Lizzy Borden

Thanks to its conceptual basis and elongated songs, Master Of Disguise is a weighty affair. It always has been, even when it was originally released back in 1989. Treated to a facelift for Metal Blade’s 25th anniversary (a fancy sleeve and bonus "making of” DVD), new life is thrust into this already long-winded effort. Even a devout ’80s metal atheist can’t deny that there is an almost operatic element to Master Of Disguise thanks to the passionate songcraft and incredible production values. Working past the occasionally saccharine ballad or predictable mid-tempo rocker, there are many angles and sub-layers to the effort. It straddles a hair metal past and a slightly more direct metallic future, and by album’s end the soaring vocal delivery, multiple time signatures, samples, soft acoustics and driving rock’n’roll beats prove that despite casting himself in with a usual gang of heavy metal idiots, at least at one point in time (however short it was), Lizzy Borden realised their own heavy metal The Wall. Maybe we can grow to appreciate this re-energised version.