Review Summary: On this album, she was the metal queen
Let’s look at another of my favorite albums ever, somewhat different from what I've already reviewed. For that, we must go back to 1984, when a young Canadian singer released her second album, where she dressed like a heroic fantasy warrior and called herself the Metal Queen. And on that album, she proved that she deserved that title, with 10 awesome songs that still amaze me with their creativity and energy.
Even without its cheesy fantasy visuals, the title track is a song that demands your attention, with its heavy and catchy riffs and powerful verses about how awesome the Metal Queen is. It goes all the way in terms of energy and bombast and that’s what makes this song so great. The rest of the album has the same impressively energetic and bombastic feel, and catchy songs that will not leave you once you’ve heard them. For example, “Head Above Water” is a very powerful song about keeping your head up and not giving up. “Hold Out” has a similar theme, but it’s even more powerful and uplifting, starting somewhat slow, before becoming more desperate and soaring to a strong chorus claiming “Hold out! I’ve got a feeling I’ll survive!”. But the fastest and heaviest song is definitely “Deceiver”, with its mighty heavy/speed metal riff and ferocious vocals.
The other amazing thing about this album, besides its energy, is the diversity of the music. Other songs are somewhat different from the fast heavy metal anthems described about, but they are just as good. “Lady of the Darkest Night” is a catchy and somewhat seductive song about a succubus or any other dream creature. “Shake it Up” is a sort of commentary on shallow dance music, but it’s also an extremely catchy and danceable song, with a riff that grabs your attention just like the ones from “Metal Queen” and “Deceiver” do. “Steal Away Your Love” is a slower and more unsettling track, where Lee Aaron’s high notes send a shiver down the spine. “We Will Be Rockin’” is not as interesting as the rest of the album, but it’s a pretty catchy and fun rock anthem. “Got To Be The One” is the obligatory ballad, and while it’s not great, it’s still somewhat endearing, because of Lee’s passionate vocals.
Because, yes, her vocals play a great part in why I love this album so much. She may not have the best voice out of the whole 80s metal scene, but she knows how to use it, belting powerful high notes with lots of passion, and changing things up with a raspier sound, and a quieter but still expressive tone. Once again, her voice brings more intensity and charm to her less interesting songs. She has a presence that simply cannot be replicated.
And this is why, on this album, she truly deserves to be called the queen of metal. It’s probably her best on a musical level, with the catchiest songs, best riffs and a wide variety of styles, from powerful metal anthems to melancholic ballads, some darker tracks and a lot of fun ones. It completely fulfills the potential shown on her debut "The Lee Aaron Project", and the only album in her discography that can compare to the awesomeness of "Metal Queen" is its immediate follow-up "Call of the Wild". This one is another great metal album, but it hasn’t made the same impact, due to not having "Metal Queen" on it. Afterwards, Lee Aaron would move on from metal, trying on synth rock, hair metal, alternative rock and even jazz. She has a very long and diverse discography that I would love to review more of, but none of her later albums would ever be as great as “Metal Queen”.
