The previous album, “KFD”, released in 1997, and the episode on which you can find in Season 2 of this podcast, had seen both the return of several members to the group after Blackie had gone rogue for the “Still Not Black Enough” album, and spirits had lifted in the fan base. “KFD” itself though saw an interesting change in the sound for the band, an almost total abandonment of the fun times, hair metal shock rock band that had existed prior to this, and saw an infusion of alternative and almost industrial metal in places that may well have been the defining genre of metal at the time but one that did seem as though it had strayed too far from the formula that had made W.A.S.P. the band they were, and how they had garnered their success and fan base. Despite this, the live album that was recorded on this tour, “Double Live Assassins” was received very well, and showed that those songs in the lie environment were still very strong.
Blackie’s response to the views of “KFD” from critics and fans alike was that, in retrospect, he may have gone too far down a path that was not familiar to the fan base, and that for the next album the band would look to retrieve some of that ground by moving the band back to more traditional ground. A lot of fans took that news in great glee, perhaps anticipating an album that could combine the energy and drive of the first three albums, hopefully incorporated with the maturity of the following two albums. That of course would appear to be a practically impossible task. What the band produced instead was an album that took the essence of much of the perspective of those first three albums, and tried to recreate and transpose that onto an album some 15 years after the event. The result perhaps spoke more of the struggle within the band leader’s demons than anything else in the music, and in retrospect may have been a turning point for his future music ambitions.
From the very start of the album, it is obvious that the songs on this album are directly tied to the style and formation of the bands first three albums. Because let’s face it, “Drive By”, the opening sequence on the album, is just a throwback to the opening of the “Inside the Electric Circus” album with the preamble to get the album off to a start. Then, much like the segue into the title track of “Inside the Electric Circus”, the segue here into the title track “Helldorado” jump starts the album. It is catchy in the same way old W.A.S.P. was, with Blackie’s vocals at the top of his register screaming out of the speakers at you, the music is bright and breezy, and Chris Holmes unleashes with a trademark solo. It’s a great start, with the hope of more to come. This could be seen to be a bit presumptuous.
“Don’t Cry (Just Suck)” is pretty much exactly what you would expect from the title lyrically, the kind of juvenile nonsensical song that doesn’t have any innuendo which would make it slightly more charming like old school W.A.S.P. Instead, it's just a song that makes you wonder exactly what Blackie was going for when he began to write this album. It was out of place in 1999, let alone on playback 25 years later. This is followed by “Damnation Angels”, which feels like Blackie is trying to come to terms with his abandonment of religion and just where he’s heading in the future. This is back to a much more mature sounding W.A.S.P. with the tempo dialled back, a great solo from Chris and Blackie almost pontificating from the pulpit. It’s simple and lyrically repetitive but still enjoyable in its own way.
However, the arrival of “Dirty Balls” is from the same production line as “Don’t Cry (Just Suck)”, a song that has no pretensions about what the subject matter is. Again, no innuendo, the lyrics are straight up what the title suggests it is about, and to be honest it just feels childish. It is literally impossible to enjoy these two tracks in particular. I honestly couldn’t bring myself to sing these kinds of songs at the age of 16 or 21 let alone 29 when this came out, or 54 now. Childish immature crap, with a lack of anything that makes the song enjoyable. Honestly, what created this decision in Blackie’s head that firstly, this was a good subject matter to fall back into after so many years, and secondly, that THIS is what the fans were looking for?! But more on that later.
“High on the Flames” goes down the same path as “Damnation Angels”, once again lyrically repetitive and focusing on Blackie’s ongoing battle with having left religion behind, and the consequences of that, and perhaps speaks more of his creeping ever slowly back to where it all began for him in his childhood. “Cocaine Cowboys” again addresses exactly what the song title suggests, with the solid musical backing and Blackie’s top range chorused vocals and Chris’s solid riff making this song a more enjoyable experience. “Can’t Die Tonight” feels like a reprise of “Blind in Texas” but in the modern “KFD” style serious tone rather than the fun time joy that the classic original song provided on “The Last Command”. “Saturday Night Cockfight”. Really? I mean, Elton John nailed the “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting” theme 50 years ago. And here, Blackie has just gone with a song title that again shows no ingenuity, no innuendo in the lyrics (which are sparse anyway), and just espouses exactly what you would expect from a song with this kind of title. The song has a fast tempo, a solid solo again by Chris, who does seem to be playing without much enthusiastic thought on his solo pieces, and that’s the song.
