Metal Reviews
Metal Reviews
W.A.S.P |
| The only possible
improvement on the original issuing of this classic disc would be to
throw in some bonus tracks and maybe some rare pictures with updated
liner notes. Well damn! That is exactly what we have here! This record stands proudly as one of the greatest shock rock/hair metal issuing of the metal era. Blackie Lawless takes extreme music to the absolute extreme and the eighties were only three years old. The bookends of macabre music, ALICE COOPER and MARYLYN MANSON, never came as close to going over the top as these guys and this record documents it all in living color. The original album remains intact with all ten of its classic cuts left intact ("L.O.V.E. Machine", I Want to be Somebody", "Tormentor", etc) the bonus comes in the form of three tracks that were relegated to "B"-side status a decade and a half ago. "Animal(Fuck Like A Beast)" was originally to be on the record but was cut due to record company pressure. I remember it as if it were yesterday, paying the local importer to get my white vinyl copy of the song just so that I could have one more metal chestnut with which to taunt all those who were listening to DURAN DURAN. The cover of this single was emblazoned with the now famous buzz-saw codpiece and mom forbade it to come in the house. Man that was metal! Before mousse abuse was the rage blood and guts was were it was at and W.A.S.P. gave you plenty of both. Also included here are the 12" versions of "Show No Mercy" and "Paint it Black" which have been major collectors items for some time. With the gloriously expanded artwork and rare photography thrown in to the mix with the budget CD pricing, there is no better way to revisit those days of metal outrage. You simply must have this disc if you are any kind of metal fan at all. Released by Snapper Music. Review by David Lee |
Inside the Electric Circus Live…in the Raw The Headless Children The Crimson Idol W.A.S.P. |
| Legendary X-rated
headbangers W.A.S.P. (they of the near-pornographic stage act
and buzzsaw-crotches) get the remastered back-catalog treatment from
Snapper Records (everything up to and including 1993's The Crimson Idol).
All the discs have printed lyrics, an essay by Blackie Lawless, and
an essay by critic Dante Borruto, as well as several bonus tracks. In other words, if you don't have W.A.S.P. on compact disc, now is the time! The Last Command, from 1985, includes W.A.S.P classics like "Wild Child," "Ballcrusher," "Jack Action," and the dreadful "Blind in Texas." This is truly a relic from it's era, right down to the typically bland Spencer Proffer for PASHA production job (future LA Guns drummer Steve Riley sounds especially mechanical), but even early on, this was the Blackie Lawless show through and through. Hey, I thought this was cool way back when, and it really does seem silly compared to later achievements. Still, it's the very definition of "guilty pleasure." Bonus tracks include a cover of Mountain's "Mississippi Queen," and some live tracks recorded in London in 1984 (including the immortal "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)"). Inside the Electric Circus was the last, in effect, "cockrocking" work in the W.A.S.P. oeuvre, an album with which Blackie was extremely dissatisfied. Recorded at the height of the band's popularity and controversy, with Blackie's unending battle with Tipper Gore's PMRC, Blackie claims that Capitol Records rushed the band through the album in order to get them out on the road again. It was this album, he claims, that planted the seeds for his eventual masterpiece/confessional The Crimson Idol. Looking back, the album is harmless fun, complete with the usual powerhouse rockers ("King of Sodom and Gomorrah," "Restless Gypsy"), the lame-ass, calculated hits ("9.5.N.A.S.T.Y."), and the requisite cover (an awful take on Uriah Heep's "Easy Livin'"). Only two bonus tracks here, both B-sides, "Flesh and Fire," and the mildly amusing (if you're 12, or in a fraternity) "Douche Bag Blues." Of course, the time was now right for the inevitable live album, and the band obliged with 1987's Live…in the Raw, a pretty straightforward rendering of their best-known songs, with one studio track, "Scream Until You Like It," from the film Ghoulies II, which narrowly missed the cut on the AFI Top 100 Films of All Time. Nothing noteworthy here, except a few additional live tracks left off of the initial release. After this record, drummer Riley left to join LA Guns, and was replaced by Quiet Riot's Frankie Banali. 1989's The Headless Children was when I really started to dig W.A.S.P. Probably as close to a Black Sabbath album as Blackie would ever come, Headless is a dark, brooding album, totally at odds with the material that came before it (check out "The Heretic (The Lost Child)," and the stunning title track). Here is where we get the first glimpses of Blackie's tortured psyche that would explode on the next album. This is the disc that probably holds up the best due to it's power and accessibility, probably my favorite all-around W.A.S.P. album. There's a ton of cool bonus tracks with this package, including live versions of "L.O.V.E. Machine," and (ugh) "Blind in Texas," B-sides (the excellent "Lake of Fools," "War Cry," and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," an early version of "The Gypsy Meets the Boy," from Crimson Idol), and a cover of Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath"). The remastered Headless Children is a must have! This was guitarist Chris Holmes' last album before hooking back up with Blackie for 1997's K.F.D. The Crimson Idol, belatedly released in the US in 1993, more than a year after it's recording, will probably go down as Blackie's crowning creative achievement. Essentially