W.A.S.P. returned in 2007 with a new album, DOMINATOR, on a new record label (the UK-based Demolition Records), and yet another new lineup. Doug Blair, an on-and-off associate of Lawless' since the early 90s (he played live with the band during the CRIMSON IDOL era), rejoined the band on guitar and Mike Dupke, formerly of hard rock act Hair of the Dog, came aboard on drums.

With so much being new, DOMINATOR still sounds "old," but I mean that in a good way. As I mentioned in my last entry, Blackie has spent much of the '00s going back into his own past for inspiration on each album, and here he seems to be tapping into the mid 90s (STILL NOT BLACK ENOUGH) period. Things kick off nicely with "Mercy" and the dark ballad "Heaven's Hung in Black" (dealing with the tragedy of war) is the centerpiece of the album. The album is typically Lawless - dark and melodic, with one "good timey rock n roll" song at the end ("Deal With The Devil") to cap things off.

The main problem I have with DOMINATOR is that it's quite short. At only 9 tracks (one of which is just a short "reprise" of "Heaven's Hung in Black") and a run time of just over 40 minutes, DOMINATOR doesn't feel like it was quite finished. I like what's here but I wish there was more to it. If it had been left in the oven for a few more months maybe Blackie could've tacked on a few more tracks and made it feel more like an "album" and less like an extended EP.

Demolition Records had zero distribution in the U.S. at the time DOMINATOR was released so even though it supposedly did quite well in Europe, it went more or less unnoticed on this side of the ocean. To this day it's pretty much the "forgotten" W.A.S.P. record. Rather than mount a full fledged U.S. tour for DOMINATOR, W.A.S.P. spent a summer on the "American Metal Blast" tour playing an oldies/greatest hits set alongside L.A. Guns and Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy's solo act. (!!)

Good album. Took me a long to find this one at a decent price but well worth the wait.

After coming off the bloated corpse of The Neon God Parts I thru VIII, this slimmed down, lean, mean, no concept, WASP album that was just what the doctor ordered. Is the album too short? Eh, maybe, but it also does a good job of leaving you wanting more. It's over too soon, which made it essential for repeated spins.

At this point, you pretty much know what to expect in a Blackie Lawless album. No real surprises here. Most of the shock schick is gone and what's left is good angry metal. Like Freddy said, if you've like what you've heard since the mid-90's, Still Not Black Enough-era of WASP, this should tickle your fancy.

I just recently hunted this thing down for a price I was willing to pay. Good album, like you say, hearkens back to much in their past.

Blackie Lawless and his W.A.S.P. never fails to excite and/or surprise. After yet another batch of conceptual albums, the man is back doing a political album again. And low and behold, the man have totally changed his political views from the 'Dying For The World' days. I'm not going to go deep into the anti-American-government lyrics on the album, nor will I do an in depth we-told-you-so comment, based on my own European stance on the matter, or on the war he is now obviously so frustrated with. I'll rather concentrate on the music. Because that is what matters in the end. Musically we're once again treated to the now classic W.A.S.P. sound. Easily on par with 'Unholy Terror', 'Dying For The World' and even touching on the greatness of 'The Headless Children', I'd say that Blackie is in rare form these days! The perfect dynamics in his music creates a mood that I enjoy so immensely. I've always been a fan of the more serious side of the man anyways. And the only significant "outsider" here is the last track, entitled "Deal With The Devil". It actually helps to end off the CD on a lighter note, and it would have fitted in perfectly on albums such as 'The Last Command' and 'Inside The Electric Circus'. The more I listen to this album, the more I am loving it. "The Burning Man" might just be one of the better tracks the band has ever recorded.

Okay folks, time to wrap this one up ...

"Babylon's a-burning, Babylon's a-burning
Six hundred 6, 6, the rising beast, bears the mark of Babylon to be"


W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album, BABYLON, was released in October of 2009 on Demolition Records. Fortunately, the label had acquired U.S. distribution by this time so the album was fairly easy to find in major U.S. record stores, unlike DOMINATOR.

The band's lineup is the same as DOMINATOR's (Lawless, Blair, Duda, and Dupke) and the sound is very similar to that album as well. BABYLON and DOMINATOR sound like they could've been recorded at the same time (in fact, one song - the cover of Deep Purple's "Burn" - was indeed recorded for the DOMINATOR album but was left off of that record at the time, for reasons unknown). I liked DOMINATOR just fine so I had no problems getting into BABYLON. It's pretty much what you expect to hear from W.A.S.P. by now, the band has settled comfortably into a steady, HEADLESS CHILDREN/CRIMSON IDOL/STILL NOT BLACK ENOUGH style groove.

