The 80’s hard rock queen Lita Ford returns with her first new album in 14 years titled Wicked Wonderland. Unfortunately shoddy production techniques like muddy vocal mixes, buried lead guitar licks, and repetitive electronica-modeled drum loops hinder this album from shining in today’s hard rock market. Additionally, the lyrics serve up a stinky batch of stale French cheese to a degree scorned even by 80’s glam standards. It is difficult to point to a specific location of Wicked Wonderland that exhibit the aforementioned flaws because all 15 tracks employ them. However, the ballad “Sacred” comes the closest to resembling her classic sound rather than hiding her voice in ProTools gear. I was really hoping for Ford to deliver a triumphant return after her emotional appearance on the first episode of That Metal Show and her blazing duet with Dee Snider at last year’s Twisted Christmas on Broadway show. Maybe Scout Taylor-Compton’s portrayal of Ford in 2010’s The Runaways will assist her in returning to her punk and hard rock roots –Meds

Lita Ford is Lita Ford (Vocals/Guitar/Production), Jim Gilette (Vocals/Production), Greg Hampton (Production/Instruments), & Stet Howland (Drums).

Track Listing:

1. “Crave”
2. “Piece (Hell Yeah)”
3. “Patriotic S.O.B.”
4. “Scream 4 Me”
5. “Inside”
6. “Wicked Wonderland”
7. “Indulge”
8. “Love”
9. “Betrayal”
10. “Sacred”
11. “Truth”
12. “Everything”
13. “Bed”
14. “Garden”
15. “Push”

GOR recommends Anomaly by Ace Freheley and Endgame by Megadeth