A celebration of 30 years since the “Shelly The Maids” Ep. Who would have imagined these Danish guys (well at least original members Ken Hammer and singer Ronnie Atkins) would have survived disastrous forays into breaking America (on major label CBS) and relegation to Japan throughout the Nineties to not only remain intact, but rediscovering the sound that made them popular in the first place? This is a double CD, to coincide with their first live DVD, filmed last October, which can be bought separately or in a boxed set, along with the visuals.

Not too often Barack Obama introduces your band, but the voiceovers utilized in ‘Pandemonium’ (regarding global warming) preface the Maids taking the stage to the upbeat, keyboard led track. A 21 song headlining performance (with four off “Pandemonium”), the pace varies throughout, from the rousing classics ‘Yellow Rain’, ‘Future World’, ‘Back To Back’, ‘Love Games’ and the ubiquitous closer, ‘Red Hot & Heavy’ (all found towards the end of the second of these two CDs), to lively newer (read post-80s) hits ‘Nightmare In The Neighbourhood’, ‘Destination Paradise’ or ‘Hell On High Heels’ and the ballads we metalheads have to sit through, in order to hear the aforementioned, like ‘Walk Away’ and audience sing-alongs ‘Another Shot’ or piano accompanied ‘Savage Heart’.

Here, the only rocking oldie on disc #1 is ‘Queen Of Dreams’ off the ’84 full-length debut. Their third live offering since ’95, the focus is on the more recent era, missing standards like ‘Cold Killer’ and ‘Sin Decade’, which can be found on those other concert offerings. For those starting an investigation of the band (why did it take you so long?) or looking for a more concise career retrospective, I still prefer 2003’s tongue-in-cheek entitled “Alive At Least”, as a complete package, although this rapid-fire culmination of disc #2 is definitely the band’s finest recorded moment.

Pretty Maids will finally return to these shores, playing ProgPower USA, September 15th.