Black Lawless on "Animal" and his faith...

Good for him \m/

I haven't listened to the song in years. To be honest I used to always consider it more of a "gimmick song" than anything else. Not unlike "Cherry Pie" years later. Who knows? Maybe I've been missing out on a great song. Just never liked the way it tended to overshadow everything they put out immediately after.

I have no problem with older material being discarded from sets on religious or moral grounds, or even we're too old to be singing that. At least it is better than the usual "we're tired of playing it every night".

jstate wrote:

I haven't listened to the song in years. To be honest I used to always consider it more of a "gimmick song" than anything else. Not unlike "Cherry Pie" years later. Who knows? Maybe I've been missing out on a great song. Just never liked the way it tended to overshadow everything they put out immediately after.

I have no problem with older material being discarded from sets on religious or moral grounds, or even we're too old to be singing that. At least it is better than the usual "we're tired of playing it every night".

I totally agree except I also don't have a problem with the "we're tired of playing it every night" excuse. Bands should play what they want to play; if they play songs they don't really feel like doing, odds are it's going to be a sucky rendition anyway.

And at least in this case, Blackie's announcing in advance that that song won't be played.

At least Blackie still knows how to get some attention,it sells albums and tickets i guess.
When you`re too old, fat and faded to shock the world with saw blades, raw meat and all that. And when no one really gives a sh!t about your so called serious side, let`s make one last move that will shock. Become a conservative christian yourself and deny your past

Olafsto wrote:

At least Blackie still knows how to get some attention,it sells albums and tickets i guess.
When you`re too old, fat and faded to shock the world with saw blades, raw meat and all that. And when no one really gives a sh!t about your so called serious side, let`s make one last move that will shock. Become a conservative christian yourself and deny your past

Ya know, the cynic in me sort of thought the same thing but I'm trying to control that part of my nature. That idea defnitely crossed my mind though.

Olafsto wrote:

At least Blackie still knows how to get some attention,it sells albums and tickets i guess.
When you`re too old, fat and faded to shock the world with saw blades, raw meat and all that. And when no one really gives a sh!t about your so called serious side, let`s make one last move that will shock. Become a conservative christian yourself and deny your past

I dont think its a denial of his past nor do I think he cant make good music in his serious side. Babylon was a very good offering from him and was well received all over the place. He just isnt at the same place he was when he wrote/performed the song. He still plays other songs from his past so that argument doesnt fly. I think its more hypocritical if Blackie hated the song but continued playing it just because it would make him money.

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I got pictures of naked ladies
Lying on their beds

Who hasn´t? So it should be okay to sing this song! However I think he has got better ones.

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I think its more hypocritical if Blackie hated the song but continued playing it just because it would make him money

A textbook example of selling out.

I have a lot of respect for someone who can say "What I did in the past was inappropriate and I won't do it anymore". Good for him, it's nice to see someone try to live up to their convictions, even if they know they'll be soundly pummelled over it.

tohostudios wrote:

Olafsto wrote:

At least Blackie still knows how to get some attention,it sells albums and tickets i guess.
When you`re too old, fat and faded to shock the world with saw blades, raw meat and all that. And when no one really gives a sh!t about your so called serious side, let`s make one last move that will shock. Become a conservative christian yourself and deny your past

Ya know, the cynic in me sort of thought the same thing but I'm trying to control that part of my nature. That idea defnitely crossed my mind though.

I know, i try to control the cynic in me to, but 42 years of living on this planet controlled by humans has taught me that the cynic is right more often than wrong. So i try to balance it the best way i can, listen to the cynic without turning into a grumpy, negative whiner .
It is also a side to the human nature that we tend to overlook the facts when people turns in directions that appeals to our way of thinking/believing.
I`m no better myself, I had a visious happy grin on my face last time i saw W.A.S.P live and Blackie held his little speach about Bush and his government beeing the biggest criminals on earth.
So yes Alex, i agree that his serious albums are good but i don`t think most fans care too much. Lets face it W.A.S.P is a gimmick band, one of the best ever.

The fans still have their records they can listen to if they want to hear that song... or maybe a WASP cover band could play it.

The song conflicts with where his heart is at now.

What if a band had a song with a racist word or phrase in it? I'd imagine they would eventually grow out of that and not play that particular song.

I love W.A.S.P. but I think Blackie Lawless is an utter tool-box. This is a great example of why. He also refuses to swear at all during live shows nowadays, and whilst that may not sound like a big deal, it really messes up 'Chainsaw Charlie'. Blackie needs to come to terms with the fact that W.A.S.P. isn't a deep or serious band - it's a band about rocking out and insipid lyrics.

My favorite WASP song is Wild Child, so i'm good.

