Pretty Maids is a Danish hard rock/heavy metal band from Horsens. Formed in 1981 by Ken Hammer, and completed with Ronnie Atkins in 1982, their sound and music can be described as classic guitar-laden heavy rock with a strong emphasis on melody. Over the years, Pretty Maids have sold hundreds of thousands of records, but have never broken through in a major way, except in Japan during the 1990s. They have supported well known bands such as Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and Saxon, and were also featured at the 1987 German version of Monsters of Rock, where Metallica headlined along with Deep Purple. After a prolonged international touring hiatus before the release of the 2006 Wake Up to the Real World album, the band have every year since been touring their primary markets of Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany and Japan. History 1980s Pretty Maids were formed in 1981 by friends Ken Hammer and John Jacobsen in Horsens, Denmark. Ronnie Atkins joined Pretty Maids in 1982, replacing John Jacobsen on vocals. They wrote their own material and a self-financed demo resulted in a deal with the English record label Bullet Records. In 1983, the band released their debut self-titled EP under the name Pretty Maids, recognition was fuelled by their UK tour the same year. In 1984 they signed to CBS Records in Denmark, who remixed and re-released their self-titled EP with a different cover. In 1984, the band released their debut studio album, Red, Hot and Heavy, which was a success. More acclaim followed with their second studio album, Future World, released in 1987. It was recorded in Bearsville Studios, New York, with renowned producer Eddie Kramer. The collaboration did not work out and Flemming Rasmusen ended up producing the more hard rocking songs and Kevin Elson produced the more melodic tracks. 1990s The 1990 follow up Jump the Gun, produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, offered more of the same catchy riffs. The band more or less broke up after the lack of success with this record, leaving only founding members Ron Atkins and Ken Hammer. They would not quit so recruited drummer Michael Fast and bass player Kenn Jackson, and went on to record Sin-Decade in 1992, once again teaming up with Metallica's producer Flemming Rasmussen. The album produced the hit single "Please Don't Leave Me" - a John Sykes/Phil Lynott cover which opened