W.A.S.P. – Babylon (reissue 2015)
Alongside W.A.S.P. very good new album ‘Golgotha’ (already presented as advance here), their German label has reissued the band’s 2 previous albums in a very nice coloured vinyl LP format.
The vigorous effort “Babylon” is one of them.
The LP starts with the massive rocking opener ‘Crazy’. This is one of those metal anthems which just force you to sing along and appreciate the full energy the genre has to offer. Blackie Lawless is, as usual, the star of the overall sound, providing his profound and powerful vocal delivery as well as the impressive guitar work, along with Doug Blair.
As the album progresses, you’ll find variation, but it’s almost devoid of any of the extremely epic and emotional ballads the created in the past. The W.A.S.P. slow atmosphere, however, it’s present on ‘Godless Run’.
The band is in full force, and several other highlights, such as ‘Babylon’s Burning’, remind with incredible accuracy of the band’s rich heritage, reminiscent of the band’s earliest days and, at some levels, even takes it further than ever before.
“Into The Fire”, a part-midtempo / part-rocker, will no doubt be air guitared to in time with it’s strong Foreigner Juke Box Hero feel and ’80s glory riffs.
Finally, as Blackie is prone to do, he has included a couple of covers. Having done justice to songs from the likes of The Who, Elton John, and Uriah Heep, the trend continues with the band’s sizzling rendition of Deep Purple’s ‘Burn’, which is a terrific cover but feels a bit out of place here style-wise.
Closing Chuck Berry number ‘Promised Land’ is given Blackie’s Elvis treatment. Also not stylistically accord to the main album material, but it’s damn fun and rocks like a son of a bitch.
If you are a W.A.S.P. fan, “Babylon” has all the trademarks that you are looking for. The raspy and unique voice of Blackie Lawless, to the killer guitar leads of Doug Blair to the overall catchiness of most songs; they all make a mark on the record.
There’s a little concept on “Babylon” based on the apocalyptic four horsemen, yet basically this is collection of entertaining ‘songs’, pretty energetic and smokin’.
01 – Crazy
02 – Live To Die Another Day
03 – Babylon’s Burning
04 – Burn
05 – Into The Fire
06 – Thunder Red
07 – Seas Of Fire
08 – Godless Run
09 – Promised Land
Blackie Lawless – vocals, rhythm & lead guitars, keyboards
Doug Blair – lead & rhythm guitars
Mike Duda – bass, vocals
Mike Dupke – drums
BUY IT !
shop.napalmrecords.com/w-a-s-p-babylon-red-vinyl-gatefold.html
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