Lizzy Borden

Deal With the Devil (Metal Blade)
by Scott Hefflon

I’ve liked bits’n’pieces of Lizzy Borden‘s career, finding his vocal warble instantly recognizable, and a few ditties here and there bordering on timeless shock classic. So if you’re familiar with Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper, perhaps WASP (plenty’d disagree, thinking them not on par), and the whole new slew of “we’ll see who’ll be remembered” nü metal fashion victims (Slipknot and various not-horribly derivative tantrum-throwers), ya oughtta check out Lizzy Borden, just to round out the picture. While the roots are certainly in ’80s L.A. metal (I keep thinking of Ratt, and I really wish I wouldn’t cuz I’m getting a twitch), with big choruses, the kind of butt-shakin’ paces that made poofy-haired hotties in mini skirts kick up their heels in front of the stage back in the daze, and guitar fills and solos filled with harmonic squawks, dives and pick slides, songs like the opener, “There Will Be Blood Tonight,” and the Manson-ish industrial plod of “We Only Come Out at Night” transcend the cheese. Well, they taste of a different cheese (the latter combining King Diamond shrieks, Manson drools, and Lizzy’s own howl)… “We Only Come Out at Night” should be the single if anyone at Metal Blade really wants to turn new fans onto the mayhem that is Lizzy Borden. There’re covers of Alice Cooper’s “Generation Landslide” and Blue Öyster Cult’s “(This Ain’t) The Summer of Love” just to show, um, that Lizzy’s an old metal dude and completely out of touch with what “the kids” know, love, and want covered.

OK, so mostly pretty dated stuff here, but a few great moments of ’80s metal nostalgia (and more than a few shivers), and a couple truly worthy additions to the list of songs I like by Lizzy. The CD cover is by Spawn artist Todd McFarlane and, to be honest, I’m really not all that impressed. And one last thing, does no one remember the Give ’em the Axe EP? It’s not in the CD booklet’s “stuff you can order” and the bio incorrectly starts the story with Love You to Pieces… Being the metal geek I am, omitting that four-song EP (one an uncredited cover of Rainbow’s “Long Live Rock’n’Roll”) from ’84 is like starting Queensrÿche’s discography with The Warning instead of the EP with “Queen of the Reich” and “The Lady Wore Black” on it, or claiming Pantera’s first was Cowboys from Hell. OK, maybe it’s not that crucial, but the EP ruled, I learned to play all three original songs, all of which appeared on the double-live record (where were people supposed to think they came from?). Oh, and the bottom of the merch form slipped inside the EP has been cut off, so I’d guess that EP was responsible for me ordering my Metal Blade Crushed Skulls design “Heavy Metal Will Never Die” t-shirt. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this…
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