658. Lita Ford / Living Like a Runaway. 2012. 3.5/5

Lita Ford is back. This time perhaps, for real. When I first got this album I really expected very little, so unsure was I that Lita could really find her mojo and put out an album that would really capture my imagination. True, there's nothing new here in regards to a stock standard form of hard rock. But there is a much more mature approach to the song writing than from her heyday in the mid-to-late 1980's.
Lyrically she is drawing heavily from a number of recent events in her life, in particular her divorce from Jim Gillette and the absence of her two boys they had together. It's a far cry from her previous album, the 15 year comeback album Wicked Wonderland which lyrically seemed to almost be a porn film with the same guy she is now drawing so much anger and aggression from. What a difference a couple of years makes. However, this is like chalk and cheese compared to that bore-fest. The lyrics here are heartfelt and honest, creating a major positive out of what must have been an enormously tough time in her life.

It still wouldn't work if the music wasn't up to the task, but there is no problem there either. With the help of collaborator and player of many instruments Gary Hoey, Lita has drawn from her hard rock roots to put together a great mixture of songs here. She still has a couple of quieter, reflective moments in songs such as "Mother", a song that is obviously directed to her two sons and with some cutting remarks about her ex-husband. Lyrically she hasn't held her feelings back, and it is this approach that really makes the album what it is. There is plenty of anger and emotion in the songs, which are all brought across to the listener through the perfectly presented music and singing style for each song.
Songs like "Branded" and "Hate" kick the album along with passion and attitude, while songs such as "The Mask" and "Relentless" bring more sentiment and darker thoughts through in the lyrics.
"Devil in My Head" and "Asylum" show a side of Lita's music that she hasn't shown before, where she has really dug from the well of her innermost feelings to come up with some terrific pieces.
"Love 2 Hate U" features a duet with Hoey, which is a nice way to complement his efforts on the album in all facets, from writing, playing and producing. There is a great cover of the Nikki Sixx-penned song "Song to Slit Your Wrists By". The bonus tracks are great as well, with the song "Bad Neighbourhood", co-written and starring on guitar Doug Aldrich, as well as a somewhat appropriate cover of the Elton John classic "The Bitch is Back".

While she may have received bigger plaudits and airplay with her pop-metal albums such as Lita and Stiletto - which I still love for what they are, mind you - this is arguably Lita's finest hard rock album, with great hard tracks as well as the slower and soft rock ballads that are part and parcel of the genre. The song writing here is probably the strongest of her career, and the production of the album from start to finish is excellently co-ordinated. Whether or not you have been a fan of hers in the past, this is well worth checking out. After fifteen years away from the music scene, this is the true comeback album she was looking for, and it has been well worth the wait.