by Dan Skiba
— Columnist —
Danish rockers Pretty Maids are back at it again with their 16th studio release entitled Undress Your Madness. Those familiar with the band know that Pretty Maids have knocked out some of the best aggressive Rock songs over the years and appear to embrace the challenge of continuing to write new music, despite a nice stockpile of bona fide hits.
Similar to previous releases, Undress Your Madness is “split” between a selection of Melodic Metal, Hard Rock, and Melodic Rock. Presumably the band feels their fan base has come to appreciate this 3-way split practice, but swerving in and out of these 3 styles tends to either kill one’s Metal buzz, or erase one’s mellow karma, depending on which mood you’re in while listening. Overall, when Pretty Maids rocks, they rock hard and come through with purpose, force, and catchy energy. Conversely, when delving into Melodic Rock/Ballads, the band gives the feel of being out of their element and uninspired. Their Hard Rock tracks are logically somewhere in the middle.
So, by count, there are 4 tracks that can be considered Melodic Metal, 4 tracks that come across as Melodic Rock, and 2 that fall somewhere in the middle. And, in line with overall assessments, those 6 non-Melodic Rock tracks score the highest marks.
After a brief intro, “Serpentine” blasts in your face with excellent production quality, power, and very catchy lyrics. Unfortunately, that rush of adrenaline is followed by the rather sappy “Firesoul Fly” (a buzz kill). The title track “Undress The Madness” picks up the pace and is a worthy namesake, however, the follow-up to that is “Will You Still Kiss Me (If I See You In Heaven)”, which could single-handedly put out the California wild-fires. The second half of the album represented by “If You Want Peace (Prepare For War),” “Slavedriver,” and “Black Thunder” make this album worth the $13.99 and show Pretty Maids in full glory. But, the band decided to close out Undress Your Madness with a maddening Melodic Rock flop entitled “Strength Of A Rose” … which any respected Metalhead is apt to skip after hearing the first 30 seconds.
Pretty Maids has had success over their long career, and when you hear their “best” you gotta wonder why they’re not heavyweight superstars. Unfortunately, the answer likely lies in the band trying to please too many people at the same time, thus making a less-than-stellar album overall … and a “pass purchase” decision by heavy rock fans in general. Perhaps Pretty Maids feels that with individual track purchases ruling the industry these days, they have succeeded by reaching a broad swath of potential fans … and Undress Your Madness in that light may indeed be a true accomplishment. You decide.
Genres: Melodic Metal, Hard Rock, Melodic Rock
Band:
Ronnie Atkins / Vocals
Kenn Hammer / Guitars
Rene Shades / Bass
Chris Laney / Keyboards
Allan Sørensen / Drums
Tracklisting:
Intro
Serpentine
Firesoul Fly
Undress The Madness
Will You Still Kiss Me (If I See You In Heaven)
Runaway World
If You Want Peace (Prepare For War)
Slavedriver
Shadowlands
Black Thunder
Strength Of A Rose
Label:
Frontiers Records
Hardrock Haven rating: 
(6 / 10)