a solo album with lead guitar help from the phenomenal Bob Kulick, Idol is a monumentally depressing, semi-autobiographical concept album about the tragic life of a tortured rock star. While little more than The Wall with a more firm grip on reality, Blackie's work here is very impressive, and the album holds up quite well. It's also the intro to the unique, but often annoying, often criticized Stet Howland drum sound (basically, there's fills everywhere). The album itself has an additional final track, an interminably long, rambling reading of the story by Blackie in the liner notes played over music. The bonus disc has two tracks left off of the album, "Phantoms in the Mirror," and "The Eulogy," plus a cover of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks," which is very cool, plus a ton of live tracks from the 1992 Donington festival. While The Crimson Idol doesn't do as much for me as it did when it was initially released (it's very repetitive despite it's many moments of almost psychotic genius), this package definitely offers the most for your money, and the second disc is basically a free live album. Looking back, W.A.S.P. is a band that has definitely left it's mark on the world of metal. While their most famous stuff is undoubtedly a product of it's time, they have also produced some credible and, at times, amazing music. I can't really see anyone but the diehard fan shelling out the bucks to bolster their CD collection (especially if you have First Blood Last Cuts, which does a more than adequate job of covering their early stuff), however, if you don't have The Headless Children or The Crimson Idol, those are surely worthy additions to anyone's collection, especially in this new and improved form. Released on Snapper Music. Reviews by Mark Tinta |
W.A.S.P. |
| Hot Rods to Hell!
W.A.S.P. is back, with a hellacious new album that’s sure to scorch the competition. Having been a fan of this band since the beginning, as soon as I read all of the advance press and heard the excited buzz that had already been going around, I couldn’t get a hold of this one fast enough! And trust me, though the group never formally disbanded, or at least the name “WASP” still existed during the leaner years that saw Blackie carry on as more of a solo artist and move further away from the original WASP image, this is their true return to the scene. Back to the early style or “home again” where they belong. The underpromoted and underappreciated release “KFD” was more of an actual “return” for the band in early ’97, that even saw Chris Holmes arrive back in the picture, but given the album’s experimental nature and dreadful lack of exposure, they never seemed to get too far off the ground with it. But it’s absolutely worth hearing and will serve as a not so gentle reminder that with “Helldorado,” this is where they need to be to again have an impact on heavy rock listeners! Believe the advance hype, this is a balls-out, fast and furious return to the past when music was carefree and fun… or in the case of W.A.S.P., twisted and perverted. Yes folks, no one does it better than Mr. Lawless and long may we hope that he’ll continue to run into old girlfriends walking through the neighborhood… Billed by Lawless himself as a return not to the band’s sound as it was on the first record, one in which most any W.A.S.P. fan will acknowledge as the classic for all time, but rather of recapturing the sound they had on the original demos for that self-titled album! And this approach is a success for the most part as “Helldorado” does boast a very live in studio vibe, with no gimmicks or post-production experimentation, just gritty, in your face guitar rock commonly associated with early AC/DC—in overdrive! This album rocks but after about ten listens over the last two days (no kidding) I’ve reached the conclusion that if there is such a difference that exists between “hard rock” and “heavy metal,” this one falls into the category of the former. It’s hard, fast and loud but not what I would consider “heavy” when it’s measured up to their two heaviest records to date, the pounding self-titled one and 89’s “Headless Children.” You know, I just reminded myself of something here. Whatever happened to that song “Flames of Hades” that was supposed to come out a while back? Wouldn’t that have been perfect for this album? That said, it’s time to jump into our automobile of choice, kick it into high gear and burn down the highway to hell to greet the man responsible for this tasteless brand of “devil’s music” we’re about to subject ourselves to. Lawless adopts the role of narrator, much as he did on “The Big Welcome” several years back—come on, you remember the voice— for “Drive By,” a sadistic greeting designed to inflict fear as it dares us to prepare for the ride of our life. “Helldorado” then clocks in at blistering speed and trust me kids, it ‘ain’t’ no joyride. Quickly returning to the good moods they must have been in during this recording, the element of sex again prevails as a strong motive for the song-writing as “Don’t Cry (Just Suck)” is called forth by none other than the proverbial Mr. Holmes himself and you wanna talk about nasty! My only regret is that I can’t play it on my radio show—unless maybe I’m real careful with the mute button! But wait a minute, is that organ I hear in the background of these first two songs? Man, ever since that was brought into the picture some time ago, it brings back memories of that horrible cover of Uriah Heep’s “Easy Livin’” from the “Inside the Electric Circus” album and whenever I think of that song I wanna step on the damn CD and kick it down the corridor! If it is, it’s definitely not profound here, thankfully, but my whole complaint against them ever using a keyboard