"The Gods you worship are steel; at the altar of Rock N Roll you kneel."



OK, kids...time to dig into the extensive discography of W.A.S.P.!! But first, some background...

W.A.S.P. is, was and always shall be the twisted brainchild of one Steven Edward Duren, aka Blackie Lawless, a native New Yorker and supposed childhood friend of Ace Frehley. During the mid '70s young Steven bounced around in a number of local East Coast bands before landing a temporary guitarist gig with the New York Dolls as a replacement for the departed Johnny Thunders. That partnership proved to be short lived but it did land him in California, where he became part of the burgeoning Los Angeles rock scene. Always interested in the theatrical side of rock, Lawless' pre-W.A.S.P. bands included Sister (whose revolving door lineup boasted, at one time or another, a pre-Motley Crue Nikki Sixx and future London guitarist Lizzy Grey, as well as eventual W.A.S.P. guitarist Randy Piper) and Circus, Circus (again with Piper) before doing a stint in London with Grey and Sixx. All of these bands were very "visual" and their stage shows became notorious "must-see" events. When Sixx bailed on London to form Motley Crue in 1981, Lawless took the reins and formed yet another new combo under the name W.A.S.P., featuring Chris Holmes and Randy Piper on guitar and Tony Richards on drums. They quickly gained a rep in the L.A. scene for their "psycho-dramatic" stage shows featuring Lawless' drinking blood from a skull, throwing hunks of raw meat into the audience, and scantily clad models tied to torture racks. The band's timing was perfect, as Los Angeles was in the midst of the early '80s metal explosion and major labels were snapping up every L.A. band they could get their hands on in the hopes of finding the next Quiet Riot or Motley Crue. W.A.S.P. quickly inked a deal with Capitol Records and hit the studio to record their self titled debut album (produced by Lawless and Shrapnel Records guru Mike Varney) for a scheduled 1984 release.

During the recording sessions Capitol Records voiced objections to the proposed opening track of the album -- a sensitive love ballad titled "Animal (F**k Like A Beast)," and eventually they decided to omit it from the record's final track listing. Never missing a chance to drum up some notoriety, the band quickly licensed the offending track to the European metal indie Music For Nations, who released it as a 12 inch single (b/w "Show No Mercy"), where it made a splash on the European singles charts and quickly became a sought after import in the States.



The flames of hype were burning nice and bright by the time their debut full length on Capitol hit stores in August of 1984. Massive praise quickly came from all corners of the metal press, particularly from England's "Kerrang," and the band embarked on a road trip opening for KISS' ANIMALIZE tour and their own club tour with Armored Saint and a little known band called Metallica opening for them. The buzz was on.



Of course, all the hype in the world will do a band no good if they don't have the songwriting ammunition to back it up, fortunately Lawless and W.A.S.P. had the bone-crushing musical goods in spades. From the piledriving opener "I Wanna Be Somebody" to the closing crunch of "The Torture Never Stops," W.A.S.P.'s debut is a stone cold, mean mutha trucker of an album and it is right up there with such legendary "firsts" as Metallica's KILL'EM ALL and Metal Church's S/T, in my book. I can remember seeing a full page ad for the band/album in "Circus" magazine and even though I hadn't heard a note of their music yet, I somehow KNEW that these guys were gonna be right up my alley. When "School Daze" and "I Wanna Be Somebody" started getting play on my local radio metal shows my suspicions that I was gonna love this band were confirmed. When I finally got this album (on vinyl!) for my fifteenth birthday in 1985, it went on to rule my life for several months afterwards. Blackie Lawless was my new hero. To this day it's my favorite W.A.S.P. disc and one of my Top Ten Favorite Albums overall. Even 25+ years after its release, this album will still leave bruises if you play it loud enough.

By the way, any early '80s record buyers who was curious about what the acronym "W.A.S.P." stood for needed to look no further than the inner groove of the first LP, where they would find the words "WE ARE SEXUAL PERVERTS" etched right into the vinyl. Of course, the misogyny on display in the "L.O.V.E. Machine" video (see below) made it rather obvious as well.




The journey has begun!!!

Singles and other miscellany from the first album era:

"School Daze" 12-inch single b/w "Paint It Black" (Rolling Stones cover)


"I Wanna Be Somebody" 12-inch b/w "Tormentor"


"LIVE AT THE LYCEUM" Home Video (recorded live in October 1984)

Snapper Classics reissued the debut album in 1997 with "Animal" restored to its intended position as the album's opening track, and adding "Show No Mercy" and the Rolling Stones cover "Paint it Black" as bonus tracks.

