Dying For The World (Sanctuary/Metal-Is~2002)
Of all the 80´s bands still hanging around cranking out new tunes, the most impressive to these ears the past couple years has been W.A.S.P. The band´s recent outpouring of great material isn´t what I expected after hearing the sophomoric and disappointing 1999 release "Helldorado". Led by a thoughtful yet pissed-off Blackie Lawless, the boys have given me quite a pleasant surprise. "Dying For The World" is somewhat of a continuation of last year´s "Unholy Terror", which ranked among my favorite albums of 2001. A good sounding album with an 80s feel and plenty of searing guitar solos, W.A.S.P.´s newest release includes powerful and emotional tracks such as "Shadow Man", "Hallowed Ground", "Trail Of Tears" and "Revengeance". This album impresses me a bit much more with each listen, but I´m not sure it´s quite as good as its predecessor. And I do have a couple of minor complaints as well. For one, I´d rather hear an additional new track in place of a second version of "Hallowed Ground". I also wish Blackie would refrain from explaining the meaning of individual songs in the liner notes. Analysis like that is fine in interviews, but I´d rather it be left off the album itself so listeners could form their own impressions. As for the material and the performances contained on "Dying For The World", all I can say is that it´s great to have the serious W.A.S.P. back and angry at the world.
Unholy Terror (Metal-Is~2001)
You’ve got to love technology. You can pop a disk into your computer’s CD player and, if you have the right software, it automatically detects what music is playing and the album and song titles pop up on your screen. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I started playing the newest W.A.S.P. studio release and saw the genre, "Christian rock" right next to the album title. There is a modified Bible on the cover, but I doubt this is required listening for most Christian organizations. If your religion is metal, "Unholy Terror" is one to take seriously, unlike the previous joke of an album, "Helldorado". Blackie Lawless and company tackle social, political and religious issues on this album and do so within the context of great metal songs. "Locomotive Man", "Raven Heart" and the somewhat mellow "Evermore" are among the excellent tracks. Blackie interjects notes in the lyric sheet to spoon feed explanations of two of the best songs: "Unholy Terror" and "Charisma". I wish he had left the interpretation to the listener, but these are still powerful and thought-provoking tracks delivered as only W.A.S.P. can. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first picked up this album, but now I have a hard time not including it on any best-of-2001 lists.