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MAXINE PETRUCCI
Back To The Garden

Angelina (2013)
Rating: 8/10

Guitar demigod Maxine Petrucci returns with her third solo effort, Back To The Garden. While she is likely best known for her short-lived work as guitarist for cult faves Madam X (which also counted Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach on bass and drummer Roxy Petrucci, of Vixen fame, among their members), her solo albums are monsters when it comes to heavy guitars.

Back To The Garden is a hard album to put in perspective. It’s all over the place, as most guitar led works are. The focus here is obviously her playing ability. While one moment it’s a straight-ahead 80s rocker with rippin’ solos, the next it’s a spiral descent into heavy darkness akin to bands like L7 or Eva O.

If you are looking for that classic Madam X sound then Petrucci throws you a couple of bones on this album. ‘Assassinate’, ‘WTF’, and the duo of ‘Sacred’ and ‘Harsh My Gig’ that end the album, sound like a grown up Petrucci but still have that teenage flare that has kept the band in our memories for so long. ‘Ginger Man’ even has a southern flare to it with some piano and a borderline boogie drive.

It’s the darker side of this album that becomes so fascinating though, strongly reminding me of Eva O vocally (particularly her work on Shadow Project’s self-titled 1990 debut album). The title track is insanely strange musically (think Alice In Wonderland as a hippie musical) blending heavy guitars with clunky grooves and high register vocals that are just really, really creepy.

‘Wicked’ has an old world flare that reminds me a bit of what Blackmore’s Night could be if Ritchie Blackmore would let his inner Deep Purple shine through. ‘Pink Angels’ stands as close to a ballad as you get here going back and forth between an acoustic piece with a mid-tempo anthem style drive.

But the weak link here, are the vocals. I hated them at first but over a few listens they grew on me for sure. Petrucci’s vocals are an acquired taste to start with and she makes a run at being way more creative on this batch of tunes. You have to let it sink in for awhile but once it does it really fits as an odd musical companion to the album’s peace and love themes.

Overall, this is a very, very good album if you are looking for something that sounds really different from anything else. The first temptation is to, of course, associate this with every 80s band you can think of but Petrucci systematically stomps those expectations out without crushing you all at once.

Mark Fisher

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