few remaining uninformed check (and worship) them out.