Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon of The Metal Voice recently spoke to Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. in a multi part series interview.
Photo by Perrin Wolfson
In part 2 Blackie discusses the passing of former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley, the PMRC hearings and free speech plus gives an update on the progress of new W.A.S.P. album and a whole lot more'
Watch Part 2 here
When asked about the passing of former W.A.S.P. Drummer Steve Riley
"I wrote a thing for him, the day that it happened because that came as a big shock to all of us because none of us saw that coming. When something like that is so sudden, it catches you flat-footed, there's no other way to describe it. I lost my dad four years ago this month and in an 18 month period I lost 11 people and not one of them to COVID. It was just you know one thing after another and 11 people in that short period of time. I start thinking to myself what's going on here? I mean this is a wave that personally I'd never seen before. And to be honest to write eulogies over and over again it gets it's draining because one of the conclusions I came to and I don't mean for this to sound insensitive but death sucks. There's no other way to describe it. I learned and as a writer there's no words that we have that we can say that we can assemble together to make sense out of those losses. It's like love, they say love is the most beautiful of all frustrations because there's no words to describe what it really is. Death is the same way, there are no words that we can assemble or group together that really is going to change what it is but what do you say to someone to comfort them. So like I said in Steve's case that that caught us all flat-footed, we did not see that coming. I wrote that in that eulogy (Official Statement on social media). One of the things that I said in there is that those songs that he played on Wild Child, Blind in Texas, I Don't Need No Doctor, those songs cemented our Legacy (W.A.S.P.) and he's a big part of that."
When asked if it was a mistake having just him on the album covers, from album two to three
"No because that was a conscious decision. What happened Tony Richards (Drummer), was forcibly removed from the band and I don't really like to use those terms but it was against all of our will. I mean Tony had an alleged drug problem that EMI felt very strongly about. We signed the largest deal in history for any previously unsigned band, it was for $2.5 million we won the lottery overnight. But they had such a huge investment in us they were nervous. They (label) did not feel comfortable and they literally forced our hand to remove him and replace him and that's where Steve Riley came in. But the problem with us was and Chris (Holmes) and I fought it tooth and nail because we understood how valuable Tony was to us. When Tony was there, we were a real band and we promoted ourselves as such but when Tony was gone we felt like we were mortally wounded and we were no longer the band that we once were. So as a band we made a decision to put me on the next two covers but even that didn't feel right and if you've noticed ever since the band has never been on the cover from that time forward. "
When asked to give an update on the new W.A.S.P. Album
"There are a number of subjects that I am looking at right now that are knocking on the door of what we are talking about. We're pretty far into it right now but when this thing happened (Back Issues) on the tour and I blew a gasket, then all that got put on the back burner. But we're pretty far into the writing process right now and we're excited about it. It just looks like we won't be able to get back to it until after the new year. Nobody makes money making records anymore, so if you're going to make (New) records now you're doing it because of your legacy. And if you're going to do that then you really have to make sure that it's as strong as it can be because it's always going to be measured against what you did to begin with. All bands make their bones the first five years they're together, the first five or six records they make their whole Legacy. Their Legacy is cemented there. It doesn't mean you can't make good records later on down the line but everything's going to be constantly compared to that early stuff. So for it to get an honest review or a fair shake so to speak that new record has to maybe be even better than the original stuff because people have had so many years to romance those older songs in their heads."
Watch Part 1 here
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W.A.S.P. announce 'The 7 Savage: 1984-1992' deluxe 8LP boxset from their 'Capitol Years', with studio album half-speed mastering, LP of bonus tracks, 60 page book, posters and numbered certificate. The 7 Savage: 1984-1992 will be released Friday 27th October 2023 on Madfish and is strictly limited to 2000 copies worldwide.
To order the box set: https://madfish.lnk.to/WASP_The_7_Savage
Currently on break from the 40 Years Live World Tour and sounding better than ever, W.A.S.P. is one of the most consistent and reliable forces in rock music - unstoppable and unassailable, like a heavy metal juggernaut sent back in time from along- distant galaxy. Frontman Blackie Lawless is undoubtedly one of rock’s everlasting figures – someone’s whose attitude and vision changed the musical landscape around him, in the process bearing fruit to some of the biggest anthems of their time.
W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless comments, "It’s great to see this collection of records be re-released with this detail. For the original recordings to have a new light shown on them with expanded notes and additional photography is special for me, and will be for all those that hold these albums in a special place in their hearts and times in their lives."
Their first five studio albums (W.A.S.P., The Last Command, Inside the Electric Circus, The Headless Children & The Crimson Idol) contributed enough on their own for W.A.S.P. to be considered one of the greatest rock bands of all-time. Those LPs are all presented in this set, mastered half-speed at Air Studios, London for a superior, sharper, more direct and engaging sound.
