Sunday 24 June 2018

Album Review: LIZZY BORDEN - My Midnight Things

Lizzy Borden - My Midnight Things

01. My Midnight Things
02. Obsessed With You
03. Long May They Haunt Us
04. The Scar Across My Heart
05. A Stranger To Love
06. The Perfect Poison
07. Run Away With Me
08. Our Love Is God
09. My Midnight Things (Reprise)
10. We Belong To The Shadows
11. Long May They Haunt Us (Reprise) (Bonus Track)
12. Silent Night (Bonus Track)
13. Waiting In The Wings (2018) (Bonus Track)

Legendary shock rocker Lizzy Borden is finally back with his first record in eleven years! I've been a fan since I was a kid. I saw the band in the notorious movie The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II: The Metal Years, then bought a greatest hits album. I was hooked and ended up delving into the back catalogue after that. Lizzy Borden may not be one of the most well-known 80's Heavy Metal acts but is certainly one of the best.

My Midnight Things instantly recognisable as a Lizzy Borden record due to his unmistakable vocal style. Having said that, it's not exactly what I expected. The title track is classic Lizzy, but the vocal approach has less of the powerful aggression I'd expect, and a more relaxed delivery giving it more of a melodic tone as opposed to face-ripping Metal. The next song, Obsessed With You, is one of the album's highlights with its catchy, energised chorus and haunting verses, reminding the listener just how good Lizzy can be.

The single Long May They Haunt Us strays into 70's Glam Rock territory, reminding me more of Cheap Trick and Joan Jett than the 80's Heavy Metal Lizzy is known for. It's an upbeat track that I think may be a little too Pop for some fans, but I quite like it. This style continues on tracks like The Scar Across My Heart, which even has some piano thrown in over many layers of vocals.

A Stranger To Love harks back to the 80's Metal sound that I wanted. It's a highly infectious song and my favourite track on the album. Another highlight is Our Love Is God which is the heaviest track on offer here and is a little more contemporary in style.

There are some strange tracks included such as the 'reprise' of the title track, which is basically a piano version. One of the three bonus tracks is another reprise of this nature, and I really don't think either of them add much to the record. Another oddball is a cover of the Christmas Carol Silent Night, and the less said about this version, the better.

I really wanted to love this album, but I can't say that I do. It does have moments of greatness, but it has a few too many fillers and tracks where I feel that Lizzy lost his way a little. With artists like Judas Priest and Saxon roaring back to greatness with jaw-dropping new albums released this year, I was hoping that Lizzy Borden would do the same and unleash a killer Heavy Metal album that would stand up to anything he'd put out before. Unfortunately, My Midnight Things is a long way from being that record. If only he'd worked with a producer like Andy Sneap, and had brought on board some world class guitar shredders of the calibre of previous members like Joe Holmes (who also played for Ozzy), or current live guitarist Ira Black (why the fuck he wasn't invited to play on this record, God only knows!). It'll certainly be interesting to see how My Midnight Things is looked at by fans a few years from now, when they've had time to let it soak in.

What is cool though is that Metal Blade Records have put the whole thing on YouTube so you can have a listen and make up your own mind.

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