Kingmaker (album)

Kingmaker is the fifteenth studio album by Danish hard rock/heavy metal Pretty Maids. The album was released in Japan on October 21, 2016, and in the rest of the world on November 4, 2016 by Frontiers Records.[1][2] It is the first album of all new material since Motherland (2013). Kingmaker is the first album without keyboard player Morten Sandager who left the band in February 2016 after joining Pretty Maids in 2006.[3] Instead Kim Olesen of Anubis Gate plays keyboards on the album.[4]

Kingmaker
Studio album by
Pretty Maids
ReleasedOctober 21, 2016 (2016-10-21)
RecordedFebruary–June 2016
StudioHansen Studios, Ribe; Medley Studio, Copenhagen; and LaneyLand
GenreHard rock, heavy metal
LabelFrontiers
ProducerJacob Hansen
Pretty Maids chronology
Louder Than Ever
(2015)		 Kingmaker
(2016)		 Undress Your Madness
(2019)
Singles from Kingmaker
  1. "Face the World"
    Released: August 29, 2016
  2. "Kingmaker"
    Released: October 24, 2016

In an interview with The Classic Metal Show, lead singer Ronnie Atkins said of the album: "Basically we are big pop freaks as well. We like all kinds of music and to us a good song is a good song. Some of the stuff is actually written on an acoustic guitar. There are songs on the album that are basically pop songs. You could take songs like "Heavens Little Devil", basically just a pop song. The challenge is turning a pop song into a rock song."[5]

The album debuted at number 35 on the German Albums Chart, becoming Pretty Maids' highest-charting album since Jump the Gun in 1990 (which also charted at number 35).[6] However, the album failed to chart in their native Denmark.

Danish music magazine Gaffa rated the album four out of five stars and wrote: "Kingmaker is thus the third album in a row, where there is a vast majority of hits compared to misses."[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer.

No.TitleLength
1."When God Took a Day Off"6:01
2."Kingmaker"4:16
3."Face the World"3:59
4."Humanize Me"4:13
5."Last Beauty on Earth"4:05
6."Bull's Eye"3:56
7."King of the Right Here and Now"4:41
8."Heavens Little Devil"3:48
9."Civilized Monsters"4:57
10."Sickening"3:45
11."Was That What You Wanted"5:00
Japanese version (bonus tracks)
No.TitleLength
12."Kingmaker" (extended version) 
13."Humanize Me" (extended version) 
iTunes Store version (bonus track)[8]
No.TitleLength
12."Kingmaker" (extended version)5:46

Personnel
  • Ronnie Atkins – vocals, writer
  • Ken Hammer – guitar, writer
  • René Shades – bass, bass and guitar solos engineering
  • Allan Tschicaja – drums
  • Kim Olesen – keyboards
  • Jacob Hansen – producer, engineer, mixer, mastering
  • Chris Laney – additional guitar solos engineering
  • Janne Stark – additional guitar solos engineering
  • Jonas Haagensen – assistant engineer

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9] 99
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 159
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[6] 35
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 78
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 36
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 31
gollark: It is not a "meme".
gollark: *Visors*, not masks.
gollark: I feel like if we had saner institutions it would probably be possible to mass-manufacture better-quality masks eventually (it's been two-ish months since COVID-19 got to "obviously a bad problem" levels), but we... haven't really?
gollark: Yes, that seems to mostly concur with what I read.
gollark: Wait, are we talking homemade masks, surgical masks, or actual respirator things?

References
  1. プリティ・メイズ、熱きエナジーを封じ込めた『キングメーカー』 (in Japanese). Japan Music Network,Inc. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  2. "PRETTY MAIDS To Release 'Kingmaker' Album In November". Blabbermouth.net. August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  3. Pretty Maids - PRETTY MAIDS ANNOUNCEMENT !!
  4. Pretty Maids
  5. https://www.spreaker.com/user/cmsrocks/interview-with-pretty-maids-vocalist-ron
  6. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pretty Maids – Kingmaker" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  7. http://gaffa.dk/anmeldelse/114663
  8. https://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/kingmaker/id1141870783
  9. "Ultratop.be – Pretty Maids – Kingmaker" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  10. "Lescharts.com – Pretty Maids – Kingmaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  11. "キングメーカー プリティ・メイズ". oricn ME inc. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  12. "Swedishcharts.com – Pretty Maids – Kingmaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  13. "Swisscharts.com – Pretty Maids – Kingmaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
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