It would be many, many years later till I actually owned a copy of this cd for my very own, but I have early memories of a friend of mine stealing his older sister's cassette tape where she recorded 'Animal...' off the radio at 2:00 in the morning from a program called "The Metal Shop". He popped the tape into his little boom box and we played the song very low so his mom wouldn't hear it. It was like sneaking a peek at a Playboy magazine.

I was too young to know what was going on, but I knew it was something I shouldn't have been doin'.

Nice write up FF!!!!!! Brings back memories of picking up the MFN import only release of Animal before the actual album came it, which was a smart move on Blackie's part and it helped the debut album sell better. The first album is pure gold, an excellent debut album!

FF, we must have seen the same ad, I remember reading about them in Hit Parader magazine about a banned single, and without hearing a single note I talked my father ( I was 14) to drive me to the mall where I purchased their debut album. When I showed my father the proud purchase I had made he just grumbled , Jesus H!!

The moment I dropped the needle in the groove I loved it, and IMO it is one of the best debut albums of any metal band in the 80's. 'I Wanna Be Somebody' 'The Flame' where all soundtracks to me that summer, I even liked the ballad 'Sleeping in the Fire'

I now was also on the hunt for the single for 'Animal' which I did finally find at a store called Peaces, it was a cool looking single in white vinyl and the day I bought this album, I also bought Venom's Welcome to Hell, and when my mom saw the titles and covers to both of these beauties she started praying and counting her rosaries.

Though I enjoyed this I felt like they were too interested in hyping themselves and even then, the lyrics were too juvenile. Some of those songs though were great and are still a good listen.

There were a few songs off the debut playing on the radio at the time (I believe L.O.V.E. Machine,I Wanna Be Somebody and School Daze) and I loved every one of them I knew about Animal but had never heard it until I went to see them open for KISS. That was such a great show. A day or two later I walked down to the Radio Shack and picked up their debut.


Not a weak song on that thing. Pure excellence! I never did get the Animal single but I did get the debut on cd (not too long ago) with those songs from Animal tacked on.Great memories.

I forgot Radio Shack used to sell records. I hate that everything's online now.

I remember a friend in summerschool was telling me about WASP (seems like a LOT of friends I made in 84 were all hard rockers/metalheads and were given failing grades for math!) and this crazy song, so when I eventually seen the 12 icnh I had to buy it, as it was the most outrageous thing I seen with the buzzsaw blade on the crotch.

the 1980s were good for hyping bands and getting albums sold without a note heard first, like Motely Crue, Mercyful Fate, or early Slayer. Just a cool photo or mention in either Hit Parader, or maybe some xeroxed typewritten fanzine/newsletter, was enough to make me curious and take a chance spending the cash I earned killing myself with work outside of highschool hours.

Do teens these days even know what a job is? Everyone I have met through friends/ acquaintences seem to get everything handed to them, or they are too lazy and too cheap.
They will spend all thei money on drugs but not many will buy music.
X-Box or Playstation seems to be the only thing they might pay for.

W.A.S.P. really showed up all guns blazing from first get go. Their debut album was the most shocking metal album in 1984, maybe only rivaled by Venom. But unlike the British black metal pioneers, L.A.'s W.A.S.P. managed to get a much bigger audience for their music. I'm sure the first EP helped to sell the band, but the fact is, W.A.S.P. also had some great tunes! Say what you want about the shock value, and stage antics, but Blackie is one heck of a songwriter too. And it is very apparent here. Most of these tracks are classics today, and are still very much a part of their live set. "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine" and "Hellion" are but 3 of the songs that forever put W.A.S.P. on the heavy metal map. This reissue also includes the infamous "Animal (F**k Like A Beast)" as the first song, the way Blackie intended it all along, but was back then stopped by the record company. Isn't it funny that this particular track is one of the biggest reasons for the hype this band caught on? Also included are 2 more bonus tracks, whereas "Paint It Black" is a cover of The Rolling Stones.


Rock trivia: This album was initially going to be named 'Winged Assassins'. There have always been quite the controversy about what the letters in their name stands for. Blackie himself says this is deliberate, and that it never was meant to mean anything special. But I have heard interviews where he claims it stands for White Anglo Saxon Protestants, which sort of stands for the population in the world that has the most power, wealth etc. However, if you have the vinyl version of this album, and take a look at the part of it that is closest to the centre, but without the music reels, it clearly states "We Are Sexual Perverts". Another "popular" version claims it stands for "We Are Satan's People"!!! No wonder why rumors fled about the meaning of the band name.

I throw in W.A.S.P. last night and on CD EP of animal, Blackie announces 'Who here f**ks like an animal?' at that moment my eldest daughter comes down and just shoots me this look that reminded me of her mother, when she is not very happy with me.

The look you get every hour?

