LIZZY BORDEN

by Leigh Silbernagel in Editorials, Song Reviews

BLAST from THE PAST: LIZZY BORDEN

Lizzy Borden was a mix of Motley Crue with Alice Cooper and some Iron Maiden riffage whose albums were released between 1984-1990.  Albeit a large following on the West Coast, they never broke through commercially. The advent of the 90’s (a.k.a. the worst decade for music… ever) meant that the hard rock musical climate changed drastically and the over-the-top stage shows, and Lizzy Borden, became anachronistic. 

“Hell is for Heroes,” my personal favorite Lizzy Borden song, heralds back to when music was solid.  Featuring hard rock roots, subtle use of vocal harmony, minor key tonality, electric rhythm guitars, it will make you homesick for the 80s metal scene. With epic lyrics like, “I can’t surrender to you/ I won’t surrender to you/ Hell is for heroes, you know who you are/ Love is for fools, the pain and the scars/ Heaven’s for dreamers who pray to the stars/ Hell is for heroes like me and you,” you will be thinking, where have all the good song writers gone?

If you want something demure and boring, then keep moving. But if you want solid instrumentation, epic lyrics, and a reprieve from mediocrity, then check out Lizzy Borden, this week’s Blast from the Past.

-LEIGH SILBERNAGEL