As part two of my Pretty Maids extravaganza week I am reviewing the overlooked, yet killer album Spooked. Whereas the new live album Alive at Least is mainly for the fans, Spooked is one of Pretty Maids' finest moments. For years fans were asking for the sequel to Future World and this is as close as they got. Even though I love each and every single album these Danes have done, Spooked is where the band just seemed to hit the head on the nail on every single song and the result is some of the best melodic rock I have heard with every song having a catchy, majestic melody, passionate vocals, heavy yet crystal clear melodic guitars and drums that were made to bang your head to.

After the obligatory intro track, Freakshow comes screaming out with a heavy as hell riff that makes you proud to be metal. A relatively fast song, Freakshow is an ideal opener and sets the mood for the entire cd. After Dead or Alive, another fast one, comes the midtempo, driving Die With Your Dreams. It's a little different from most of the other songs in their extensive catalog as it is quite a bit darker sounding than the standard Pretty Maids song, almost brooding in a way. The first huge smash comes later though with Live Until it Hurts, an upbeat anthem like song about living for the now and enjoying life to the fullest. With an intro that recalls Love Games this is just a pure, fun, singalong song that Pretty Maids do best. The hard edge returns with the title track which is another fast heavy number. A vicious song, Spooked is dreadfully heavy and quite angry lyrically. Some good solos and a maudlin midsection make this song a standout. After another fast one and a ballad we get another midtempo brilliant song in the form of Never Too Late. What stands out here is the harmonized vocals, especially in the break section about halfway through where Ronnie Atkins voice is layered several times, each with a different tone and it just sounds mind boggling. Every time I play that passage I always end up rewinding at least two or three times just to hear Ronnie sing "And through the misty eyes of memory / do you remember how it used to be / do you recall all the good times baby". At this point in the album you will probably have noticed the keyboards, although not overpowering they are used quite alot by this band and I consider them a major part of the magic that is Pretty Maids, without them the songs would be quite lacking. The European version of Spooked ends with three more songs, including a cover of Kiss's Hard Luck Woman, which kills the original in my opinion, but the Japanese version has three more bonus tracks, one of which is one of the most godly songs that the band has ever written. Most Japanese bonus songs are usually decent but nothing to lose sleep over, although recently there have been several albums put out where the bonus song is the best one on the cd. Anyways, A Love and a Fiction is simply brilliant in every stretch of the imagination. It has hooks galore, a simple and easy to sing along to verses and a guitar line that is instantly identifiable. I implore the band to re-record A Love and a Fiction for their 2004 album simply because every Pretty Maids fan needs to be exposed to this monster of a song, its not fair that it was only released as a bonus track or on the LTD shaped cd a couple of years ago. As for the other two bonus songs, like I said about most Jap tracks, they aren't anything to lose sleep over.

For me, Spooked is one of those albums that bands are lucky to have once in their career. For Pretty Maids this was their third album of their lives and long time fans couldn't agree more. If you have never heard them before this is the perfect album to start with. I implore younger fans to give Pretty Maids a listen, they are one of the most talented bands out there but have nowhere near the recognition they deserve. Like the heading to the review states, this is Melodic Hard Rock Supremacy.