{"id":69107,"date":"2018-06-15T00:00:50","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T00:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=69107"},"modified":"2018-06-25T00:01:46","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T00:01:46","slug":"album-review-lizzy-borden-my-midnight-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-lizzy-borden-my-midnight-things\/","title":{"rendered":"LIZZY BORDEN – My Midnight Things (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIZZY BORDEN
My Midnight Things<\/strong><\/span>
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\nMetal Blade (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 10\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I hate the fact that this record is so stunningly perfect it\u2019ll probably fly beneath everyone\u2019s radar and not get recognised for the pinnacle of greatness it is. I also hate the fact that rock radio and live touring in the U.S. is so rigid and corporate controlled that Lizzy Borden\u2019s new album won\u2019t get the proper nationwide spin it deserves nor land an opening gig slot for some major act he and his band need… check that, earned.<\/p>\n

My Midnight Things<\/em> isn\u2019t club or theatre music, it\u2019s arena rock. This needs to be played in a stadium in front of thousands of people for full effect.<\/p>\n

The first four tracks \u2013 \u2018My Midnight Things\u2019, \u2018Obsessed With You\u2019, \u2018Long May They Haunt Us\u2019 and \u2018The Scar Across My Heart\u2019 \u2013 are so suited for modern rock radio it hurts just saying that. Most artists have to painstakingly search for songs to appease record execs looking for radio hits and right off the bat, Borden has four lined up and ready to go.<\/p>\n

My Midnight Things<\/em> is commercial metal at its very best. Let me clarify that statement. Fans hate \u201ccommercial\u201d anything, I know, but in this case it\u2019s a huge, massive compliment. This is high quality rock \u2018n\u2019 roll that deftly mixes pop with rock and metal, and nails it at every turn. It\u2019s distinctly Lizzy Borden but there\u2019s also trace hints of Red Kross and Cheap Trick, for example, that fade in and out, especially with \u2018The Scar Across My Heart\u2019 or \u2018Run Away With Me\u2019.<\/p>\n

The songwriting and arrangement on this record needs recognition also, raising the bar of expectation super high for other artists to achieve what Lizzy has captured here. It\u2019s refreshing to see a rock vet like Borden take his talents to the next level and produce a record that\u2019s brimming with uniqueness and monster creativity, instead of relying on rehash and formula to carry him through. My Midnight Things<\/em> was thought out to the last detail and it shows.<\/p>\n

Like most records I listen to when I receive them for review, I wait for the clunker. A good record starts strong and begins to taper off right around track three. Maybe it picks back up, maybe it doesn\u2019t. However, My Midnight Things<\/em> starts out strong and never stops… not for a moment. I get excited when I hear great music being made, and even more excited when scene vets like Lizzy Borden are the ones doing it.<\/p>\n

If you look at Lizzy\u2019s career, he went through phases. In the early 80s it was definitely straight forward metal. Then in 1987 Visual Lies<\/em> happened. That disc delved deep into the concepts of truth and identity, that is, what we see around us, each other, are we actually who we are, is the world what we actually see, or is it all a visual lie? Borden\u2019s next record, Master Of Disguise<\/em> (1989), took the aforementioned concept and extended it further. Are we who we say we are, or is it simply a game of deceit and misrepresentation? Instead of being \u201creal\u201d or genuine of heart and soul, maybe we, as people, have essentially become actors in some sort of social play, essentially reading scripted lines and donning masks to hide who we are.<\/p>\n

These are themes addressing humanism, the human experience, which is why I view My Midnight Things<\/em> as the third record in this unofficial trilogy, this time examining the other component of who we are and what we need to survive which is love, all types, and all forms. Master Of Disguise<\/em> was conceptual in architecture, that is, how the record was created or constructed. My Midnight Things<\/em> is completely concept from the ground up beginning with the art itself, the songs, and ending with the construct of the record as a whole. The album\u2019s title plays a dual, key role.<\/p>\n

The phrase, \u201cmy midnight things\u201d can be heard referenced throughout the record in various songs. Borden revisits that title or phrase<\/em> often, it holds meaning, but what exactly does it reference? That\u2019s a mystery of sorts. It could be a reference to lovers, dreams, feelings, even the deconstruction of love itself into a million different pieces. It also serves as a vehicle tying each song together into this greater concept that Borden has created.<\/p>\n

Then again, My Midnight Things<\/em> may very well allude to that which hides or lives inside the fragile human psyche, sometimes whole and sometimes fragmented. In the case of Lizzy Borden, it\u2019s entirely possible that every record he\u2019s done, every image or persona he\u2019s donned as a performer, has been a statement of the human psychological condition, maybe an examination into the state of psychoses; Visual Lies<\/em> examining truth or misdirection in identity, Master Of Disguise<\/em> nothing more than questioning how \u201creal\u201d we actually are, or, whether we\u2019re just actors acting out parts.<\/p>\n

My Midnight Things<\/em> might be a record that explores one part of the human psyche \u2013 love; our search for love, our acceptance of love, how we push love away. The other<\/em> \u201cmidnight things\u201d might actually be fear, anxiety, depression, or a disconnect with reality; other components of the psyche that could be explored on future albums. If we are actors acting, or, hiding our true identity, maybe we\u2019re being enabled by the psychoses we have, be it big or small; dangerous to ourselves or others, or maybe just detached from the world around us, alienated, shunned, forgotten about, or cared for by our own, personal, \u201cmidnight things\u201d.<\/p>\n

For example, the catchy, rocking \u2018Obsessed With You\u2019 has an undertone of psychosexual desire manifesting as obsession, a weaponized form of love, if you will. Through the eyes of Lizzy Borden, the human experience is complex and multi-faceted, defined by tremendous depth and texture. Love, one dimensional? Borden presents us with 10 songs about love but seen through the lens of whatever the \u201cmidnight things\u201d might be, but all of it connected by desire matching the type of love it feeds back to.<\/p>\n

I think My Midnight Things<\/em> is, hands down, the best record of 2018, and I don\u2019t care what else gets released. I also think this is Lizzy Borden\u2019s masterpiece. If he stopped right now and retired, this would be his Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/em> album. In fact, this record is as good as that legendary 1967 Beatles album. It\u2019s as perfect as perfection can possibly be. Not only am I excited to see him live soon, I\u2019m equally excited and curious as to what future records he has in store for us.<\/p>\n

Theron Moore<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LIZZY BORDENMy Midnight Things Metal Blade (2018)Rating: 10\/10 I hate the fact that this record is so stunningly perfect it\u2019ll probably fly beneath everyone\u2019s radar and not get recognised for the pinnacle of greatness it is. I also hate the fact that rock radio and live touring in the U.S. is so rigid and corporate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,3976],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-lizzy-borden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69107"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69116,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69107\/revisions\/69116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}