When I was young, which is a long time ago (I am nearing my sixtieth birthday), and I went to a record store here in the Netherlands, I always had the chance to listen to my prospective purchase beforehand. The vinyl album was put on a record player, and I would just put on the headphones and just start listening. In my case, if I liked the whole of side one and the first song of side two it was a certain purchase. But what was very important when choosing what to listen to was the country of origin, word of mouth, and if that wasn't available, the name of the band in combination with the information on the album cover.

The name BAD BUTLER in conjunction with their German heritage could have held me back, as it doesn't sound all together too metal or confident. On the other hand, the cover is different and at least impressive, so I do gather that "Badtime Stories" would have made in onto the pile of records I wanted to sample and buy if they were any good. To cut to the chase, this would have been a very safe bet, as I love this perfectly produced old fashioned metal that sits between JUDAS PRIEST, MALICE and DOKKEN.  The songs are all quite impressive as well and provide you with just under 40 minutes of Heavy Metal Heaven.

Opening song "Ballad Of Flesh And Blood" is honouring the best horror movie ever (Hellraiser) with the sounds of one of the best Heavy Metal bands ever to walk this earth, namely JUDAS PRIEST. This would have easily fitted on "Defenders Of The Faith". A song like "Serious Business" or even "Shattered Dreams" could have easily been penned by DOKKEN, whilst "Black Church" has MALICE written all over it. The best tune here is "The Others". It has everything I like about Heavy Metal, it is hard rocking, quite heavy, rather fast and radiates danger.

The rest of the album switches between those influences with an ease that makes you think that this is the umpteenth release of German Metallers BAD BUTLER. But you'd be wrong, as "Badtime Stories" is only their second album. Well, I do know that after this experience I will just have to go and find their 2017 debut album "Not Bad At All", just to find out how much they have improved in the last four years.