W.A.S.P.

manny wrote:

W.A.S.P. was IMO better than Motley Crue and Ratt, should have been a bigger band than those two bands

were they not bigger in the US than Ratt ? I never though they were less successful, ahh well shame really as they are an excellent band, they went a bit pear-shaped with some of the later albums, but the early ones were absolute class.

Ratt had radio & MTV hit singles (Round And Round, Lay It Down), I'm sure they sold many more records than W.A.S.P.

Ratt was headlining arena shows on the Invasion Of Your Privacy Tour (Bon Jovi was the opening act). That's the only time I saw either band.

I got to meet WASP [with Tony Richards!] at a record shop called "The Wax Museum" before the historical WASP/Metallica show at First Ave. I was blown away by how down to earth and "un-crazy" they were in real life. I got my Animal picture disc signed by all four [including Tony Richards!]. Damn, so many, many lost musical treasures.

And I am firmly in the Headless Children Rule camp. Every second of that record is pure metal genius. And Blackie could even somehow make a ballad sound more metal than most Crue or Ratt!

As far as Dominator - I will take 35 minutes of extra true metal over hours worth of "Today's Modern Metal Hits"!!

I saw them at a local venue, and they played The Widomaker (my favorite song), they haven't played it in over 10 years they said. I got picks from Blackie Lawless and Mike Duda (playing bass at the show). It was awesome!

W.A.S.P. are an amazing band. I'm a sucker for hair / sleaze, but W.A.S.P. are so much heavier and more aggressive than most of their peers whilst still retaining the hooks and general decadence. Definitely one of the best live bands I've ever seen, as well. Blackie is one hell of a front man.

I don't like KFD or Helldorado all that much, although both have some cool tunes. But everything else I absolutly love! Blackie is one of my all time heroes, and I'd love to meet him some day.

This reminds me, I still need the remastered version of Inside The Electric Circus.

SpectreFate wrote:

I think latter day "trilogy" of Helldorado, Unholy Terror and Dying For The World is just as good as their first 3 albums.

I agree. Dying for the World actually rekindled my interest in the band. The last W.A.S.P. "cassette" I had purchased up to that point was the Headless Children. Now, I own them all on on cd. Great band. I also have a copy of Videos in the Raw on VHS. Blackie should have that remastered and re-released on DVD.

I LOVE me some WASP!
Fave tunes:
1.Blind In Texas
2.RNR To Death
3.Chainsaw Charlie
4.Hold Onto My Heart
5.Mean Man
6.Forever Free

Aside from my Great White collection, I have more stuff by WASP than any other band and am a big fan...they are easily a Top 15 band for me!

There is no doubt that Blackie really took a turn for the better when WASP pretty much bacame him and whoever he chose to record with. Everything from Headless Children, Crimson Idol, Still Not Black Enough, Dying For The World,...all that era...are incredible. I even like KFD, if simply because it seems Blackie really let his rage show on that record. To that end, to say that Helldorado is a good album is insane. That is a HORRID album.

As to better than Ratt or Motley Crue...you are comparing apples to pears. Not completely different fruit, but only distantly related. Ratt never really went for the shock value that WASP was built on, and Motley Crue intentionally went in more of a pop-metal direction than WASP ever did.

Locky asked if WASP wasn't bigger than Ratt (another of my Top 10 or so bands). Not even close in terms of airplay, album sales, video sales, etc. Despite the fact that WASP has released more albums, Ratt's sales dwarf WASP's, relatively speaking.


Arttie

arttieTHE1manparty wrote:

Locky asked if WASP wasn't bigger than Ratt (another of my Top 10 or so bands). Not even close in terms of airplay, album sales, video sales, etc. Despite the fact that WASP has released more albums, Ratt's sales dwarf WASP's, relatively speaking.


Arttie

That`s interresting.
Although I have no sales numbers to back this. I`m 100% sure that it`s quite the opposite here in Europe.
WASP was, and still is, big here.
RATT is just another Eighties hair band that gets little or no attention.
I love both bands, but i`m very surprised to hear that RATT was so big, never knew that.

On topic.
I love WASP, and try to get a hold of everything they have released..
Most albums gets a lot of play, but i have to agree that Helldorado is Blackie`s all time low.
Musically fine, but the lyrics and childish attitude makes this 40 year old almost embarrased to be such a huge fan of the band....

Yeah, Olaf's right, WASP are definitely bigger than Ratt over this side of the pond. I cannot see a Ratt gig drawing much of a crowd whereas the one WASP gig I've had the chance to go to was sold out... despite it being in rural Wales.

I only have the stuff WASP put out in the 80's, so I can't say anything about thier releases pass that. But, I love the stuff that I do have. They were a band that could seem to appeal to glam fans as well as fans of heavier music. I mean, they toured one time with Slayer opening for them. Much respect.

I will say there was a time when I was into WASP, my favorite album
was their 2nd, love the song Wild Child, but as for Motley and Ratt,
no way for me, I'll take Motley and Ratt over "The Blackie Lawless
Show". Come on, like I stated in another thread, if you look at the
line-up changes this band has had, it's almost impossible to call WASP
a band. This "band" is nothing more than Blackie Lawless and Friends.

take a look:

Tony Richards (1982-1984) - drums

Steve Riley (1984-1987) - drums

Glenn Soderling (1987) - drums

Frankie Banali - (1989-1990, 1992, 1995, 2001, 2004) drums & percussion

Stet Howland - drums (1991-2005)

Don Costa (1982) - bass

Rik Fox (1982) - bass

Johnny Rod (1986-1989, 1992-1993) - bass

David Chirico (1993) - bass

Randy Piper (1982-1986) - guitar

Chris Holmes (1983-1990, 1996-2001) - guitar

Darrell Roberts - guitar (2001-2006)

This is the former members not counting the current line-up!