W.A.S.P. is his band so ultimately its whatever he wants it to be...

I agree with Blackie and would support his decision to play or not to play this song. However--and correct me if I am wrong--when he was non "That Metal Show" recently I thought he made a comment about how the debut was not the 'true album' without that song on it and talked down on the record company for intially excluding it.
I found that strange at that time b/c I thought he had made comments as well about regretting that song.
Then again, I really do not follow 'music news', etc.

I got pictures of Naked Ladies
Lying on my bed

allthingsmetal wrote:

I agree with Blackie and would support his decision to play or not to play this song. However--and correct me if I am wrong--when he was non "That Metal Show" recently I thought he made a comment about how the debut was not the 'true album' without that song on it and talked down on the record company for intially excluding it.
I found that strange at that time b/c I thought he had made comments as well about regretting that song.
Then again, I really do not follow 'music news', etc.

It doesn't necessarily sound like its a case of Blackie "denouncing" the song or trying to erase it. He's acknowleging it, it is what it is, he wrote it, it's done, it's just not who he is anymore and he chooses to not play it. It's not like it was a huge radio hit...it's a cult song. If he doesn't want to sing it, he doesn't have to...

This is really a non-issue...

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

W.A.S.P. is his band so ultimately its whatever he wants it to be...

I agree. If someone doesnt like him or his music no one is forcing you to listen. People's attitudes and positions can change over time and I can respect that. I dont like his positions on Bush and generally think he was off his rocker on that issue but I still like his music.

W.A.S.P. has always been my all-time favorite band. Even though I've been soured with stuff since K.F.D. and Helldorado. But fine, if he's born again, so be it. Who am I to criticize ones beliefs. To me though, W.A.S.P./Blackie Lawless is a "brand name". Fans want to hear certain things and they should be granted that. Regardless of religious stand points. If Blackie want to do his own thing and not play "Animal", he could always change his name back to Steve and do join Vincent (A.C.) and do their own thing. I'd still check it out.

Besides, what’s his beef with "Animal" anyway? There are plenty other W.A.S.P. songs about the "objectifying of women".


One final though. Blackie is starting to sound a lot like Michael Kiske whereas not wanting to play his past. Took Kiske a long time, I liked "Past in Different Ways", strange to hear old Helloween songs with slower tempo, but his voice is still God-like. That's why I'm REALLY liking Unisonic........Anyway, I believe he'll eventually come round, round. And W.A.S.P. fans will feel his love.

The difference between Kiske & Blackie is that Blackie is still playing Metal...he's just excluding one song from his live repetoire...that's completely different than Kiske removing himself from Heavy Metal.

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Besides, what’s his beef with "Animal" anyway? There are plenty other W.A.S.P. songs about the "objectifying of women".

That's where I have a problem. Why just that one song? He's built a career out of shocking, misogynistic music. If he feels that he's matured, changed, found God, whatever, that's fine, but shouldn't he disregard the 1st three WASP albums, if not more?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

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Besides, what’s his beef with "Animal" anyway? There are plenty other W.A.S.P. songs about the "objectifying of women".

That's where I have a problem. Why just that one song? He's built a career out of shocking, misogynistic music. If he feels that he's matured, changed, found God, whatever, that's fine, but shouldn't he disregard the 1st three WASP albums, if not more?

Well, many of those songs may have not been played live anyway...this just happens to be the songs that stands out.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

The difference between Kiske & Blackie is that Blackie is still playing Metal...he's just excluding one song from his live repetoire...that's completely different than Kiske removing himself from Heavy Metal.

Kiske just removed himself temporarily as a metal frontman, he still appeared on metal projects during his time away. My point was Blackie may be doing this now, but he'll eventually play "Animal" again.

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this just happens to be the songs that stands out.

Which makes me think Olafsto's statement might have more truth to it than we think.

Ah well, I don't know why I care so much anyhow. Given that I see so few live shows these days and WASP barely tours the states anymore, chances are I'll never see them live anyway, 'Animal' or no 'Animal'. I'll always have the discs to blast at my leisure.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

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this just happens to be the songs that stands out.

Which makes me think Olafsto's statement might have more truth to it than we think.

Ah well, I don't know why I care so much anyhow. Given that I see so few live shows these days and WASP barely tours the states anymore, chances are I'll never see them live anyway, 'Animal' or no 'Animal'. I'll always have the discs to blast at my leisure.

Well the article does reference him saying that a lot of the early songs they did were 'diametrically opposed to what he believes' so I dont think he is making a distinction. The focus on Animal is primarily because it made Tipper's list and perhaps one of the best known songs. He also said that some of the songs did on the early reflect his current day belief so I dont think this is much of an issue.