W.A.S.P.

great band, blackie rocks!

Great to hear you stories guys.
I guess WASP and RATT are among those bands that have a very different popularity in Europe - USA.
It`s hard to say why, there may be many reasons, there are lots of other bands that have exprienced the same.

I think bands like Ratt , Poison and Crue also had a bigger female following as well that WASP didn't really get. I knew plenty of chicks back in the day that owned 'Dr. Feelgood' or 'Look What the Cat Dragged In'. But you'd be hard pressed to find a girl that owned any WASP records.

Olafsto wrote:

Great to hear you stories guys.
I guess WASP and RATT are among those bands that have a very different popularity in Europe - USA.
It`s hard to say why, there may be many reasons, there are lots of other bands that have exprienced the same.

I think Ratt was such a L.A. band, the image, the songs, the sound, the whole package I imagine it did not translate well outside of the United States

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I think bands like Ratt , Poison and Crue also had a bigger female following as well that WASP didn't really get. I knew plenty of chicks back in the day that owned 'Dr. Feelgood' or 'Look What the Cat Dragged In'. But you'd be hard pressed to find a girl that owned any WASP records.

Probably down to W.A.S.P. having some balls in comparison to the others. Don't get me wrong, I love Poison and Crue, but W.A.S.P. really were a great synthesis of hair metal hooks and aggression, probably giving them a predominantly male appeal.

I guess chicks found 'I Won't Forget You' alot more romantic than 'Animal (I F@@k like a Beast)'

When I'm really pissed off, Mean Man really hits the spot!

I think the whole hair metal thing was much bigger in the US, thus Ratt ousold WASP. But here in Europe, we went fot eh "dangerous" stuff, ala WASP. I don't think that it is a coincidence that the whole German thrash metal force was buildt largely around satanic imagery. Heck, Venom is a European band. The US are far too pius (sp?) to raise big "evil" bands. So Ratt, Mötley Crüe and Poison sold tons of records instead.

manny wrote:

W.A.S.P. was IMO better than Motley Crue and Ratt, should have been a bigger band than those two bands, Blackie Lawless was a songwriter who could write songs that were both heavy and had a hook. Their image in retrospect might be on the goofier side but back in the 80's nobody pissed off more parents than W.A.S.P.

As time went on W.A.S.P. didnot play it safe, their Who inspired concept albums 'Headless Children' and 'Crimson Idol' are great albums that still hold up pretty well. Chris Holmes was not a great guitartist but he worked well for W.A.S.P., and their song catalog 'Animal ( I Boink Like a Beast)' 'I Wanna Be Somebody' 'L.O.V.E. Machine' served as a soundtrack to, as rattpoison might put it , to my beer swilling, bed squeaking teens. Great sleazy rock n roll circus. A band that deserves better than being a mere foot note in metal history.

Hell ye good to finally see some positive feedback about WASP they are one of my favourite metal bands. I wouldn't 100 per cent agree with you that the best songs come off from the first album even Blackie would agree he said in an interview on hard n heavy (remember that metal tv show 20 years ago?) that when the first album came out people were listening more with their eyes not with their ears and said that there were better songs on the last command which I agree songs like ballcrusher, fistful of diamonds, last command and sex drive absolutely rule and also they are some killer songs on Electric Circus as well. However I do agree with you what you said about Headless Children and Crimson Idol. I actually was fortunate to see WASP last year live and gotta say the best show of my life heres my diary entry:

Best concert ever been to even tops the Pantera/COC concert I went to back in 2001 (my first concert btw) I mean this is a concert that will never ever wash off my mind and very emotional. Thought I was late but wasn't The Poor hadn't even come out on stage so I was there 10 minutes before they came on stage. When they were playing I was TOO hungry and impatient to see WASP to appreciate them but they were pretty good had an awful feeling prior to the concert that they were a wanky emo band but no they were a dinky dye aussie pub rock band and they sounded like a combination of AC/DC and Airbourne with a bit of Jet blended in. No opening band could of caught my attention before WASP came on unless they were a top band on my music list.
When WASP came on stage the moment Id been waiting for for the past four years had arrived. They played the whole set of Crimson Idol Blackie Lawless hadn't changed at all and still had the charisma and energy he had 20 years ago. It was only a day before when I bought the album Crimson Idol which is WASP's best album undoubtably and very emotional and intense and I can relate to some of the bits in the story and when he played the songs of the album Smurf man it was like three times more intense I was disappointed at first that Chris Holmes wasn't the guitar player but then I realised that he would of been the wrong guitar player to play the songs from Crimson Idol. Also to my surprise there werent any theatrics which wasn't a bad thing since they dropped that almost 20 years ago when they released out Headless Children just an unreleased video that was made back when the album was recorded and man it really shows you behind the walls of a rock star's life and how its not cracked up as its meant to be but still his biggest strength was that it was his main job and he longer had to work his day job and thats my intention as a musician no wanky Hollywood fame smurf poo. After they played the whole set of Crimson Idol I could understand why Blackie needed to take a break for about 5 mins because I think the story is similar to some parts in Blackie's life even most of the story is fiction and he probably became very emotional.
During the break he played an Elvis Presley video which was pretty cool when they came back they played all the classics like Mean Machine, Wild Child, I wanna be Somebody and Blind in Texas. After they got off the only thought that came in my mind was I want more!! That was the only formula missing with the concert but looking back I can understand it will be emotionally exhausting for Blackie to that album every night so I don't blame him. If I had the money I would of done whatever I could of done to attend the extra concert in Melbourne the one Blackie got all the fans to choose the setlist man I would die fucken happy but can't have everything and I am sure this won't be the last time WASP will tour Australia hopefully I might get to see them live if I ever back in Germany for a visit. Best concert so far and the most memorable

kmorg wrote:

I think the whole hair metal thing was much bigger in the US, thus Ratt ousold WASP. But here in Europe, we went fot eh "dangerous" stuff, ala WASP. I don't think that it is a coincidence that the whole German thrash metal force was buildt largely around satanic imagery. Heck, Venom is a European band. The US are far too pius (sp?) to raise big "evil" bands. So Ratt, Mötley Crüe and Poison sold tons of records instead.

Also Ratt, Motley Crue and Poison had tons of MTV support and like you stated their image was safe, unlike W.A.S.P. who seemed happy to stand apart from these bands.

manny wrote:

kmorg wrote:

I think the whole hair metal thing was much bigger in the US, thus Ratt ousold WASP. But here in Europe, we went for the "dangerous" stuff, ala WASP. I don't think that it is a coincidence that the whole German thrash metal force was buildt largely around satanic imagery. Heck, Venom is a European band. The US are far too pius (sp?) to raise big "evil" bands. So Ratt, Mötley Crüe and Poison sold tons of records instead.

Also Ratt, Motley Crue and Poison had tons of MTV support and like you stated their image was safe, unlike W.A.S.P. who seemed happy to stand apart from these bands.

The ironic thing was that when Blackie decided to go "safe" and mature too, it was too late. People still saw WASP as the band that threw raw meat on their audience, and "raped" nuns on stage. But Blackie has written 100% as intelligent lyrics, and music, than any of those better selling bands.

I have also found it funny that sex in the music industry sells so well in the US, but nudity is frowned upon in movies/TV etc. And the opposite is "true" when it comes to violence!

I want "Rock And Roll To Death" played at my funeral!