Picture: Every Story Needs Another Picture/Marathon (Divebomb)

Like a lot of bands in the mid ’80s, cult Dutch heavy metal heroes Picture veered pretty hard into melodic rock territory. It was a turbulent time for the band, with bassist Rinus Vreugdenhill and drummer Jacques van Oevelen still hanging on. They added singer Bert Heerink (of Vandenberg fame) and guitarist Rob van Enkhuizen and took a shot at commercially accessible hard rock.

1986’s Every Story Needs Another Picture was the first release from the new Picture lineup, and it’s pretty far removed from the Eternal Dark days. It is, however, not far from what bands like Vandenberg, Vengeance and Bodine were doing. It’s your basic 1980s radio rock, elevated a bit by Heerink’s distinctive vocals.

They gave it another go in 1987 with Marathon, which was a continuation of the Every Story Needs Another Picture sound. Heerink sounds even better here, and the songwriting finally starts to really get that late ’80s radio formula (namely catchier hooks, plenty of keyboards and more memorable choruses), but the album doesn’t quite make the jump from good to great. It has some fun songs, and is a solid enough record overall though.

Despite putting out a pair of really solid releases, the new Picture lineup ended up turning off their metal fanbase while failing to break through to mainstream audiences. They sat out the next decade and it would be more than 20 years before they returned with another album. They may not be the high points of the Picture legacy, but Every Story Needs Another Picture and Marathon are both worth hearing if you’re a Picture fan, and are even more interesting if you’re into bands like Vengeance, Helloise, Bodine and especially Vandenberg.

Reissue Notes: The Divebomb label already gave us 2-on-1 reissues of the first four Picture albums (and a stand-alone reissue of Traitor), so they finished their run this year with a 2-on-1 of Every Story Needs Another Picture and Marathon. The reissue features both albums, newly remastered, and expanded liner notes with vintage photos. It’s another nicely put-together reissue, and completes the (pre-reunion) Picture story perfectly.