Packaged within a deluxe red leatherette effect double slipcase, 'The 7 Savage: 1984-1992' is completed on vinyl with two more LPs: 1987’s Live… in the Raw and new compilation Bonus Tracks & B-Sides featuring the controversial breakthrough anthem ‘Animal (F**k Like a Beast)’.
Compiled with the full cooperation of Blackie Lawless, the box set also includes a 60-page book with exclusive and rare pictures from legendary metal photographers (including Ross Halfin, Tony Mottram, David Plastik and Paul Natkin), along with extensive liner notes from Amit Sharma (Kerrang!, Planet Rock). Also included is an exclusive Blackie Lawless poster, plus an individually numbered circular saw shaped certificate.
DISC 1 - W.A.S.P. (Half-speed Master
A.1. I Wanna Be Somebody [03:44]
A.2. L.O.V.E. Machine [03:52]
A.3. The Flame [03:42]A.4. B.A.D. [03:57]
A.5. School Daze [03:35]
B.1. Hellion [03:39]
B.2. Sleeping (In The Fire) [03:56]
B.3. On Your Knees [03:49]
B.4. Tormentor [04:11]
B.5. The Torture Never Stops [03:56]
DISC 2 The Last Command (Half-speed Master)
A.1. Wild Child [05:12]
A.2. Ballcrusher [03:28]
A.3. Fistful Of Diamonds [04:14]
A.4. Jack Action [04:17]
A.5. Widowmaker [05:18]
B.1. Blind In Texas [04:21]
B.2. Cries In The Night [03:42]
B.3. The Last Command [04:11]
B.4. Running Wild In The Streets [03:30]
B.5. Sex Drive [03:12]
DISC 3 Inside the Electric Circus (Half-speed Master)
A.1. The Big Welcome [01:22]
A.2. Inside The Electric Circus [03:33]
A.3. I Don`t Need No Doctor [03:26]A.4. 9.5. - N.A.S.T.Y. [04:48]
A.5. Restless Gypsy [04:59]A.6. Shoot From The Hip [04:38]
B.1. I`m Alive [04:22]
B.2. Easy Living [03:12]
B.3. Sweet Cheetah [05:16]
B.4. Mantronic [04:10]
B.5. King Of Sodom And Gomorrah [03:50]
B.6. The Rock Rolls On [03:52]
DISC 4 The Headless Children (Half-speed Master)
A.1. The Heretic (The Lost Child) [07:23]
A.2. The Real Me [03:20]
A.3. The Headless Children [05:46]
A.4. Thunderhead [06:50]
B.1. Mean Man [04:48]
B.2. The Neutron Bomber [04:10]
B.3. Mephisto Waltz [01:28]
B.4. Forever Free [05:09]
B.5. Maneater [04:47]
B.6. Rebel In The F.D.G. [05:08]
DISC 5 The Crimson Idol (Half-speed Master)
A.1. The Titanic Overture [03:31]
A.2. The Invisible Boy [05:13]
A.3. Arena Of Pleasure [04:15]
A.4. Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue) [08:43]
B.1. The Gypsy Meets The Boy [04:15]
B.2. Doctor Rockter [03:54]
B.3. I Am One [05:24]
DISC 6 The Crimson Idol (Half-speed Master)
C.1. The Idol [08:40]
C.2. Hold On To My Heart [04:22]
C.3. The Great Misconceptions Of Me [09:44]
D.1. The Story Of Jonathan (Prologue To The Crimson Idol)[16:35]
D.2. Phantoms In The Mirror [04:36]
D.3. The Eulogy [04:16]
DISC 7 Live... in the Raw
A.1. Inside The Electric Circus (live) [04:31]
A.2. I Don`t Need No Doctor (live) [03:40]
A.3. L.O.V.E. Machine (live) [04:27]
A.4. Wild Child (live) [06:02]
A.5. 9.5. - N.A.S.T.Y. (live) [05:11]
A.6. Sleeping (In The Fire) (live) [05:27]
B.1. The Manimal (live) [04:44]
B.2. I Wanna Be Somebody (live) [06:43]
B.3. Harder Faster (live) [07:19]
B.4. Blind In Texas (live) [05:41]
B.5. Scream Until You Like It (Theme from Ghoulies II) [03:25]
DISC 8 Bonus Tracks & B-sides
A.1. Animal (F**k Like A Beast) [03:07]
A.2. Show No Mercy [03:48]
A.3. Paint It Black [03:28]
A.4. Savage [03:33]
A.5. Mississippi Queen [03:22]
A.6. Flesh And Fire [04:38]
A.7. D.B. Blues [03:25]
B.1. Locomotive Breath [03:00]
B.2. For Whom The Bell Tolls [03:48]
B.3. Lake Of Fools [05:33]
B.4. War Cry [05:33]
B.5. When The Levee Breaks [07:06]
To order the box set: https://madfish.lnk.to/WASP_The_7_Savage
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