Style: heavy metal, shock rock, live, 80's rock
Label: Snapper
Year: 2000
Home: Los Angeles
Members: Blackie Lawless ~ lead vocals/guitar
Chris Holmes ~ guitar
Mike Duda ~ bass/backing vocals
Stet Howland ~ drums
W.A.S.P. is undeniably a band of the 80’s L.A. circuit in sound & style. Whatever music they create today or in the future, their reputation, like Lizzy Borden, will always be linked to the 80’s. But, that was such a powerful & revolutionary era for rock music that sometimes it’s good to pull a record out of the box, brush it off & crank up the volume & remember why that era was a great one. W.A.S.P. is a good band to brush off. This is W.A.S.P.’s record of the Helldorado tour, an album that got mixed reviews as many old fans didn’t like the new screaming vocal technique while headmaster Blackie himself didn't approve of the production quality of either the album or the also available DVD. Ironically, listening to The Sting years later one might consider this a live dish from any number of current bands now on the scene, showing Blackie's ahead of the times musical ingenuity & just how much this arena sound remains a coveted staple in rock … white the string of nearly pornographic song titles shows that this is not just another band. Eleven Lawless originals bookend a cover of The Who’s "The Real Me", an aptly chosen song for a singer that has always followed his own vision & vision regardless of mainstream success or lack of. If you haven’t listened to W.A.S.P. in a while may this CD inspire you to break out the air guitar & crank up the volume for some old-fashioned guts rocking! This tour also featured returning founding member/guitarist Chris Holmes, famous for floating drunk in a pool with mom onlooking in the legendary rock documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, who'd previously left the band to be with his then wife Lita Ford & would leave for good a year later.
(originally featured in the Roman Midnight Music newsletter: Issue 1, Summer 2009, expanded for blog Feb 2010)
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