I remember a day in 1984 when i was just 13 years old and catching a bus to the city to hang out at a Heavy Metal music shop called Twilight Records in Perth. This particular day i walked in and saw the cover of an album by a new band Madam X called “We Reserve The Right”.
On the cover art alone i handed over my pocket money and took this beauty home. It stayed on my turntable for a very long time and often thru the years i would pull it out and play it because it was such a kick-ass record.
Unfortunately the band would go through a few line up changes and didn’t deliver a follow up second album.
Sebastian Bach was in the band for a stint before going on the join Skid Row after original singer Bret Kaiser would go onto other projects. Drummer Roxy Petrucci would go on to join all girl Hard Rock sensation Vixen. Madam X would disappear into a Heavy Metal 80s memory until the original line up were ask to reunite for a Swedish festival in 2014. The band had so much fun and were blown away by the response they received from fans they decided to join forces once again and have some fun.
So that’s where album number 2 comes in 33 years later. Bret, Godzilla, Roxy and Sister Maxine got back together and wrote one hell of a kick ass album MONTROCITY. This grabs you by the throat from the opening riff of ‘Resurrection’ to the fade out of ‘Bride of Frankenstein’. To say this album Kicks hard is a total understatement its driving riffs from Maxine Petrucci and powerhouse bassist Chris ‘Godzilla’ Doliber lays a very thick slab of heavy foundation that is pounded by the heavy hitting Roxy Petrucci on the Drums.
The band are as solid as a rock but what really stands out is the power Brett Kaiser has in his voice after all these years. Not many singer’s from the 80s Heavy Rock scene have been able to keep their range but Brett has never sounded so powerful. A lot of younger bands could learn a lot from a band like Madam X as most will be hoping to sound as good they do when they hit their 50s.
To name stand out tracks is too hard….they ALL stand out. ‘Resurrection’, ‘Montrocity’, ‘Freak Parade’, ‘Big Rock Rolls Heavy’ the list goes on and the remake of their classic ‘High in High School’ is as fresh today as it was in 1984 if not better. This is just quality and the band should be very proud of their efforts. I hope this continues with more albums to come in the near future. My 13 year old self would have loved this album if it was released in 1985 but it came out in 2017 but definitely worth the wait.
