In the liner notes of the album, Blackie goes into detail on what he was thinking during the writing and recording of this album, and a lot of it lines up with the direction he was heading both spiritually and in his life and career. Having been brought up in a strict religious environment he had more or less shrugged that off in his adulthood – but here he appears to be in conflict with his beliefs, and this time and album appears to be where he was tipping back towards becoming the born again Christian he eventually became. It isn’t as if the whole album is in that direction, but lyrically Blackie seems to be struggling with the concept. He does write that there was much of his upbringing that he was uncomfortable with, the idea that good always triumphed over evil. This rings true in songs such as “Unholy Terror” and “Charisma”, which deal with the madmen of the past two thousand years, and “Loco-motive Man” which is about the gunmen who go into schools and start shooting innocent victims, Blackie’s belief it is all being about their need to be seen and to gain attention to themselves. The senselessness of these things is what is explored in these songs, and Blackie seems to be searching for answers, ones that theoretically he returned to religion to find.
Beyond the deepening thoughts that Blackie delved into to create the material for this album, the songs themselves stand up well, and any fan of W.A.S.P.’s work will find plenty here to enjoy. Apart from a couple of exceptions, the tracks are the high octane hard rock that W.A.S.P. built its reputation on, uncompromising and fast and furious through to the conclusion. Blackie again handles vocals and guitar duties throughout, Mike Duda returns on bass guitar and supporting vocals, while Frankie Banali and Stet Howland again share drumming duties on different songs throughout the album. As always, Stet’s double kick is prominent and a redeeming feature in the songs he was asked to perform on.
Where there is conjecture is over the contribution of long time W.A.S.P. guitaring legend Chris Holmes himself. Holmes himself still insists he didn't play one note on the album despite being on the liner notes. And listening to the album, this is quite obvious. Because the songs lack his presence to lift this above the standard that it is at. There are no memorable solos or slick licks like you expect from these kinds of songs. Don’t get me wrong, I still love them, but you do notice the absence of his trademark guitar.
This was the maturing of W.A.S.P. the band, and Blackie’s changing persona was probably a huge part of that. But the band had been together for some time now, and the sound that they produce had been drummed in to them like everything else about it. It was regimented, it has formulated, and it works. The music continues to be great. Aside from the Chris Holmes factor, the rhythm guitars always do the job, while the bass and drums stick together like glue. Like all of W.A.S.P throughout their history, the hardest part has been in making the vocals work in a live environment. Here in the studio, Blackie gets them sounding perfect, the harmonies and everything to do with the vocals sound brilliant. It never works as well live because the vocals are so layered on the albums, and he isn’t capable of producing the same on stage even given Duda’s efforts in support.
This album for me is highly underrated, because it is so difficult to compare it to the two previous releases. Here, the balance was restored for me. The music is brilliant, the subject matter of the songs worthy and enjoyable. You could sing these songs without cringing at the over seriousness of the subject matter or shaking your head at the silliness of it. The opening three songs are killer W.A.S.P. songs - “Let it Roar” hot off the plate, “Hate to Love Me’ hard hitting and catchy, and “Loco-Motive Man” straight out of that late 80’s W.A.S.P brilliance. And it really is here that you notice Chris isn’t playing, because his signature is nowhere to be heard, which would have only lifted these songs even higher with brilliance. “Unholy Terror” is the first of the slow acoustic driven tracks, and the sister track “Charisma” works fine as the segue. “Who Slayed Baby Jane” is classic W.A.S.P, and “Ravenheart” is of a similar ilk, but is wedged between the quiet instrumental “Euphoria” and then “Evermore”, where it is obvious that Blackie is trying to recreate the next “Forever Free” – now, you’ve already done “Forever Free”. It’s been done Blackie, don’t try and let history repeat. The rampant closing track “Wasted White Boys” is a beauty, with Roy Z laying waste to the song with a ripping closing guitar solo. He is only listed as playing the solo on this and “Who Slayed Baby Jane”, but given Chris’s information, I imagine that enlisting Roy to make a few additions to a few of the other songs would have also been handy.
When this album first came out I just loved it. Apart from the songs “Unholy Terror”, “Euphoria” and probably “Evermore”, I loved the energy of what had been produced. I loved the way that the different parts of the band’s past had been tinkered and ironed and then brought out on this collection. Yes, the disappointment that Chris Holmes was gone from the band forever was a disappointment, but it still sat in my CD player for that 3-4 months period that the good new albums did. As it turns out, even though I have enjoyed most of the albums the band has released after this, it was probably the last time I felt REALLY good about a new W.A.S.P. album.
Rating: "No love for killer babies, my pain is written on your walls" 4/5
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