Label : Angelina Records
Review by Tony Cannella
Some fans may remember Maxine Petrucci from the early 80’s metal band Madame X. They had a minor hit on MTV with the anthem “High in High School”. Some may also know of her due to her sister, Vixen drummer Roxy Petrucci. She also has a bit of a solo career going and has just released her third album “Back to the Garden”. This is a heavy, eclectic and unique mish-mash of metal styles, and to say the least it is also a high energy, guitar driven affair.
“Back to the Garden” may be a polarizing album. Fans are either going to love it or maybe not so much. One of the divisive things about it is bound to be Maxine Petrucci’s vocals. There is no denying her talents as a guitar player (or the talents of her band members, for that matter), but she has the sort of different vocal style that may not be embraced by everyone. Still, I find her voice to be unique and as the album wore on it began to grow on me. Now, on to the songs; the opener “WTF” is a song so full of attitude and huge guitar riffs that are coming at a fast and furious pace. One of the more different songs is “Wicked”. Here Maxine shows off her skills as a flute player. Other highlights include: “Assassinate”, “Youth Gone By” and the rousing classic style rocker “Gingerman”. In my opinion, “Back to the Garden” is a spirited effort that will be an acquired taste for some. Regardless of what anybody thinks, I give Maxine Petrucci and her band a huge amount of credit for thinking outside the box and managing to come up with something unique within the framework of metal music.
Rating – 73/100
Tracklist
- WTF
- Back to the Garden
- Out of Whack
- Assassinate
- Wicked
- Pink Angels
- Youth Gone By
- Ginger Man
- Sacred
- Harsh My Gig
Line Up
- Maxine Petrucci – Guitars, Vocals
- Rachel May – Guitar
- Brian Paxton – Bass
- Pat DeLeon – Drums
Links