Menace to Society

Lizzy Borden's second studio album, following the live The Murderess Metal Road Show by only a few months, is the band's career high point. A nice balance between the energetic but cliché-ridden pop-metal of its debut and the undistinguished Poison ripoffs of its later albums, Menace to Society drops the dopey Spinal Tap-like lyrics of the debut in favor of a less cartoony worldview, and singer Lizzy Borden's vocals are considerably more self-assured and less shrill. The tempos are slower, but they never slog down into the mush of so many other metal bands. The best tracks, like the Queensrÿche-like "Ursa Minor," show a greater sense of subtlety and dynamics than before, and Jim Faraci's spacious but not too glossy production shows the group off better. It's still not a great creative leap — like many of the L.A. hair metal bands, Lizzy Borden was more about the look and the lifestyle than the music — but Menace to Society is the one album where Lizzy Borden seems to be pushing itself to develop as a band.