in the first place is that something else has to suffer in order for it to have a presence and that to me, has always been the guitars which were all too often buried in the final mix. Anyway, the guitars are definitely turned up a notch here which should please everyone. I could still use a bit more beef like on the first album, but we’re not too far off here. Most noticeable are the Chris Holmes trademark solos and the outgoing licks that were basically non-existent on their last studio album, are all over this one! The ridiculous “Dirty Balls” intro will be something you’ll want to blast on your car stereo to totally disgust the chick stopped next to you but you’ll absolutely get a good laugh out of it. Then, the song itself kicks in and there’s that AC/DC riff kicking in again only much faster than usual and well… the song speaks for itself! The early demos to which this recording can be likened are in no place more obvious than on the album’s two slower tracks, “Damnation Angels,” and “High on Flames.” On both of these, Stet Howland’s drums, with a very ‘tight’ quality, produce a sound as though it was 1982 all over again! Howland’s a good enough drummer—hell, he might even give Riley a pretty good run for his money—(that was a joke) but his playing here is much more dominant than on albums past not because he’s toned down but there’s a much more consistent quality to it, more simplistic, continually pounding half beats and cymbal crashing significance with less emphasis for “showing off.” Amidst all this well-deserved praise, there are a couple of sticking points to “Helldorado” that restrain it from being their best ever. Yes, it’s their hardest rocking and most dominant release in ten years and should have been the next in line after the classic first one and “The Last Command…” but at least it’s here now. Many of the songs on the latter portion of the disc occupy the same exact style as those appearing earlier—yes, it’s true the album was designed to be simple three chord rock, aggressive and loud, which it is—but there are too many moments later on where you’ll be saying where’s this or where’s that? Let’s face it, no one can bleed a low E-chord better than this band. That said, there’s not a whole lot of variety to the music either. By the seventh or eighth song, you’re hearing basically the same song as before only with different words. I did expect more from “Saturday Night Cock Fight” which gets an “A” for it’s brashness but falls way short on context. But again, this was not an album designed to be remembered for its musical grandeur but I definitely could’ve used a few more time changes in the song structures or a few more riffs from Mr. Holmes—a taste of which can be heard on “Can’t Die Tonight,” particularly for fans of “On Your Knees.” And like “KFD,” one of the disappointing factors of “Helldorado” is that there are not enough actual songs! There’s ten listed but taking everything into account, there’s really only eight. How is it that all of the crap bands that suck alternative radio dry have to torture us with twelve and thirteen songs on their albums and all the good ones only get ten? That drives me nuts! Anyway, “Drive By” isn’t an actual song, and “Hot Rods to Hell” which is a reprise of “Helldorado” to close the album, is too closely related to that song itself only with more of a “Blind in Texas” / “Rock & Roll to Death” type jam going throughout. Really, these shortcomings are only nit-picking by someone who always goes an extra mile to scrutinize a band he’s admired and placed at the top of his all time favorites ever since hearing “Sleeping in the Fire” for the first time. Blame it on all of the personnel changes or identity crises throughout the years but since the passing of “Headless Children,” I’ve always been critical. “Helldorado” will be the album that puts W.A.S.P. right back at the top of everyone’s hate list for sure. Fans will love it as it is a return to the glory days when sex, blood, and outrage were as much a part of the band’s identity as… a habit to a nun!? (Had to throw that in thinking of memories of the “KFD” tour). As soon as you hear the motor rumbling though, look out… it can only mean that Lawless and co. are back to terrorize a whole new generation of adoring fans who are finally accepting the fact that the Manson fad has no other choice but to meltdown under the extreme pressure of the “Helldorado.” Ready to burn? Released in the US on CMC International Records Website : http://www.cmcinternational.com Review By Vinnie Apicella |
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DYING FOR THE WORLD WASP |
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BLACKIE LAWLESS LEAD
VOCALS/GUITARS/KEYBOARDS SHADOW MAN Hot on the heels of 2001's 'Unholy Terror', 'Dying For The World' is everything any WASP fan could want. Music to kill people by! Whoops, did I say that, what with recent events in the news, 'course I didn't. According to a press release
this is what the man himself, Blackie Lawless said: "Our motivation
for this record was prefaced by letters sent to us from tank divisions
during the Gulf War, where the troops would go into battle blaring
'Fuck Like A Beast' & 'Wild Child'." (They
don't make 'em like that anymore). "After the events of 9/11,
we felt we would give them a fresh batch, in essence, we've literally
made an album to go kill people by." In short 'Dying For The World' is a perfect way for WASP to rebuild on the raw, grass roots of previous releases without stagnating. And whether they are Sexual Perverts or Satan's People, WASP still matter. WASP still rock!! Buy or Die Released by Sanctuary Records: http://www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com/
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