W A S P W.A.S.P. CD

A classic album re-mastered and repackaged in a stunning digipack. Three bonus tracks: Animal (@#$ Like A Beast) (Bonus Track 7"/12" A Side), Show No Mercy (Bonus Track 7" B-Side), and Paint It Black (Bonus Track 7" B-Side)

Also available in a 3-pack with THE LAST COMMAND and THE HEADLESS CHILDREN.
W.A.S.P: Blackie Lawless (vocals, bass); Randy Piper (vocals, guitar); Tony Richards (vocals, drums); Chris Holmes (guitar).
Includes liner notes by Dante Bonutto and Blackie Lawless.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
With glam rock making a comeback of sorts in 1984 (Mötley Crüe, Ratt, etc.), another Los Angeles band, W.A.S.P., couldn't have picked a better time to release its self-titled debut. By merging lyrics that dealt with the expected heavy metal themes (sex, Satanism, etc.) alongside Blackie Lawless' rough vocals and Chris Holmes' guitar riffing, the band sounded and looked more menacing than your average L.A. glam band at the time. Add to it a stage show that was gimmick-heavy (Lawless would drink blood from a skull and rip open a pillow, while wearing buttless leather pants and saw blades on his arms), and you had a "can't miss" recipe for controversy and publicity -- resulting in the debut's eventual gold certification. The album contains most of their best-known tracks, such as the raging singles/videos "I Wanna Be Somebody" and "L.O.V.E. Machine," plus the anti-establishment "School Daze," the semi-ballad "Sleeping (In the Fire)," and the angst-filled anthems "The Flame," "Hellion," "On Your Knees," and "Tormentor." [The 1998 CD reissue contains three bonus tracks, including a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black," as well as their overtly sexual early fan fav, "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)."] ~ Greg Prato
By 1984, Kiss had been unmasked for a year and Alice Cooper was on hiatus. But L.A. bands like W.A.S.P. (which stood for "We Are Sexual Perverts") were picking up the theatrical, shock-metal slack quite nicely. The band would wear eerie make-up, tight leather, and knee-high boots, while wielding a variety of outlandish props. Musically, W.A.S.P. specialized in mega-decibel heavy metal, as evidenced by the group's gold-certified self-titled debut.
W.A.S.P. contains two of the band's most popular tracks (the scream-along anthems "I Wanna Be Somebody" and "L.O.V.E. Machine)" and many other compositions that fans of '80s metal will find gratifying. Highlights include the rockers "The Flame," "School Daze," "Hellion," "On Your Knees," and "The Torture Never Stops," plus the ballad (by W.A.S.P. standards, anyway) "Sleeping In the Fire."