LEE AARON
VAJ Fanzine Moncton #11 - Fall, 1994


Lee Aaron Emotional Rain

She Got A Brand New Feeling, Put on a brand new face. Those two lines come from a song called, Baby Go Round off the new Lee Aaron album, Emotional Rain, and perhaps they best describe how Lee has changed since the days of Metal Queen.

Many avid fans of Lee Aaron can distinctly remember seeing her tied up in chains, holding a big sword, yelling out Metal Queen. They remember going to the shows hoping to get a glimpse and a touch of this Canadian rock babe. But all things must change and grow over time, and indeed this is the best change weve seen from her yet.

The title track, Emotional Rain is just a taste of the intimacy that can be found on this album. In previous efforts, much of the lyrical content revolved around sex. Songs like Watcha Do To My Body, and Hands On just to name a few. But as always, she had her messages to get across like in Peace On Earth (see Case And Point). But now, every song on the album has some kind of reality based message.

Baby Go Round, a song about a woman who gets tired of putting up with shit, and takes things into her own hands. Sounds familiar doesnt it? Judgement Day and Soul In Motion ask the question of what is happening to the world around us. If you want something even different for Lee, listen to Waterfall. At first listen it almost sounds like a pop song, but is different from the rock sound thats usually attached to Lee's songs.

Since the last new album, Some Girls Do, Lee underwent many changes; including the formation of her own record label. Shes taken much control over what she is doing and perhaps that is the best part of the new Lee Aaron sound.

Part of the new sound was a change in the live shows. I attended 2 shows in recent history. One in Moncton, and one in Saint John. Both venues were packed with hundreds of fans dying to see, and hear the new Lee Aaron.

The new live set consisted of new versions of older songs. Hands On, Watcha Do To My Body, Sweet Talk, and Some Girls Do didn't sound the same as when I saw her perform them on the Powerline tour. They had been updated, and definitely fit the new band. Lee herself played guitar on several songs. Shes not a star guitar player, but she did a hell of a good job.

And as always, the songs from the latest album sounded even better live than on the CD.

Of the two shows, the Saint John was the better of them. There was a more personal feeling between the artist and the crowd, and there was at least a stage there. Lee seemed to interact with the Saint John audience much better than Moncton. Its always been a curiosity of mine on how an artist performs in different cities. In this case, Saint John got a better show. Better sound. Better stage. But the people were way too pushy.

Of course, being able to meet Lee Aaron in person backstage did help sway my opinion of the Saint John show. Many people believe that singers, when they make it big, get a chip on their shoulder and have problems interacting with their fans on a personal level. Lee took pictures, signed autographs, talked to her fans, and even bitched at them about some guy spilling beer on her guitar. In retrospect, I think after alls said and done, this is the real Lee.

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