The new W.A.S.P. CD came out this week, October 12th in Europe and sometime later in the U.S. (hopefully). I was able to get a copy off the Internet. First off, the band has stayed in tact from the previous album, Blackie Lawless (as always) Doug Blair, Mike Duda, and Mike Dupke. The overall sound of the album is quite similar to the previous album, Dominator. The band is a metal band after all. And just like the previous album, there are 9 tracks.
The album starts off with 'Crazy', a song which has a catchy chorus, of "you'd have to be crazy to love me", the song is about idol worship. The second track is "live to die another day", another strong effort. Track three is "Babylon's burning", which takes on a discussion of religion. There is an interview out there where Blackie says that the album has a strong influence from the biblical visions of "The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse". The cover seems to depict the four horsemen, or maybe it is the band members? Well, back to the songs. Track 4 is a cover of Deep Purple's 'Burn'. W.A.S.P. has not done a cover on an album in a while, there is 'Saturday Night's alright for Fighting' off The Best of the Best, but that was 9 years ago, and before that it was 'Somebody to Love' in 1995. Blackie's unique voice always make his cover choices interesting and often diverse. Selecting a Deep Purple song was interesting as Blackie's voice is a bit different than David Coverdale's (yeah, the guy from Whitesnake was in Deep Purple, look it up!). Blackie's take was solid and Doug Blair did a pretty good job on Ritchie Blackmore's guitars. the 5th track, 'Into the Fire' starts off a little slower, but by no means a ballad, it has some "Heaven's Hung in Black" on it, but it turns into a classic WASP rocker pretty quick. Track 6, 'Thunder Red' is a faster track, warning of the impending doom of the 4 horsemen. I found it interesting that the band had a song with a similar name, "Thunderhead" that track deals with impending doom as well, but the 1989 track is focused on drug addiction. 'Seas of Fire" is another strong rocker, sonically like "Hate to Love Me" off Unholy Terror, of course after 25 years and 13 albums, some songs might sound a little similar to another. "Godless Run" almost starts off as the big ballad that W.A.S.P. incorporates onto most of the post 'Headless Children" albums, but it is not the ballad at all, instead it is sonically a big and technical song, another strong song. The final track is "Promised Land" a cover a of Chuck Berry song from 1964. The song seems to be the way to close the album, after 8 songs that deal with the end of the world, it is nice to hear a song with some type of hope. The song is fast and has Blackie singing in a quick and positive voice, something out of character for him since, well several albums ago. The song is fast and lively, the closest song I can think of is Rock n Roll to Death off Still Not Black Enough, kind of a throw back to the songs of the 50s and 60s.
So overall, I would give this album a 7. The shortcomings; a little on the short side (only 9 tracks and two covers, makes you wanting more), a little too similar to the last album (it is nice to have a stable lineup in the band, but there are times where the band sounded a little too much like their previous works) and no ballad, (would have been nice and it could have been incorporated). The positives; the complexity of the album, going after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a tough one to handle and Blackie did his research (it is over my head, but I am sure that his interpretation is based upon he understanding of the bible), though he has made it clear that the album is not a concept album (containing one story line), and Blackie's voice and the band's musicianship is solid, sorry to my personal favorite Chris Holmes, but these guys can play really well. The songs are all strong too, I cannot even say which is my favorite, it is going to take several listens before I can decide, but that is standard for a WASP CD.
There are so many W.A.S.P. albums to chose from and sonically there is a wide range, that it is tough to call this the definitive W.A.S.P. album. That title would again go to "The Headless Children" or maybe "The Crimson Idol" or possibly their first album "W.A.S.P". But, this album is another great effort and will hopefully be warmly embraced by the fans. It sounds like a combination of "Dominator" and "Unholy Terror", so newer W.A.S.P. As for non-fans, forgot what you know about 1980s W.A.S.P., their lyrics are much more complex, the musicians are stronger, it is not about making an over the top show anymore, it is about making good music. And to the metal fans out there, if you want something loud and aggressive, but also smart and lyrics you can comprehend, go check this one out.
No comments:
Post a Comment