Ronnie Atkins - Scorpio
Friday Release in the Time of Coronavirus #73
A new single from singer Ronnie Atkins' solo album, due out on March 12.
For those unfamiliar with Ronnie Atkins, he is the singer of Danish power metal band Pretty Maids. Ronnie co-founded the band in 1981, and their first EP was released in 1983. They have sold plenty of records and released 16 studio albums to date. Their latest, 2019's "Undress Your Madness", shows they can still deliver bone-rattling metal. The band never broke through on a major scale, though they certainly deserved to. They opened for giants such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, Saxon and others, but never managed to break through that glass ceiling.
Sadly, shortly before the release of the band's excellent latest album, "Undress Your Madness", Ronnie Atkins announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. In 2020, he said he had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Facing the illness led him to record this solo album.
Atkins said he initially had no intention of releasing a solo album, but his health changed his plans. After being told in 2020 that his cancer was stage 4 and incurable, he realized there were two ways to face the situation: accept the facts and feel sorry for himself, or pick himself up, set goals, keep dreaming and carry on living!
With wonderful support from his family and friends, Atkins decided to keep doing what he loves most and devoted himself to the solo album. He contacted producer and Pretty Maids bandmate Chris Laney, and the two began turning ideas into songs. The album features friends and colleagues from Atkins' past and present, including drummer Allan Sørensen and keyboardist Morten Sandager, who played with him in the band.
This is the third single released from the album, following "One Shot", the title track released on January 21, 2021.
Atkins said working on this album was a different experience. With everything going on around him, he found it difficult to write about sex, drugs and rock and roll. The result is a more personal album, perhaps melancholy at times, but one that truly reflects his thoughts and feelings when the songs were written.
To listen on Spotify, click here.
Track list:
1. Real
2. Scorpio
3. One Shot
4. Subjugated
5. Frequency Of Love
6. Before The Rise Of An Empire
7. Miles Away
8. Picture Yourself
9. I Prophesize
10. One By One
11. When Dreams Are Not Enough
The full lineup:
Ronnie Atkins: Lead and backing vocals
Chris Laney: Rhythm guitars, keyboards and backing vocals
Allan Sørensen: Drums Morten Sandager: Keyboards
Pontus Egberg: Bass
Acoustic guitars: Anders Ringman
Lead guitars/solos: Pontus Norgren, Kee Marcello, Olliver Hartmann, John Berg, Chris Laney
Additional backing vocals: Chris Laney, Linnea Vikström Egg, Olliver Hartmann, Bjørn Strid
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