Kev Rowland
It is strange to realise that this is the first official live album from Lee Aaron, given that she has been fairly constant on the live circuit and released the anthem ‘Metal Queen’ back in 1984! During her 2017 German tour the concerts at Balingen and Nuremberg were recorded and now form the basis of this CD-DVD set in Digipak. Given I haven’t heard any of her material for some years I was somewhat surprised just how well her well-known numbers have aged, and the new material certainly doesn’t sound out of place beside them. This is the same as it always was, commercial hard rock with some great hooks and a singer who wants to be taken seriously for her music and not just her looks, although it must be said THAT magazine cover from 1983 did her image both harm and good at the same time.
Muscially this album feels a little like a dirty secret, no-one wants to admit owning it or even liking it but put on “Metal Queen” and it is impossible not to have a smile on your face. But I found I was really enjoying a lot of the material here, with “Tomboy”, "Barely Holdin On" and "Whatcha Do to My Body", in particular really standing out. I’m still not sure of the opener, her take on “Mistreated” as it doesn’t really work for her style but she has balls for going for it. All in all a fun album, and sometimes that is what we really want from our music.