Pelata Denmark’s Pretty Maids have spent the better part of 30 years putting out their brand of melodic heavy metal music. Always striking a balance between barn-burning metal aggression and near-AOR catchiness, the band has been arguably one of the more consistent bands in our beloved scene. Never quite achieving the success of contemporaries like Def Leppard or Judas Priest, yet finding their own core sound and audience, Ronnie Atkins and the boys may have stumbled here and there, but have yet to disappoint.

2010 brings us Pandemonium, the band’s 12th full-length studio album in its 27-year run as a recording entity (which also includes 4 EP’s, 2 live albums and 2 compilations). As I stated, the band has been one of the more consistent in recent memory, with fewer instances of collective fan disappointment than just about any other band I can think of. They do what they do and they do it quite well. This album has a combination of the heavy edge of Planet Panic and the layered melodic aura of Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing coming up with their strongest album since 2000′s Carpe Diem.

Rather than separating elements among different songs (as in some past efforts), the band combines it’s metal and melodic rock personalities forming a very strong set of songs. “Little Drops Of Heaven” sports a chorus as strong as anything the band has ever done in a near-perfect mid-tempo rocker. The same can be said of “Final Day Of Innocence” and “I.N.V.U.”. On the energetic “Cielo Drive” the band cranks up the metal with a classic Judas Priest styled riff and another monster chorus. The title track delvers the Metal in this fashion as well.

The only two bands I mentioned as reference in this review, Def Leppard and Judas Priest, sum up the overall vibe of Pretty Maids. Two bands that have their own unique identities creating another. Pretty Maids the band, and Pandemonium the album, is like a modern blend of Pyromania and Screaming For Vengeance. Pretty Maids are melodic heavy metal at its finest.

Metalbaswee God, do i love this record. After giving it a few spins this week, i can say for sure that this might be one of my top 2010 albums at this moment. It is a very solid album for sure, it sounds very clean and polished, which i can appreciate, after hearing a lot of raw records these days. With all the songs lasting for about 4 and a half minutes, give or take, this is a record that is going to keep popping up if want to listen a song really quick between classes or something like that.

I absolutely love the vocals. They sound really clean, and are dubbed really great. Vocal performace is solid on the whole cd. Drums are nothing really special to me, They do what they have to do. The guitar sounds thick, heavy, and has a lot of balls, riff can be a bit boring at time. Bass and keys are okay, good in the mix, but nothing to original.

Great release. 4 stars.

Time Signature Beautiful madness...

Genre: heavy metal

This release by Pretty Maids is really good - it took me totally by surprise. There are some really hard-hitting tracks on this album, like "Pandemonium" and "Cielo Drive" - both of which are pwer metal tracks - and "One World One Truth", "Final Day of Innocence", "It Comes At Night", "Beautiful Madness" and "Breathless" which are solid heavy metal tracks.

Judging by the title, "Little Drops of Heaven", could potentially be a very cheesy ballad, and the tracks opening keyboards seem to confirm that, as it sounds like the intro to a Euro dance song, but as the song kicks in, it becomes apparent that we are actually listening to a melancholic rock song of high quality. It has a really catchy hookline and serves as an example of how to sucessfully integrate pop music and hardrock. "Old Enough to Know" is a less notable, and perhaps dated, ballad but I'm sure that a lot of people will appreciate it for what it is.

What characterizes this album is an almost perfect balance of heaviness and melodic catchiness. There are some really nice catchy choruses on this album. Good stuff.

Recommended to fans of traditional heavy metal, melodic hard rock and power metal. I think that even pop fans might like it too.

Stephen After four years of silence, Pretty Maids returns with a mighty follow-up to their eleventh album, "Wake Up To The Real World" that's received mixed appraisals. This Danish heavy metal giant offers the same musical style, less experimental and more straight forward, in the veins of their classic style, but this time, they provided an updated sound to keep the record from being outdated. Their formation is still the same as last album except for the keyboard spot, which was filled by Morten Sandager, replacing Alan Owen.

From start to finish, you will be served with a real treat of pure heavy metal, some are fast and heavy, some are in mid-tempo and a bit commercial, but no acoustical or slowtempo piano ballads here, so be prepared for a fireburning tracks to the end. The title track opener did its part pretty good to elevate the listener's mood with a tremendous uptempo heavy metal.

Ron Atkins is still sounded strong as ever while the rhythm section is tightly played. "I.N.V.U" and "Little Drops of Heaven" are two blissful melodic gems with the latter stands out as the best song of the album. "Cielo Drive" is definitely the heaviest song here, and also a well-composed one. "Old Enough To Know" and "Breathless" are commercial, easy listening, radio friendly, and lovable. Couple of okay tracks, no filler traced, and "It Comes At Night" can make another interesting track to watch, a firm gripping track with the most modern sounding song here, a bit patchy for some, but an acceptable goody for me.

"Pandemonium" was also equipped with a brilliant production and with a set of high-quality songs, this album is a must-buy Pretty Maids hardcore and a great recommendation for casual traditional heavy metal genre. After almost 30 years, the band still kicks hard, and this is only a proof that you can expect something big in the future. Thumbs up!

ovidiu WOW!This album might be the best PRETTY MAIDS album ever!Well,if we will forget the musical pearl called FUTURE WORLD and the brilliant JUMP THE GUN,definitelly this PANDEMONIUM has all the ingredients to be a true "return en fanfare" for the Danish metal kings!First of all the band has a new label behind-FRONTIERS RECORDS,and it seems that this thing gave the guys an impulse to move forward in a little more comercial direction!That's so very true,but it's made in a good sense and the massive heavy riffs are still present-don't worry about that!Ronnie's voice is still superbe and Ken's guitar sounds like thunder!The melodic vibe is overall present andthe massive presence of the keyboards is perfectly integrated in a very inspired album,loaded with great songs,very melodic and catchy,most of all midtempo oriantated!The production is massive,crystal clear-one of the best in tha last period of time!So,congratulations to the old sharks from Denmark and 4,5 STSRS for an album made with passion and love for good high quality music!