The album concludes with the bookended “Hot Rods to Hell (Helldorado Reprise)”, which basically channels the opening track, changes a bit of the composition and stylised verse and chorus, and offers us almost the same song to go out of the album. Sure, it’s clever enough, but does it hold together an album full of songs that have gone down two distinct ideals? It is essentially the same song but rejigged.
As I’m sure I have mentioned on other W.A.S.P. related episode of this podcast, I became a fan of the band almost from the first moment I heard their first album. I couldn’t really say what it was about them, but the music grabbed me, and the look was interesting. Blackie’s vocals and enthusiasm in everything he did was electric, and Chris Holmes’s guitaring was fabulous. And I didn’t fail to get each album as it was released in the first week, such was my desire to hear what they were going to offer up next. So, I most definitely had this album when it was first released, and I was excited to hear what it contained.
How has that enthusiasm survived? There is no doubt that “Helldorado” is a completely different beast from “KFD”. The opening track is enough to convince you of that. And I still don’t mind that opening. But from that point on, it’s a real mishmash of ideas. The songs themselves have an obvious influence of AC/DC in the basic rhythm structure of all the tracks, and even into Chris’s guitar solos. Maybe it isn’t obvious from the first listen, but on multiple spins that similarity to the AC/DC style is patently there. A somewhat frenzied one, yes, but there all the same. And the lyrical content is basically sold towards the outlandish acts of sex and desire, or the punishments of sinning. And without knowing exactly what Blackie’s thoughts were in writing the words to the songs for this album (as he is the sole credited writer on this album), it does feel as though there is a conflict going on. The desire to put out an album that musically and sonically was closer in origin to those initial releases than what they had performed on their previous album is there for all to hear. But within those songs come lyrics that either extend beyond the ability to shock to a point of ... in my opinion, just bad taste and unnecessary vulgarity, or reflect back to the basis of his long-disposed of faith and the promises of hell for those that ... indulge in exactly those things he has written and sung about. It feels like there is a war in Blackie’s head over just what he believes and what direction he wants to go. This may be completely incorrect, but given that just a few short years later he became a born-again Christian, and tended to shy away from the songs highlighted here, perhaps this was where he started having that conflict, and here on “Helldorado” he decided to express that conflict in the lyrics.
So when I first got the album, I listened to it a bit, enjoyed it some days and less so on others, and it eventually passed back onto the CD shelves. And when it has come out over the years, it has generally been for only one listen as a catch up before returning to its housing.
The past three weeks is the most I’ve listened to the album since I bought it, and my enthusiasm hasn’t changed. The characteristics of the early albums, with Blackie’s screaming vocals over the top almost without a break, are fine. It does remind you of those times, but the QUALITY of the songs is nowhere near the same. The songs here are almost passionless, whereas those early albums had passion in bucket loads. Do I enjoy it? Honestly, if I ignore the lyrics in half the songs, and just listen to the album in a dispassionate way, I still find moments to enjoy.
But, here’s kicker. Blackie wanted to go back to the band’s roots, to move away from the style of “KFD” because he felt the fans were unhappy with the direction the band had been trending towards. But with “Helldorado”, he dialled it back too far. They over corrected what may be seen as the overly serious nature of the subject matter of the previous album, and came up with this album. Bring back the tempo and vibe of those early albums, and bring back a less serious tone in the lyrics and music? Absolutely, bring that on. But this took the basis of the early sound of W.A.S.P. and tried to reinvent the wheel when it didn't need it.
There are some above average songs here, but overall it makes too many mistakes to be entirely enjoyable. It was the final album that Chris Holmes actively participated in, and with it effectively consigning W.A.S.P. to a Blackie Lawless solo band. There are some solid albums that came out over the next two decades, and while “Helldorado” overall is a flawed attempt at a reset, perhaps it was the album the band needed as it rode on in to the next century.
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