IMO, WASP no longer exists, its simply Blackie Lawless solo and
W.A.S.P. actually stands for "We Always Switch Players".

I don't think that's a reason to write off a 'band' though. Look at Iced Earth, Megadeth and to an extent, even Helloween. They barely retain any of their founding members - indeed, especially with the first two, their best line ups were after quite a few changes - but they still put out great music (well, okay, that's subjective but you get my point).

W.A.S.P. were not as big as Ratt in the States, W.A.S.P. was a band that wrote great songs with hooks but their image as shock rockers was very different than Ratt's party band rep, also this was during the Reagan/PMRC era where W.A.S.P. were being targeted for being an evil influence on teenagers.

manny wrote:

W.A.S.P. were not as big as Ratt in the States, W.A.S.P. was a band that wrote great songs with hooks but their image as shock rockers was very different than Ratt's party band rep, also this was during the Reagan/PMRC era where W.A.S.P. were being targeted for being an evil influence on teenagers.

Well said by someone of MY peer group!

Ratt smoked W.A.S.P. in terms of record sales here in the States, at least back in the day. But it seems to me that W.A.S.P. has maintained a cult fan following here, while mentioning Ratt usually results in someone saying "They're still around?"

W.A.S.P.'s problem, at least early on, is that their music was a little too heavy for the hair metal crowd, but they were seen as too image conscious for the "metal" crowd. It wasn't really till "HEADLESS CHILDREN" that they kicked themselves firmly onto the "METAL" side of the fence.

Well spoken, FF!

manny wrote:

W.A.S.P. were not as big as Ratt in the States, W.A.S.P. was a band that wrote great songs with hooks but their image as shock rockers was very different than Ratt's party band rep, also this was during the Reagan/PMRC era where W.A.S.P. were being targeted for being an evil influence on teenagers.

Speaking of popularity, while I've never seen either band live, I do remember there was a time (albeit very briefly) that Ratt headlined arenas. I don't recall WASP ever playing huge venues in the States unless it was a festival or something like that. My memories of WASP back in the 80's was either as an opening act or headlining small clubs. And yea, Ratt would also get some radio-play in my town. The only 2 times I ever remember hearing WASP on the radio was 1) late night (after midnight) on a radio program called "The Metal Shop" or something. They played 'Animal'. 2) The cover of 'The Real Me' got a little play.

I remember RATT doing a headline arena tour circa '86 or so (which would've been what, DANCING UNDERCOVER?) with Poison opening for them (of course, if they were to do that tour today, the bill would be reversed). W.A.S.P. did play some arenas opening for KISS (ANIMALIZE tour) and Black Sabbath (the ill fated SEVENTH STAR tour), but never as a headliner. At least on this side of the ocean.

WASP has always been a club/theatre type headlining band here in America. 1,000-1,500 people at most US shows.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I remember RATT doing a headline arena tour circa '86 or so (which would've been what, DANCING UNDERCOVER?) with Poison opening for them (of course, if they were to do that tour today, the bill would be reversed). W.A.S.P. did play some arenas opening for KISS (ANIMALIZE tour) and Black Sabbath (the ill fated SEVENTH STAR tour), but never as a headliner. At least on this side of the ocean.

W.A.S.P. headlined smaller venues but never arenas, at least not where I lived, maybe in L.A. they may have been popular enough to headline an arena show. As far as Ratt they did begin headlining arenas during the Dancing Undercover tour and received a tons of airplay during the 1983-1988 heyday.

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

I remember RATT doing a headline arena tour circa '86 or so (which would've been what, DANCING UNDERCOVER?) with Poison opening for them (of course, if they were to do that tour today, the bill would be reversed). W.A.S.P. did play some arenas opening for KISS (ANIMALIZE tour) and Black Sabbath (the ill fated SEVENTH STAR tour), but never as a headliner. At least on this side of the ocean.

W.A.S.P. headlined smaller venues but never arenas, at least not where I lived, maybe in L.A. they may have been popular enough to headline an arena show. As far as Ratt they did begin headlining arenas during the Dancing Undercover tour and received a tons of airplay during the 1983-1988 heyday.

Of course, here in ATL, they'd be lucky to draw 500 or so at The Masquerade.

Now that I think about it, I believe W.A.S.P.'s LIVE...IN THE RAW album was recorded at Long Beach Arena in California. (I think so anyway... don't have the disc handy with me to check for sure) So that's at least one time they headlined an arena.

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

I remember RATT doing a headline arena tour circa '86 or so (which would've been what, DANCING UNDERCOVER?) with Poison opening for them (of course, if they were to do that tour today, the bill would be reversed). W.A.S.P. did play some arenas opening for KISS (ANIMALIZE tour) and Black Sabbath (the ill fated SEVENTH STAR tour), but never as a headliner. At least on this side of the ocean.

W.A.S.P. headlined smaller venues but never arenas, at least not where I lived, maybe in L.A. they may have been popular enough to headline an arena show. As far as Ratt they did begin headlining arenas during the Dancing Undercover tour and received a tons of airplay during the 1983-1988 heyday.

I think Ratt started headling arenas on the Invasion of your privacy tour - I remember being in HS and my parents not letting me go see them. They palyed at the good old Capital Centre in Landover, MD (stie of the infamous Heavy Metal Parking Lot). Bon Jovi opened up on that tour.