I still need WASP (album). My friends and me used to always jam to Animal **** Like a Beast in the car on the way to and from school/social gatherings.

"Raisin' Hell in Austin just after sundown
When the hoosegow po-lice decided to come'round, they said:
"Boy, what's the matter with you? What you tryin' to do?"



Still riding high on a wave of controversy and hype, W.A.S.P.'s second album, THE LAST COMMAND, was released in November 1985. The album featured the first of what would become an endless series of personnel changes in the band, as drummer Tony Richards was replaced by Steven Riley (who would then turn up in L.A. Guns a few years later). THE LAST COMMAND was produced by Spencer Proffer of Quiet Riot fame and though his production job is slicker than Mike Varney's grim-and-gritty work on the first disc, there are still plenty of classic W.A.S.P. moments to be found here.

Rather than opening the album with a machine-gunning metal cut ala "I Wanna Be Somebody" on the previous record, THE LAST COMMAND opens with the moody biker anthem "Wild Child," which was an unusual move that sets an air of unpredictability about the whole record. Obviously Blackie Lawless wanted to prove that he was not a one-trick pony and therefore THE LAST COMMAND showcases a variety of styles and subjects. Fans of the band's "Animal" style odes to perversion were pleased by the hilarious "Ballcrusher" and "Sex Action," and Blackie's talent for writing cool, dark ballads begins to take shape here with "Widowmaker" and "Cries in the Night." Meanwhile, "Jack Action," "Fistful of Diamonds" and the now-classic "Blind in Texas," among other tracks, fulfill the album's "metal" quotient quite nicely.

THE LAST COMMAND climbed to #47 on the Billboard charts upon its release, proving that W.A.S.P. now had a dedicated fan base. However, the band also had its share of detractors... the biggest, of course, being Mrs. Tipper Gore and her band of merry housewives known as the Parents Music Resource Center. In 1985-86 this group of would-be rock censors went after "demonic" heavy metal bands with a vengeance and W.A.S.P., due mainly to the now-infamous "Animal," quickly became one of their favorite targets. As a result, THE LAST COMMAND was one of the first -- if not the first -- albums to carry a "Parental Advisory" sticker on the outside wrapper to warn prospective buyers that the material was, shall we say, "racy." If the PMRC's aim was to "shame" the band and its fans into going away, they failed miserably and if anything, the controversy helped to increase the album's sales.




THE LAST COMMAND made it clear that W.A.S.P. were here to stay, whether Tipper and her gang of Washington Wives liked it or not.

When I first purchased 'The Last Command' I have to admit I was a bit disappointed, it was not as gritty or as raw as their debut album, but I did grow to like it even if I still feel it is not as good as their debut.

I do remember that 'Blind In Texas' used to get alot of MTV plays, and the band was a big hit with all the metal magazines.

Thankfully producer Spencer Proffer may have smoothed over some rough edges but W.A.S.P. was still W.A.S.P. and Proffer did not try talking Blackie and the lads to try their hand at a Slade cover.

LAST COMMAND era goodies/collectibles:


"Blind In Texas" 12-inch single (b/w non-album track "Savage")


"Wild Child" single b/w "Missisippi Queen" (Mountain cover) and "L.O.V.E. Machine" (Live at the London Lyceum, 1984)

When Snapper Classics reissued THE LAST COMMAND in 1998, both "Savage" and "Mississippi Queen," as well as five live London Lyceum tracks, were tacked onto the album as bonus cuts.

The debut can't be topped in rawness and intensity, so the followup was almost destined to disappoint. That's not to say that Last Command doesn't kick, because it does. The mistake was it being produced by Spencer Proffer. "Running Wild In The Streets" sounds like a Quiet Riot reject from QRIII. It would have worked for QR, but it doesn't with WASP. I suppose this is a good album, albeit very uneven, IMO.

Due to my age at the time (11 years old) I didn't jump on the WASP train until this album had been out for awhile, so I didn't feel that initial sting that the change in sound probably caused wihin the WASP fan community.

Ahhh - the 2nd W.A.S.P. release. I remember when it came out and the album was a let down at the time. I have grown to like it later in life, but the album got a lot of backlash at the time, at least with the people I knew and hung out with at the time. Overall, a decent album from Blackie and whoever he hired to play with him.

On a side note, Tipper Gore and her bands of uptight, baby boomer "what was OK for us in 60's is not OK now" bored to tears, well to do, political housewives can still kiss my a$$. Just a perfect example of why my generation (X) doesn't trust the baby boomer generation. Then again, Blackie should thank his bank account that Tipper went after W.A.S.P.

I'm the minority but I love this album. A slick sound has never scared me and this one felt more solid musically. Blind in Texas is a killer song.