I'm actually quite a big fan of Lillian Axe. The group's sound is so diverse. This second box set gathers up some studio albums, some demos and a couple live recordings. I really like the mix of founds here, even if this does land more on the metal side of the equation. That said, there is quite a bit of acoustic music here. The final live show has some sound issues, but it's still worth having. This all comes with a nice booklet and cardboard clamshell case. Each CD comes in its own cardboard sleeve. This is a great collection.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024  Volume 3 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Atmospherics start this. Bass joins. Guitar is heard in an understated way. Vocals come in over the top of basically just the bass, really standing out. This fires out from there into some seriously driving metal as it continues. Then we get a dramatic, mellower movement later in the track. This evolves into a definitely proggy metal arrangement that has both Gothic elements and so much class. This piece is so powerful. Some of the earlier sections are returned to further down the road, too. This just keeps evolving, making it very much an epic piece of music.

Another driving metal song, this has a scorching hot instrumental section that features some great guitar soloing. The tune is more direct in a lot of ways, but does have some intriguing twists and turns. This is thinking man's metal. It also has mellower, balladic modes as contrast to the metal stomping sounds.

While this is not precisely what I'd call a ballad, it's definitely mellower as it gets going. It builds out with a unique and driving arrangement built on that basis as it continues. This track has an unusual, and exceptionally cool structure and sound. It's packed full of drama and contrasts.

Here we get another ballad. I don't think I'd even call this one a power ballad. It's more pure ballad. It's a pretty and poignant piece of music.

Here we get another intricate acoustic number. I think it's becoming an issue at this point that all the rockers are situated together and all these mellow ones come after. Alternating between modes makes for a stronger album. This song is incredibly strong. I think it would be even stronger between two rocking numbers.

Another acoustic based song, this is very strong, but again, I think it would stand out better if the album had been arranged differently. There is some exceptional guitar work on this along with symphonic elements and more.

More intricate acoustic guitar is on the menu for this instrumental piece. By this point the formula has really run its course. This has some great jamming and guitar work, with some real classical elements at play. It unfortunately doesn't get to shine the way it should because of the track order.

Here we get a driving metal stomper that really works well. Even though it's pretty mainstream metal, it manages to have some unique concepts and angles.

This is just plain mean. At the same time, it has an almost Uriah Heep gone pure metal vibe to it. It's heavy and seriously rocking.

There is a hard rocking mainstream angle to this. It also works out to some classically inspired technical metal that really screams. The guitar on this is exceptional and really elevates the track beyond what it could be otherwise.

Driving and mean, this is another killer metal stomper.

Built on screaming hot metal, this turns trippy for a while mid-track. That section has an almost psychedelic angle to it. A later instrumental break brings more of a metal guitar sound to bear. This is another powerhouse.

After a short introductory bit, this drives out with fury and fire. It's frantic and heavy and so cool. It's a very meaty metal screamer.

Soaring metal brings this into being and holds it for a time. Then it drops to intricate acoustic guitar with some trippiness surrounding it. At times that guitar seems classical in nature. At other points it leans on the side of Spanish guitar. Keyboards take over around 3/4 mark, heralding a shift to progressive rock zones. As the driving guitar returns, it seems more like AOR prog. This instrumental piece is definitely classy.

I love the meaty, driving riffing on this piece. This is another classy metal stomper with some sublime elements.

Thundering drums get things going here. The guitar drives in from there, and they are rocking things out with an almost hair metal vibe. This isn't bad, but it is a little pedestrian.

Still feeling like hair metal, this has a little more of a melodic angle to it. It's not quite as generic as the previous number was.

A beautiful acoustic guitar driven song, this is classy. It has some great intricacies and melodies and really soars.

It's obvious from the sound of this that it's an acoustic rendition of a rocking song. The track works really well. It manages to convey a hard rocking angle, while remaining non-electric in delivery.

More balladic than some of the others, this is a cool tune that works well in this acoustic format.

This ballad includes violin. It's another evocative track.

This ballad is solid, but I wouldn't consider it a highlight.

The formula seems to be wearing a little thin by this point. This is not a bad track, but it just doesn't stand out.

As you can probably guess from the title and parenthetical, this is a version of the song with the crowd doing the vocals.

This definitely does feel like a demo. It's energized and hard rocking and does have some great guitar soloing.

Again suffering from the demo quality, this feels pretty generic. It's another hard rocking number.

I like the meaty riffing and great hooks on this track. This one manages to stand taller than the previous couple cuts while still sounding decidedly demo-like.

Less unique, this still works pretty well.

A straight-ahead rocker, this has some decent hooks and works pretty well.

This has some drama and intriguing changes here. It's one that works a little better in this set of demos.

While the little twist into circus music via the guitar later is cool, beyond that, this song isn't anything all that unique.

I dig the little spooky introduction, and this works out to some smoking hot metal from there. The dropped back interlude is pretty cool, too.

Now, this is meaner and more driving. It's a pretty killer metal song, and the demo quality actually adds some NWOBHM charm to it.

This is a pretty standard metal rocker. While not a real standout, it does work well.

The intro and warm up lasts for a while, but they fire out into some smoking hot metal from there.

More metal stomping is on the menu here. This doesn't break any molds, but it does work well. I really love some of the guitar work on this thing so much.

We get more fierce metal stomping here. I like this one a lot. It manages a melodic chorus amidst the screaming metal arrangement.

There is definitely a pitch issue as this gets underway. The recording is noisy, too. The quality is definitely a major downgrade. The song rocks out, but the audio problems really make it a little hard to take.

This rocker manages to shine despite the audio issues, too. I think a big part of that is just because it's such a great song. It has some smoking hot guitar work, too.

This classical, Spanish guitar solo centered piece is cool. The sound issues aren't as big a problem on this one.

This hard rocker works well. The sounds is better here. This has some solid hooks, too.

This cover song gets a solid live performance. The sound works better on this one, too.