Description

First Cuts… And Then Some is a reissue of the early studio and live recordings from Denmark's Pretty Maids. Released in 1999, the disc's first six tracks are pulled from the group's 1983 debut mini-album, which consisted of ‘City Light’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Shelly The Maid’, ‘Bad Boys’, ‘Children Of Tomorrow’ and ‘Nowhere To Run’. The next five cuts on offer are taken from the 1990 EP – In Santa's Claw's. The disc closes with ‘Far, Far Away’, a cover of the Slade gem, which was previously issued as a bonus cut on the Pretty Maid's Japanese pressing of Stripped. I still remember the first time I heard Pretty Maids. I had bought the rare Swedish pressing of the EP with different cover artwork. The needle hit the vinyl and the vocals, the guitar wizardry of Ken Hammer, the classical laced keyboards and excellent rhythm section had me hooked immediately. The bands first EP had a more metallic, NWOBHM-inspired feel than some of their later albums. Tracks like ‘City Light’, ‘Children of Tomorrow’ and ‘Nowhere to Run’ still brings back lovely memory of my youth. The band would go on and release two more great metal albums, ‘Red Hot And Heavy’ and ‘Future World’. If you like the later softer side of the band then this might not be the disc youre looking for but you who seeks out the early pure version of heavy metal should check this out. The ‘In Santas Claw’ Christmas EP has been very hard to track down on vinyl so it’s a nice addition to have those tracks on this album. Ian Gillan (of Deep Purple fame) does guest vocals on the Christmas song, "A Merry Jingle". The EP also had three live tracks recorded at the Roskilde Festival in 1990. This is a great buy for Pretty Maids fans who have not been able to track down (or afford) the original import EPs. Track listing: 1. City Light 2. Fantasy 3. Shelly The Maid 4. Bad Boys 5. Children Of Tomorrow 6. Nowhere To Run 7. In Santas Claws 8. A Merry Jingle 9. Eye Of The Storm-live 90 10. Red, Hot And Heavy-live 90 11. Rock The House-live 90 12. Far Far Away-Slade cover