The Band :
·
Blackie Lawless | lead vocals, bass guitar
·
Chris Holmes | lead & rhythm guitars
·
Randy Piper | lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
·
Tony Richards | drums, backing vocals
In the early 80's Sleaze Metal/Hair
Metal was just starting to really come into its own, if you know anything
about that era, you know they called a lot of these acts, Strip bands, as they
played all up and down the Sunset Strip. Names like Motley Crue, Great White
and London
The album was momentarily shelved due
to the highly controversial track, “Animal (I Fuck Like A Beast)”. Never a band
to sit idly by, the boys opted to hold off the release of the full length and
instead released the song as a 12” single with an independent label in the UK
The first single off the album “I
Wanna Be Somebody” is a skull dragging, fist pumping anthem about fighting the
man, standing up for yourself and doing it with a take no prisoners attitude.
What's more metal than that, let's see, lead breaks that'll make any guitar
enthusiast stand up and shout. And the riff, man the riff is ferocious, not
only does it pack a punch, but it creates a perfect pocket for the rhythm
section to destroy everything in it's wake. Up next is every schoolboy's dream
and every mother's nightmare - “Love Machine”. This tune alone, has taught me
more about playing double bass drum patterns than any book/video I've ever
touched; you couple that with the fact that throughout the verses it's just bass
riffing and drums and you get exactly what I'm talking about. Lyrically
speaking Lawless, touches on what he can do, what he expects and what he
needs... Something every young impressionable male needs to hear. HAHAHA!
The third single off the album is
entitled “School Daze” and back in the day I was all about it, because well
like every other red blooded male, I hated school. Now that I'm older, I still
dig the track but it doesn't resonate as much – I'm a LONG way from school daze
for real. The last two tracks I'll talk about are in my opinion the highlights
and neither received much of a push from the label as singles - “Hellion” and
“Sleeping In The Fire”. “Hellion” is still my Heavy Metal anthem, there will
never be another. Lyrically, it deals in everything you need to know about
being a Metalhead. “The Gods you worship are steel, at the Altar of Rock N'
Roll you kneel”. This tune could've easily been HUGE on MTV, had a video been
made. “Sleeping In The Fire” is a ballad of sorts, but as opposed to babbling
over a woman, Lawless is fixated on the occult, Lucifer and all things dark and
mysterious.
To this day you still won't find
better twin lead guitar work, for what appears to be over a minute, guitarists
Piper and Holmes trade off blistering leads and continue to rip them until the
song fades out. Hands down one of my favourites off the album and even better
live, if you've had the privilege.
W.A.S.P. Self-titled album is a
classick piece that should be in every fan's collection if you fancy yourself a
Metal head. Personally, I have at least 10 different versions of it on album,
cassette and cd. And yes, I'm sitting in a room right now with at least 20
W.A.S.P. Posters on the wall. Nothing is wrong in admitting you're a fanatic.
If you haven't heard of this band, go check them out now. They're not what you
think and I think that's what has hurt them all these years. They weren't soft
enough to be a strip band like the Crue, nor were they heavy enough to dish it
out with bands like Slayer & Anthrax, they were somewhere in between and
that's a mighty fine mix from where I'm standing. “The Torture Never Stops”!
Words &
Recommendation by :
Andy Burke
Album
Details :
W.A.S.P. is the debut
album by band W.A.S.P., released August 17, 1984. The album has been known under three
different names; the spine of the original vinyl release had Winged Assassins printed on it, while
early cassette releases of the album had the name of the album's first track,
"I Wanna Be Somebody", printed in bold letters on the cover. The
album is officially entitled simply W.A.S.P.
Track
listing :
1). ‘I Wanna
Be Somebody’ 03:43
2). ‘L.O.V.E.
Machine’ 03:51
3). ‘The Flame’ 03:41
3). ‘The Flame’ 03:41
4). ‘B.A.D.’
03:56
5). ‘School
Daze’ 03:35
6). ‘Hellion’
03:39
7). ‘Sleeping
(In The Fire)’ 03:55
8). ‘On Your
Knees’ 03:48
9).
‘Tormentor’ 04:10
10).’The
Torture Never Stops’ 03:56
Notes :
Tracks
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 by Blackie Lawless
Track 3 by Lawless, Holmes, & Marquez
Track 9 by Lawless & Holmes
"Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" was intended to be on the original version of the album, but was removed due to record company pressure following the controversy the song had created at the time.
The album was originally supposed to be called Winged Assassins.
The LP has engraved onto it near the label "We Are Sexual Perverts".
Songs added to the 1997 CD reissue:
1. Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) (03:07)
12. Show No Mercy (03:48)
13. Paint It Black (Rolling Stones cover) (03:27)
(1997 reissue tracks by Blackie Lawless except track 13 (Rolling Stones cover))
Reissued by Snapper Classics on February 25th 2003 remastered in a digipak with the same bonus tracks as the 1997 reissue.
Track 3 by Lawless, Holmes, & Marquez
Track 9 by Lawless & Holmes
"Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" was intended to be on the original version of the album, but was removed due to record company pressure following the controversy the song had created at the time.
The album was originally supposed to be called Winged Assassins.
The LP has engraved onto it near the label "We Are Sexual Perverts".
Songs added to the 1997 CD reissue:
1. Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) (03:07)
12. Show No Mercy (03:48)
13. Paint It Black (Rolling Stones cover) (03:27)
(1997 reissue tracks by Blackie Lawless except track 13 (Rolling Stones cover))
Reissued by Snapper Classics on February 25th 2003 remastered in a digipak with the same bonus tracks as the 1997 reissue.
