Hailing from Minneapolis, USA, this is the 3rd album release from dark glamsters 'All The Pretty Horses'.  It offers you an even mixture of heavy guitars combined with haunting vocals. This is one of the reasons this band have a very distinct and special sound all of their own.

Ruin is an album full of emotional yearnings and wants. From the onset you get the feel for what the band are trying to put across in their music. Touching the forbidden, dreams and desires.

The album opens with the first part of the title track 'Ruin', both wonderfully crafted and beautifully portrayed. The first is but a whisper, the second loud and arresting. Another track to totally captivate the imagination is 'Burn my Eyes'.

From the raunchy sounds of 'Black Leather' to the almost Sabbath tones of 'Dream Mask', the journey they take you on goes to one extreme before you are catapulted back down with the haunting melodies of 'Wire'. Then it's back to the dark side with 'Walking Dead', a personal favourite of mine.

Full of raw energy and life it grabs you by the hand and leads you deep into your own subconscious mind. I would imagine performed live this song would be absolutely amazing as it comes right up to you and screams for attention. It's also verging on being danceable too!

Another favourite of mine is 'Lollipop' with its catchy mix of tempo's and styles. It's hot, it's tasty, and it has so much power and aggression to it and yet manages to harness it all for some softer moments.  This is one track that probably shows the many sides to this band and just how well they control the songs that they deliver.

If you look inside the insert you'll see that the full title of 'In Heaven' is actually 'In Heaven (The lady in the radiator song). Quite what to make of that I'm not sure. What I am sure about is that it's a strong haunting melody that would appeal to most gothic lovers out there.  This track was actually adapted from the David Lynch film 'Eraserhead'.

This album is an emotional roller coaster, mixed together with the bands world famous stage show this is a band that you can't afford to ignore.  The whole album was recorded live at the Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, Mn. It was recorded onto analog 2 inch reel to reels to help achieve a sound reminiscent of the dark and glittery days of the original glam era.

The effects on the album were created by using non-digital techniques and the mixdown was to analog 1/4 inch reel to reels.  Was it worth it? I would say so, the sound has a pure and yet ghostly quality all of it's own.