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Pretty Maids > Future World > Reviews
Pretty Maids - Future World

Breaking into the bigs w/o shattering the past - 86%

Gutterscream, June 10th, 2017
Written based on this version: 1987, 12" vinyl, CBS

“…scream out, spread the word around, get all up and stand your ground…”

Three years, four recording studios and something like eight engineers are a few of the numbers that separated fans of this Danish five-piece (down from six and short original guitarist Pete Collins) and what many consider to be Pretty Maids’ most sophisticated, cohesive, confident, and even portentous nine-track journey to date.

In the years following ‘84’s rosy Red, Hot and Heavy, the Maids continued honing their craft with a parade of demos, singles, and EPs that ended in ’87 with a pair of singles and the Love Games EP, with each attempting to illuminate the band’s extraordinary array of chops to the world. Despite the failure of these singles to chart (in the US anyway), created were important MTV videos for “Future World” and “Love Games”, and I recall even “Loud ‘N’ Proud” riding a fair share of radio waves, thus making more of a household name of their queasily-commercial and overall oddball moniker.

Future World’s temperament is split down a middle where commercial economy and extravagance bordering on the explosive find mutual acceptance. Devising songs with diverse recipes which manage to gel on a single platter is something Pretty Maids do better than most here, and the custodian of this joint approval is none other than the tune which marks the title. Commercial and explosive (or commercially explosive and vice-versa) enough for a single’s legit a-side, lots-o-pomp “Future World” finds economy in its deceptive, time-flying four and a half minutes and extravagance in its frenetic pageantry where Alan Owen’s flashy keyboard dazzle is but one of its fan-pleasing OTT ingredients. The remaining eight tracks take cues from this regardless of their side of the middle.

That’s not to say the sides aren’t obvious. Slower and more methodical than its title implies is “We Came to Rock”, yet rough and domineering is Ronnie Atkins’ vocal tone and meaty is its gang-voxed chorus. “Eye of the Storm” would’ve been the next viable a-side had the album warranted another single with something less rockin’ and more heartfelt than popular “Love Games”.

“Loud ‘N’ Proud” and “Needles in the Dark” are nothing if not outwardly allegiant to where hotheaded warriors roam, meanwhile devious “Yellow Rain” guides its followers throughout the side where radio friendship shakes hands, then after a minute and a half abruptly leaps to the opposite side to the dismay of some and the appreciation of others. “Rodeo” and “Long Way to Go”, probably the most level-headed of the bunch with camps closest to the middle, find this mostly entertaining.

Despite its split middle, its legs are ideally sturdy in their contrast, and when all’s said and done, Future World would wake up one day at 165 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart and by 1990 will have sold in excess of 300,000 units, which doesn’t sound too shabby from where I’m sitting, nor do I find it too surprising.

So why all the personnel changes and travel time? According to guitarist Ken Hammer, producer Eddie Kramer was fired during the recording for falling asleep at the mixing console and Chris Isca was brought in, so goes one of I’m sure many stories.

The World According to a Bunch of “Maids” - 95%

bayern, April 23rd, 2017

I’m ashamed to admit that I seldom visit the page of Pretty Maids here on the archives; a band I deeply revere. And a bit less ashamed I have to confess that I have kind of lost my avid interest in following their endeavours based on their last few, three to be exact, instalments. I guess I’m not that fond of the classic roots of our favourite metal so much anymore… And I guess I remained hooked to the guys’ first four opuses which to me exemplified old school metal in its entirety.

That’s why it beats me how come no one has spared 30/40-min of his/her precious time to pen a single review for the album here; an album that to these ears represents the band’s style in the most thorough manner. It seems as though it’s destined to remain in the shadow of the eponymous debut. The latter was by no means a sloucher causing quite a stir upon release almost equalling the one caused by their compatriots Mercyful Fate a year earlier with “Melissa”. The album attracted wider audience thanks to its encompassing sound putting heavy, power, and speed metal under one hat. However, unlike the King Diamond batch, who shot themselves into the stratosphere with “Don’t Break the Oath” several months later, The Maids lost the inertia as it took them three whole years to produce a follow-up.

It was definitely worth the wait as the album reviewed here is another compelling combination of the three genres, and it still stands as one of the four finest hybriders in this trend alongside Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”, Riot’s “Thundersteel”, and Leatherwolf’s “Street Ready”. It’s the most melodic of the lot, but it was also the first so on a “first come, first served” basis one has to give it the credit it richly deserves. I remember I was smitten by the opening title-track, a speed metal “hurricane” with some of the finest keyboards ever utilized on a metal album; if the whole opus was sustained in that vein it was going to cancel the whole German speed metal discography of the mid/late-80’s, except for the one of Helloween. Well, it’s a cross over several genres so they all have to be covered one way or another. Time for radio-friendly heavy rock winners with “We Came to Rock” and “Love Games”, feelgood stuff that would indelibly attract the romantic souls. “Yellow Rain” is a downpour of vitriolic speedy guitars despite the great balladic intro, and speed metal is back to the front “proudly” held there with the following “Loud’n Proud”. “Rodeo” is arguably the band’s finest achievement, a rousing heavy/power metal hymn if there ever was one with one of the greatest choruses this side of “Aces High” and “The Sentinel”. Back to speed metal territory with the hyper-active “Needles in the Dark”, and all the way to the minimalistic, slightly underwhelming, finale which comprises the cool ballad “Eye of the Storm” and the closing crowd pleaser “Long Way to Go”.

The overall feel was kind of one of compromises as the sound was softer than the one on the debut in spite of its overt speed metal flair. Judas’ “Turbo” album already carved the path towards the Americanized delivery which wasn’t based on aggression anymore, but had to attract bigger crowds and fill in the stadiums. The Danes were looking to find the perfect balance between this mellower approach and their “savage” heart’s call, and they almost nailed it here save for the somewhat downbeat ending. Another 3-year gap followed, not the best way to consolidate an artist’s reputation and status in a burgeoning scene as the one from the 80’s, before “Jump the Gun” came out. It remains the controversial decision in the guys’ catalogue as it toned down their primal aggression becoming an American metal roller-coaster akin to Bonfire’s “Pointblank” and Accept’s “Eat the Heat”, both released a year earlier. These bands were looking to match the success of “Turbo” and Scorpions’ “Savage Amusement” which managed to win over the US audience, especially the Germans whose album sold over 6 million copies.

Alas, these figures never became an option for Pretty Maids, so much for the injustice and the lack of logic on the flippant metal scene, and more than half the line-up left shortly after leaving Ronnie Atkins and the guitar player Ken Hammer to continue the battle. And they did no wrong shaking off all the detrimental soft pop metal-ish additives, and celebrated a decade in metal with the glorious “Sin Decade” two years later which won them a Danish Grammy Award. A great nod back to their very roots, this opus arguably remains their finest hour the two “dinosaurs” gelling well with the new members. Having reached the top, branching out into the unexpected was definitely a priority, and an all-acoustic album (“Stripped”) was produced followed by a testing of the modern vogues with the pretty good “Scream”. From then on it was back to the good old heavy metal where the band have been for the past 25 years, steadfastly defending the faith of the genre, never ceasing their march, their always reliant presence a major testimony for the bright future of the metal world.