Phantom Blue

Apparently Phantom Blue were supposedly a very impressive and influential all-female band back in the late eighties and early nineties, but in all honesty they don't appear to be that famous if the number of reviews before mine shows anything. That being said, a good band doesn't necessarily reach great heights of fame, and from what alexanderthegreat had to say in his review this stuff is pretty good, which is reason enough to at least give them a shot.

First things first, I've only ever praised a handful of all-female bands highly. Generally I find that most bands that fall into that category sound like shameless clones of one another, most of them modeled off of heavy metal bands from the eighties and nineties. Perhaps that's one of the reasons that I don't find Phantom Blue's self-titled album that impressive, because I've heard it all before. For all I know they could have started the whole craze, but it makes no difference whether they invented it or not. The fact is that they too sound like an attempt at copying Dio or Iron Maiden, albeit an attempt that lacks any real devotion.

The guitars are played decently enough, but they don't do much in terms of originality. It's all the typical heavy metal hooks that make the genre so hard to listen to most of the time. It isn't like listening to the timeless classics provided by Dio or Sabbath, these ones are totally forgettable like 90% of the heavy metal bands you'll hear nowadays. For the most part the rhythm sections are just a typical kind of repetitive riffing, bordering on becoming hard rock for a large part of the album. Of course, the leads try to do something interesting, but more often than not it results in nothing special, just a semi-melodic section playing over the top of the basic riffs. It therefore comes as a surprise to find that the solos are great, but by that point there isn't much hope of them saving anything.

The drumming is a simple plod most of the time, a mix of the cymbals and the hit-hat for the most part. It isn't an exciting listen, and I didn't really expect it to be. It simply keeps the pace of the band. The bass does a good job of this too, and it can actually be heard very clearly at several points across Phantom Blue. It's decently impressive for what it is, but has nothing on the likes of The Project Hate MCMXCIX (not that it's really fair to compare the two of them).

I'm not too keen on the vocals. They're not the nice floaty cleans that you'll get with a large percentage of female-fronted bands, and like a lot of other female heavy metal singers they sound a little too forced. I've heard a lot of vocalists who do a similar thing recently, and I'm never a fan of it. Here there's also a definite attitude about the vocals, but I'd say that was out of place with the laid-back feel that the rest of the band gives. Maybe I've just listened to too much crazy stuff, but that's the impression that I get. Maybe if the rest of the band played more like Bitchcraft then it would work better.

Overall it doesn't live up to my expectations, but maybe the follow-up Built to Perform will leave a better impression on me. The single Time to Run has at least given me some real optimism for what else will be contained on that record, hopefully not misplaced like it was here.

Phantom Blue are not a particularly famous band, and sadly they're not active any more. Which is a shame, because they've done the metal world a great service: they've shown us lads that women can rock like any man.

They're a rare breed: a band comprised of women that have incredible guitar aptitude and brilliant harmonies, and they're tougher than many all-male bands. But then, when Marty Friedman of Megadeth's involved, then you know you're on to a good thing.

The album itself is not too bad (a freakin Master of Reality compared to other female metal bands like Vixen and Styxx), and of course many first albums are just the feeling-about experience for bands, so their work's very competent and impressive, but not groundbreaking to any degree. The solos are all great, and if I could think of a similar band I'd think of Dokken, or maybe Warlock. With women you're pretty much guaranteed a full range, but 9999 brings a nasty, bitchy edge to the vocals that's normally lacking in lady metal, along with gorgeous harmonies.

"Going Mad" being the first song is a great, smashing opener, full of energy and momentum throughout, with an almost Maiden-like spiral instrumental in the beginning. "Last Shot" and "Frantic Zone" are also excellent pieces, if a little uninspired. "Why Call it Love" is a brilliantly bitter song, I suppose a ballad, but in the style of "In My Darkest Hour" rather than "Power of Love". Shouldn't that alone say how damned good they are? Probably the best song on the album is it's bookend, "Out of Control". It has a totally badass strut to it, a take-no-prisoners anger, and all with great hooks too. Brilliant stuff.

Overall, since there are so few albums released before they decided to be an Iron Maiden tribute band (why girls why!?!?), I'd say this is a valuable album to have if you're interested in metal with female vocals that's not opera or light 80's metal, or if you just like a good, rocking album anyway. But wait for the next one...