PRETTY MAIDS
Pretty Maids is a Danish hard rock/heavy metal band from Horsens, Denmark. Formed in 1981 by Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer, their sound and music can be described as classic guitar-laden heavy rock with a strong emphasis on melodic elements like vocals and keyboards.
Over the years, Pretty Maids have sold hundreds of thousands of records, but have never broken through in a major way, except in Japan during the 1990s. They have supported well known bands as Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and Saxon, and were also featured at the 1987 German version of Monsters of Rock, where Metallica headlined along with Deep Purple.
After a prolonged international touring hiatus before the release of the 2006 Wake Up to the Real World album, the band have every year since been touring their primary markets of Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Spain.
In March 2014, Pretty Maids released their 13th studio album Louder Than Ever.Pretty Maids have on various occasions mentioned Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Kiss, Icon, Slade, and Queen as some of their influences. Over the years, they have recorded cover songs from many of these influences, including their most famous hit to date: A 1992 cover of John Sykes' ballad Please Don't Leave Me. Pretty Maids' song "Back to Back" from their debut album Red, Hot and Heavy was covered by two Swedish metal bands; HammerFall on their Legacy of Kings album in 1998, and Arch Enemy on their Will to Power album in 2017.
Pretty Maids is a Danish hard rock/heavy metal band from Horsens, Denmark. Formed in 1981 by Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer, their sound and music can be described as classic guitar-laden heavy rock with a strong emphasis on melodic elements like vocals and keyboards.
Over the years, Pretty Maids have sold hundreds of thousands of records, but have never broken through in a major way, except in Japan during the 1990s. They have supported well known bands as Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and Saxon, and were also featured at the 1987 German version of Monsters of Rock, where Metallica headlined along with Deep Purple.
After a prolonged international touring hiatus before the release of the 2006 Wake Up to the Real World album, the band have every year since been touring their primary markets of Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Spain.
In March 2014, Pretty Maids released their 13th studio album Louder Than Ever.
Pretty Maids were formed in 1981 by friends Ken Hammer and Ronnie Atkins in Horsens, Denmark. They were initially a cover band first named Pretty Pretty Panick, but soon started writing their own material and a self-financed demo resulted in a deal with the English record label Bullet Records.
In 1983, the band released their debut self-titled EP under the name Pretty Maids which is still the same today, and further recognition was fuelled by great reaction to their UK tour the same year. Inevitably the band outgrew their label, and in 1984 signed to CBS Records, who remixed and re-released their self-titled EP with a different cover.
In 1984, the band released their debut studio album, Red, Hot and Heavy, which was a success. More acclaim was followed with their second studio album, Future World, released in 1987. It was recorded in New York City with renowned producer Eddie Kramer. The album is considered to define the band's definite sound, with typically aggressive rockers alongside more commercial, melodic moments.
The 1990 Follow up Jump the Gun, was produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, offered more of the same catchy riffs. The record label had put in all efforts to break the charts worldwide with this record, but it never took off, except in Japan. Whether it was lack of hits, marketing or they were simply another victim of grunge music is unknown, but the record didn't live up to expectations. The band more or less broke up after the lack of success with this record, leaving only founding members Ron Atkins and Ken Hammer.
Rock