Blackie Lawless - Lead vocals, lead/rhythm & acoustic guitars, electric
sitar, bass guitar, piano, organ, & synthesizers
Frankie Banali - Drums
Bob Kulick - Lead guitar
also featuring:
Stet Howland - Additional percussion on "Scared to Death"
Mark Josephson - Electric Violin
Tracey Whitney & K.C. Calloway - Background vocals
[Editor's Note: This cd was released last year, but we are reviewing it here in an effort to update/introduce W.A.S.P. to the readers of 'The Koffin' as a prelude to the release of the band's forthcoming album, which reunites Blackie Lawless with former lead guitarist Chris Holmes. Watch for Glenn's upcoming interview in a future issue....-K]
Ah, yet another survivor of MTV's attempted metal genocide! With each release, Blackie Lawless delves further into his subconcious, turning a cd into a journey of self-(re)discovery. For those of you who own 1993's "Crimson Idol", this a continuation of that disc, although Blackie himself does not "consider it a 'conceptual' record". It's certainly no "Operation Mindcrime", but Blackie's vocals are as haunting and distinctive as ever.
Trust me, he will never be confused with Kurt Cobain, or any of the 300 people trying to sound like him. This project is definitely on par with anything released after "The Electric Circus", but maybe that's part of the problem. The production is thin and watery. The music does not jump out and hit you over the head like the first W.A.S.P. record. The guitar sounds are, let's face it: weak. Blackie himself takes pride in his ability to write compositions of varied emotional content, and in this case I prefer those of the baladic nature[like "Keep Holding on" and "I can't"...-K]. I really think that "Rock 'n' Roll to Death" should be returned to Motorhead[who may or may not have written the song-K]; it's just a bit out of place among the rest of the tunes on "Still not....". "Scared to Death" may well be the best selection on board here[complete with backing vocals that do the best job at adding a new dimension to W.A.S.P.'s music. Self-appointed proponents of so-called "true metal" may yet herald this disc as a masterpiece, but a step or two forward couldn't hurt, now could it???
/SIX BITES ON THE NECK!!!/
-Keith-
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