Pretty Maids
Future World

THE REVIEW

Two weeks ago it was my birthday, and although it's now a well-established habit, some of my friends don't accept the fact that I have to tell them specifically what gift, or gifts, I want to receive. Even though I would say it's good and right, I never want to find myself, knowing them, with yet another book of Game of Thrones, or with skincare products that I will never use. So, to try to please them, at least slightly, I made them a list of records I wanted, from which they were to choose three. The result, Nuclear Assault with "Game Over", "Epitaph" by God Is An Astronaut"... And "Future World" by Pretty Maids.

But Pretty Maids? When did I write them down? At that moment, however, I didn't feel like discussing the choice, so the next day at home, I put on the Pretty Maids' record, and I realized I remembered every single note. Like those records you listened to absentmindedly when you were 15 to learn only the chorus and show off in front of schoolmates as the ultimate music connoisseur. Only the problem was I didn't remember when exactly I had heard it. But it didn't matter, because the album flowed beautifully, and every time it ended, I was ready to start over from the beginning.

Music based on the use of keyboards, catchy choruses, and a charismatic and personal voice. That was, and still is, Pretty Maids, a Danish band formed in 1981 by guitarist Ken Hammer and singer Ronnie Atkins, a group that, although they released very convincing albums in their career, never received the popularity they deserved. A story, unfortunately, told and retold for many other bands. After debuting in 1984 with "Red Hot And Heavy", an album featuring the track "Back To Back", later covered by Hammerfall on their debut, Pretty Maids released what is considered their best work, "Future World".

Influenced by bands like KISS, Sweet, and Uriah Heep, the Danish formation managed to produce a blatantly AOR album while staying within a strictly heavy metal realm. To make the record even more impactful, there's the already mentioned voice of Ronnie Atkins, melodic and gritty at the same time, giving the songs a more pronounced aura where excessive melody might be annoying.

Songs like the Titletrack are examples, where between a direct riff, never intrusive keyboards, and Atkins' voice at times reminiscent of the rougher vocals of Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian, Pretty Maids' talent fully emerges. A similar discussion can be had with "We Came To Rock", although decidedly more brazen and commercial in the chorus, while with "Love Games" it almost feels like listening to Journey's "Escape". The album shifts back to more straightforward territories with "Needles In The Dark", while with "Loud 'N Proud" it feels like hearing the Magnum of "Vigilante" soundscapes.

And if "Rodeo" flows without garnering much attention in its simplicity, it is "Yellow Rain" that stands out as one of the best pieces on the album. Atkins manages to navigate perfectly between more delicate moments and others where it accelerates, while Alan Owen on keyboards creates an atmosphere that suits the song's lyrics well, about the Vietnam War and the return of soldiers considered heroes on their departure and criminals upon their return.

"Future World" is therefore a record that manages, although it doesn't invent anything already experimented with years before, to sound fresh to the listener, thanks to musical solutions that are almost never boring and will be developed in the same way in the subsequent "Jump The Gun / Lethal Heroes". Pretty Maids will continue in the following years to release consistently good records, but the sounds of this record would never be reached again. Perhaps the record that happens only once in a lifetime to compose, but the important thing is that it exists. A Heavy Metal / AOR gem to rediscover.