Lizzy Borden: Master of Disguise (1989)

Lizzy Borden is a glam band that produced some obviously metal material.  By and large, they did not fit in with groups like Poison, Bon Jovi or Cinderella, despite the heavy makeup.  Their sound fits in much better with a group like W.A.S.P. or Twisted Sister.  The band is named after the notorious axe-murderer and their appropriately-named song "Give 'Em the Axe" is a terrific anthem for them.

Master of Disguise is a loose concept album about a sadistic sexual deviant with a taste for blood.  The songs all tell a story, and the lyrics generally come across quite well.  It is essentially a slasher movie set to music, and that is by and large something that Lizzy Borden does quite well.

Unfortunately, the music on this album does not hold up as well as some of the other albums Lizzy Borden has released.  I do not like it nearly as much as Visual Lies for instance.  The band has seemingly decided to tone their sound down somewhat in order to potentially fit in better with the groups that I mentioned in the first paragraph.  The songs are clearly metal, but they are generally much slower, with more emphasis on the vocals, while the riffing takes a back seat.  I would say this album more closely resembles a group like Nitro than the earlier comparison to W.A.S.P., who to me is the standard bearer for metal with a glam influence.  Songs like "Love is a Crime", while being one of the heavier songs on the album, would not feel out of place on an album by Whitesnake.

This album did not do a lot for me.  It is still catchy as hell and I still believe Lizzy Borden is a very underrated band and an example of glam metal done right.  However, the band has produced better albums.  This one just seems to be trying to hard for mainstream success.