Pretty Maids......the story!

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 re-released their self titled EP. In 1984, the band released their debut studio album, Red, Hot and Heavy, which was a success.
But the album that put them to the elit bands in Europe was their follow up album "Future World" which was released in 1987. It was recorded in New York 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.

They would not quit, however, so they recruited drummer Michael Fast and bass player Kenn Jackson, and went on to record Sin-Decade in 1992 with famed Metallica producer Flemming Rasmussen at the buttons. The album produced the hit single Please Don't Leave Me - a John Sykes/Phil Lynott cover which opened the band up to an even wider audience.

The band did very well in Japan in the first half of the 90s and founded large fanbase over there. The Asian audience has a special craving for Pretty Maids' ballads and more soft repertoire.
In 1995 however, the band really surprised the fans and critics by releasing the storming Scream. This was an altogether heavier and guitar-lead approach which gained numerous plaudits and saw the band release their first live album, Screamin' Live.


The follow up Spooked, released in 1997, was regarded by many as an instant classic, maintaining the energy and heaviness of Scream whilst still capturing the quintessential melody that is Pretty Maids.

1999's Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing, whilst certainly having an overdone album title, also produced one of the songs of the year with Hell On High Heels, an absolute monster of commercial, hard driving rock.

In 2000 the Danish heavy rockers released the album Carpe Diem. A touch more melodic than their previous offerings - a fact that hasn't gone down too well with certain factions of their fan-base, but this is still a classic album which has all the Pretty Maids trademarks in abundance.
In 2002 Pretty Maids released the album Planet Panic which was a trip back to the heavier sides of their catalogue and also was the album that mixed-up their fans cause of the missing of the melodies.
Lead guitarist Ken Hammer was struck by a heart attack on December 6 2003. He has since recovered completely and has been on stage numerous times since the incident.
As of July 2005 the drummer since 1991, Michael Fast, decided to leave before the recording of Wake Up To The Real World - an album that was originally intended to be released in 2005, but the initial recordings was postponed to the summer of 2006. In April 2006, new drummer Allan Tschicaja (Royal Hunt, Kingdom Come) was announced as Michael Fast's replacement. In 2006, Morten Sandager (ex-Mercenary) joined Pretty Maids, playing the keyboards.

This year, their new album Pandemonium is out and is a hell of a record. A back to their roots effort. And with records like this, one thing is sure- Pretty Maids is gonna stay for a long long time in the music scene to give us such a great music! - GUITARMAN

sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Maids , http://www.prettymaids.dk/