 |
|
October 12, 2008 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
W.A.S.P. - The Neon God: Part 2 - The Demise
Sanctuary (2004) |
5/10 |
|
|
|
|
|
01. Never Say Die
02. Resurrector
03. The Demise
04. Clockwork Mary
05. Tear Down The Walls
06. Come Back To Black
07. All My Life
08. Destinies To Come (Neon Dion)
09. The Last Redemption
|
|
One of the highlights of 2004 for me was back in August when I finally got the chance to see W.A.S.P. perform at The Commodore here in Vancouver. Man...what a show! Even without the original lineup I don't think anyone cared. Blackie - who didn't look a day older than he did twenty years ago - and the band were simply on fire that night and couldn't have put on a better-sounding, higher-energy set if their lives had depended on it. For almost two hours that night I felt as though it was the mid-80's glory days of Metal all over again, and for that I thank both Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. It was a night I will never forget.
Then however, there is the matter of W.A.S.P.'s (at present including irrepressible band helmsman Blackie Lawless on guitar/vox, Darrell Roberts on guitar/backup vox, Mike Duda on bass, and Stet Howland on drums) most recent studio recording 'The Neon God Part II: The Demise' which concludes the tale begun in - you guessed it - 'The Neon God Part I: The Rise' of angst-ridden street-messiah Jesse Slane and his flock. I gotta tell you, guys and gals...I would be being lying through my frikkin' teeth if I didn't tell you straight up that this is a pretty uninspiring listen.
In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it is the kind of listening experience that barely leaves the starting gates before it trips up and falls flat on it's face, due in no small part to the weight of it's own considerable pretension...although lacklustre riffs, tired, worn-out, clichéd themes/lyrics, and a generally sterile performance by all concerned doesn't help either. Sorry Blackie (and present company)...I luv ya, man...really I do...but this ain't no 'Last Command'. Hell...this ain't even 'The Crimson Idol'.
I think it goes without saying that the first four W.A.S.P. albums are undeniable classics. The self-titled debut 'W.A.S.P.', 'The Last Command', 'Inside The Electric Circus', and 'The Headless Children' doubtless hold a special place in the hearts of most Metalheads for their raw, take-no-prisoners mixture of high-octane CRUE-esque sleaze-Metal and roaring, epic anthems to the 'Gods Of Steel', all anchored by Blackie's signature, hair-raising vocal onslaught and unstoppable stage presence. These are original, landmark releases that made a definite impact on the Metal scene at the time of their release.
Over the years though, lineup changes, what I can only speculate as being a flip-flopping over the bands focus and direction, and a general creative spinning-of-the-wheels seem to have conspired to place this once-great act on the backburners of the collective Metal unconsciousness, remembered more fondly for the glory daze of yore than for any of their more recent output which has been sporadic and inconsistent at best. Sadly, this, the finale to the 'Neon God' saga does little to dispel said notion...at least not in my mind at any rate. I mean, okay...none of it is what I would call 'horrible'.
All of it however is pretty listless, generic, PMRC-era, hopelessly-trapped-somewherez-circa-'88, paint-by-numbers, running-on-autopilot Metal the likes of which we’ve all heard faaarrr too many times now from this band for it to hold any sort of relevance. In a word: boring.
Musically this has all the hallmarks of the classic W.A.S.P. style: ebbs, flows, soaring leads, big choruses, a couple'a' haunting dirges-cum-power-ballads, Blackie's voice...but it’s all so been-there-heard-that-before, same-as-about-a-dozen-or-so-other-W.A.S.P.-tunes that I just can't bring myself to care. Nothing here excites me enough to warrant as a 'standout track'. How many albums does Blackie need to rail against organized religion anyways!?! How many maudlin, melodramatic tales of messiahs and antiheroes do we need...or for that matter, want to hear!?! How long before this guy realizes that he is at his best when he is going blind in frikkin' Texas and just full-on ROCKIN’ OUT!?!
'Helldorado'...now THAT was an awesome W.A.S.P. album! I can't take any more of these pretentious pseudo-Metal operas though. 'The Crimson Idol' was enough. It was actually quite a good album in fact with more than a few memorable tracks. To essentially repeat it though...over the course of TWO discs no less...I mean...man oh man. Methinks blind ambition hath overridden purity of songcraft, sir.
Look, ultimately in this day and age there is simply far too much Metal of a far greater caliber than what W.A.S.P. currently has on offer for this piece of work to qualify as any sort of genuine contender. That's just my opinion of course, but nevertheless I'm sticking with it. Unless Blackie realizes the same and sees fit to raise the proverbial bar once again as I know he is more than capable of doing, I fear this will continue to remain the case. What this band needs to do is frankly drop the pretentious quest to create something 'deep' and just play to their strengths which - as stated - are most effectively exercised as a shining steel, mach-10, molten Metal juggernaut intent only upon extolling the virtues of pure hedonism and excess.
THAT is what the spirit of W.A.S.P. is supposed to be all about. Not this ponderous, brow-furrowing concept Metal trip they're ('they're' being Blackie I'll wager) currently on. Now if only THEY realized that, they could easily come roaring back so fast, loud, n' hard that honestly...I don't think anyone could withstand them. Should you ever get the chance to see this band live then like I said earlier, by all means do so as they are a tight, energetic, and stirring-to-Metal-blood experience indeed. Sadly though, at this juncture in time the same vibe just doesn't translate successfully onto the recorded medium. For now at least...this W.A.S.P. has lost its sting.
|
|
|
|
