No Time for Masquerade

Elise's debut album. An album largely forgotten. And for several reasons. First of which was the band only releasing one album before disbanding and therefor not being around long enough to leave a clear mark. And secondly their album just came a few years too late.

How's that? Well, the kind of rock presented here is exactly the popular style in between Twisted Sister's 'Stay Hungry' (1984) and Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' (1987). However 'No Time for Masquerade' was released in 1990 when hardrock and glamrock had evolved. Glam had become sleazier, some rock bands had become either much heavier or poppier. But 'No Time for Masquerade' stubbornly stayed in 1985 stylewise.

The best songs on the album are the heavier ones. Opener 'Cry for Mankind' comes close to proto-power metal. Strong song. Easily the best one on the album. But it makes all the songs directly following it seem rather tame. 'Hiding' is another speed metal gem. However the chorus is rather...simple and works better in the live environment than on an album.

There are parts on the album which remind you just a tad too much of other bands. 'Nightmare' for instance is a blatant tribute to Def Leppard & Iron Maiden. One can hear a lot of familiar chord progressions and a harmony after the second chorus which comes close to giving the exact feeling as 'The Trooper'. And 'Seven Witches' had an Ozzy Osbourne vibe as if being a missing link between Diary of a Madman and Bark at the Moon. Mostly because of the heavy metal mid section

It's most of the other songs that just sound way too much like any other hard rock band out there. The real thing missing here is some kind of awareness of the musical scene surrounding them at the time of its release and perhaps even a songwriter in their midst who could've elevated some of these songs, especially all those I haven't mentioned, to a more memorable level

But the execution is pretty damn flawless. The performance is tight and production pretty much perfect for its time.

As it is, I really like this album but I must conclude there is just too much filler material and the album was already dated upon its release.

Stand out tracks:
- Cry for Mankind
- Nightmare
- Hiding
- Seven Witches