On BABYLON, Blackie takes inspiration from the global financial meltdown and other disasters that have been plaguing our beloved planet. He seems to believe that these are some of the signs spoken of in the book of Revelations, that will bring about the return of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (who are pictured on the album cover) and thus the end of the world. The apocalyptic tale "Babylon's Burning" (a HEADLESS CHILDREN style galloping number) takes this concept and runs with it.

If I had any major complaints about BABYLON, it would probably be the same one I had with DOMINATOR - it's too short. Once again, the album has only nine tracks (two of which are cover songs), with a run time of just over 40 minutes. Fortunately all nine tracks are quality, with the aforementioned "Babylon's Burning," the smokin' cover of "Burn," "Seas of Fire" and "Godless Run" being my favorites. The album closes with a cool cover of the Chuck Berry chestnut "Promised Land," which ties into the album's overall concept and also gives Lawless a chance to kick out his old-school rock 'n' roll jams a little.

BABYLON may not be an all time classic W.A.S.P. disc but it is yet another decent effort from Blackie and the boys that should easily please longtime fans. I look forward to seeing where they go from here.

The band released a promotional video for "Babylon's Burning," which believe it or not, was the first official W.A.S.P. music video since 1995's "Black Forever" from the STILL NOT BLACK ENOUGH album!


...annnnd I guess that'll about do it for this thread (until the next W.A.S.P. album, at least).... thanks for reading, it's been fun and I'll see you soon in the Overkill Discography Thread!

I stiil need to pick up both Dominator and Babylon. Hopefully sooner than later. Oh yeah and Kudos to Fat Freddy on a job well done.

my wallet thanks you Kieth


good job

Excellent job as always, and I enjoyed this trip thru W.A.S.P.'s history and discography, looking forward to the Overkill discography thread.

Babylon is the first WASP disc I picked up in a long time and it is a good one. I agree that it is too short - it seemed like Blackie ran out of song ideas before hitting the studio.

Great job Keith!!!!!

Well, what do you know; Blackie has managed to keep the same line-up for two albums in a row! 'Babylon' is W.A.S.P.'s 14th studio album, and a darned fine one at that.

I've enjoyed the large brother part of W.A.S.P.'s albums over the years. So although they have had their ups and downs, I've never given up on them. The last 5 albums have all been very good, albeit maybe lacking the charm, enthusiasm and hunger that those early album withheld. To me, 'Babylon' is the album that sees Blackie do a full return both sound wise, and songwriting wise. I know the naysayers point to the fact that many songs on this CD are just too similar to many of the bands more famous songs. They will claim that Blackie has run out of new ideas, and that he keeps rewriting the same songs, over and over again. However, as long as there are no blatant rip-offs, and as long as every song is working as good as they do on 'Babylon', I choose to look at it differently. W.A.S.P. have a trademark sound, and here they are once again delivering it to their fans.

My opinion is that the band is sounding better than ever on this record. Blackie's vocals is shining once more, and the songwriting seems more heartfelt and honest than in a long time. Doug Blair delivers blistering solos that gives me a total 80's throwback. He is definitely one of the best, of not the best guitar-player for W.A.S.P.. I think it is apparent that W.A.S.P. is a whole band again, as opposed to the many Blackie Lawless-and-company efforts. It must have been tiresome to have to replace a member or two every time you're doing a new album, or a tour.

Lyrically Blackie is going full circle too. I've written about his apparent retrospective glance towards his childhood faith on more than one occasion. Now it would seem that he has taken a religious stance, based on his life long experiences. Both lyrically, and in the liner notes, he is writing about Biblical themes and his Faith in God. Just check out "Godless Run", one of my favorite songs on the album. And in typical W.A.S.P. manner, it is all fire and brimstone. Mind you, this is not your typical judgmental, turn-or-burn white metal lyrics. Rather Blackie has chosen to write about the Book of Revelations, and the Apocalypse. So fire, is in every sense an underlying concept throughout the CD. And fitting in with that concept, and a long tradition of doing cover songs, W.A.S.P. has this time tackled Deep Purple's classic, "Burn".

Not every song here is about Biblical stuff though, and the album opens with "Crazy", a song about the dangers of idol worshipping. And ending it is another cover song, namely Chuck Berry's "Promised Land". This tune, while being a good one on it's own terms, sticks out as a sore thumb on the CD. Besides having 2 cover songs to fill a CD with only 9 songs, reeks of hasty work. But other than that, I find 'Babylon' to be the W.A.S.P. album I've been hoping for since 'The Headless Children'.




GREAT job, Keith!

Nice job man. You write real purty.