W.A.S.P. Bonus and B-sides Review

We’re a few weeks outside of the release of the W.A.S.P. 7 Savage CD box set and Madfish/W.A.S.P. has decided to bless hardcore fans with a digital release of the Bonus and B-Sides disc that was also included in the set. This release is up for streaming on all the typical streaming platforms, but it’s also available for purchase digitally. Which is a bit uncommon, releasing an album like this is unheard of – most bands/labels would rather push the fanbase to purchase the entire set just to land an album like this. W.A.S.P. fans have always been a different breed, so it’s nice to see us getting some special treatment, it’s well deserved!
 
If you follow me at all, you’ll know that I am a self-professed W.A.S.P. junkie and have been since 1984. I own hundreds of their records, CDs, DVDs, posters, tour books and various other forms of memorabilia. I’m constantly on the hunt for bootlegs of live shows in any format no matter the quality. The only thing that I haven’t done is meet the guys in the band past or present. I’m not a meet and greet kind of guy specifically at the price point of the current W.A.S.P. meet and greets. There’s nothing wrong with it and I support anyone else partaking, but it’s just not for me. They say “don’t meet your heroes” so this is one time I’m kind of sticking that logic and thought process. I’ve also seen the band live on SEVERAL occasions every time they’ve rolled through my area, I make it my sole mission to be up in front for the show, it’s serious business when W.A.S.P. rolls into town. So, yes, I was able to see the recent tour/show where the band performed the entire first album and it was as good as I’d thought it would be. The band is currently readying themselves from European tour, don’t cheat yourself and miss it!
 
Back to the Bonus and B-sides release, the album doesn’t necessarily offer anything new for hardcore fans like me aside from another W.A.S.P. piece to put on the shelves. However, there are some fans who haven’t gone out of their way to purchase import singles, extended CD reissues and things of that nature. In essence, this release is for that group of people. I’m a B-sides fan, no matter who the artist may be, I’ve always felt that B-side tunes featured some of the artists’ best work and W.A.S.P. is a perfect example of this thought process. “Show No Mercy” is the B-side to “Animal Fuck Like a Beast”. Sure “Animal” is one of the coolest songs ever, but “Show No Mercy” is an absolute ripper of a tune, I’m still mortified that someone in the band’s camp didn’t think it was important enough to release on the self-titled album and just slapped it on the B-side of “Animal”. It was a big mistake in my opinion, this track could’ve been as important as “Hellion”. It still is to me, but it’s not common outside of the W.A.S.P. faithful. The same can be said of the track “Savage” which was a B-side for the single “Blind in Texas”. Most fans would disagree, but “Savage” fit “The Last Command” album a bit better than “Blind in Texas” to me. Maybe Blackie thought the track was too similar and wanted to break up the monotony of the album and add a bit more “Fun” . The tune “Flesh and Fire” should’ve been released on the “Inside the Electric Circus” album too as opposed to being hidden on the import 12” of “9.5. Nasty”. It took me a few years to get that one, I didn’t get it until around the release of “Crimson Idol”. I’m so glad the internet is a thing now! The younger W.A.S.P. fan in me searched high and low for the songs represented on this album, it was fun but it was exhausting considering that the U.S.A. always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to singles/B-sides.
 
As we get past the first 3 W.A.S.P. releases we start to get into the era of the band where significant members left, so the sound/lyrics and style of the band shifted/changed. “The Headless Children” was a drastic change, but they were still my favorite band, so I whored myself silly and drank it all in like there wasn’t a tomorrow. However, I must say that leaving “Lake of Fools” off “Headless” was a big miss, this track is epic, and it had SINGLE written all over it, the chorus is HUGE, and the lyrics are so well written. Chris Holmes’ guitar playing on this album was fantastic – supposedly, he was somewhat sober around this time having married Lita Ford, so he was really into it. As Holmes’s time in the band drew to a close his playing seemed to get even better, as if he had something more to prove, which to me, he didn’t – he’ll forever be my favorite guitarist, his tone is incredible/unmistakable and you can look near and far and you won’t find a better player that fit the sound of W.A.S.P. The same can be said of Randy Piper, his playing on the first two albums is amazing! The track “War Cry” from the “Headless” era is also represented here, this one was a good choice for a B-side, while it’s a great song, the chorus does seem to get a bit jumbled up, it doesn’t stand up as well as the verse, it almost seems to lose focus. This isn’t the case for the Crimson Idol era of B-sides “Phantom in the Mirror” and “The Eulogy”. These 2 tracks should’ve also seen the light of day with release of the “Crimson Idol”, they play a vital role in the telling of the story. Depending on who you ask, a lot of fans prefer this album over any of them, I’m somewhere in between on that thought – the first era of W.A.S.P. will always be my favorite, but this era deserves a great deal of credit. “Crimson” was Lawless at the peak of his song writing skills and by that time he was the only one left, so the bulk of the album if not all of it was his alone and that can’t be overlooked or discredited. I’m aware that there are concept albums galore from various bands, but none of them can hold a candle to the Crimson Idol. It’s a tale of love, loss, brotherhood, family trauma and the rise and fall. I relate to it in so many ways that at times it’s painful to listen to then there are other times where it strengthens me. It’s a must listen, if you’re a fan of the band and Heavy Metal in general. I’ve skimped on talking about the covers on this album on purpose, those are for you to seek out, but I will say this, you absolutely shouldn’t miss “Locomotive Breath”. Of all the covers the band has performed, this one is definitively the best of the bunch!
 
W.A.S.P. Bonus and B-sides is an album that all fans should be dying to snatch unless you have all the singles, imports, special editions and so on like I do, then again, it’s still something to have. Once being able to burn CDS became a thing, I made several compilations that featured these songs and various other live performances so I could take them along with me on car rides or I could skip digging through the singles for a listen. As a vinyl fan, it’s also nice that this album was featured on the vinyl box set too. Being a W.A.S.P. fan is something that I’ve always cherished and no matter what’s said about the band or how they’ve been perceived through the years, I’m damned proud to have been on the front lines since day one. Next to the Stones, there’s not a better band in the world and there never will be. Every member from the original era are heroes to me. You get the picture, I can talk W.A.S.P. all day… Grab the digital release of this album if you haven’t gotten the CD/Vinyl set, it's a MUST HAVE!

~Black Angel