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"A notch below "Scream", "Spooked" confirms nevertheless the status of sure value of Pretty Maids in a Hard FM / Speed Metal register a little less melodic than previously."
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4/5
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Can Pretty Maids release a bad album? The answer is no, as long as they don't give in to the commercial sirens. Two years after a "Scream" of a quality and a power that put the Danish quartet back on the right track, and following "Screamin' Live", a testimony of the tour that validated this comeback, here is "Spooked". The production is assured by Tommy Hansen, who already worked with the band at the time of "Red, Hot And Heavy".
It is with a symphonic introduction that this new opus begins, an exercise that had not been renewed since "Fortuna (Carmina Burana)". Although Alan Owen's keyboards are still present, the sound is drier and less powerful than on "Scream", which doesn't prevent the Danes from throwing us some new destructive salvos of which they have the secret. Because if there is one thing that the previous album confirmed, it is that there is a Pretty Maids formula and that the band is never as efficient as when it alternates direct tracks and other more melodic ones, sweeping Metal territories going from the borders of Hard FM to those of Speed Metal.
This style is widely represented and is nervous ("Freakshow"), anguishing ("Dead Or Alive"), scathing ("Fly Me Out"), modern and aggressive ("Spooked"), even rough ("The One That Should Not Be"), often armed with guitar/keyboards duels on incendiary soli ("Twisted") and propelled by cavalcades of double pedal. The heavy tracks are relatively classic but effective, 'Die With Your Dreams' being notably marked by an atmospheric break of the best effect. Finally, the more melodic side is slightly behind, with fewer tracks and less catchy than usual, even if the chorus of 'Live Until It Hurts' quickly gets into the mind. The ballad 'If It Can Be Love' sometimes flirts with mawkishness but comes out of it with honors thanks to the emotion transmitted by the always impeccable vocals of Ronnie Atkins. On the other hand, the cover of Kiss' 'Hard Luck Woman' sounds too much like an attempt to find the success of John Sykes' 'Please Don't Leave Me', and above all, it doesn't fit with the rest of the album.
Apart from these few weak points, and despite the fact that the album is a bit too long, leading to a slight in intensity and attention, "Spooked" has the merit of allowing Pretty Maids to finally make two quality albums, and to confirm that the Scandinavian combo has a trademark. By moving away from it only on rare occasions, the Danes gain in security what they lose in dynamics caused by a certain risk-taking. A notch below "Scream", this album confirms the status of sure value of the band of Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Resurrection (Intro) - 1:13
02. Freakshow - 3:54
03. Dead Or Alive - 4:35
04. Die With Your Dreams - 5:09
05. Fly Me Out - 4:37
06. Live Until It Hurts - 4:37
07. Spooked - 5:06
08. Twisted - 4:10
09. If It Can't Be Love - 5:55
10. Never Too Late - 4:26
11. Your Mind Is Where The Money Is - 5:05
12. Hard Luck Woman - 3:25
13. The One That Should Not Be - 4:02
14. A Love And A Fiction [Bonus Track] - 4:25
15. Crazy Horses [Bonus Track] - 3:45
16. Where The Blood Runs Deep [Bonus Track] - 4:27
LINEUP:
Alan Owen (guest): Claviers
Ken Hammer: Guitares
Kenn Jackson: Basse
Michael Fast : Batterie
Ronnie Atkins: Chant
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