W.A.S.P. – K.F.D. – Review

W.A.S.P.

K.F.D. (Castle)
by Chaz Thorndike

Why do larger-than-life shock-rockers like Mötley Crüe and W.A.S.P. get discredited while the new breed of cross-dressing schticksters (I refer to Marilyn Manson mostly ’cause no one else is even doing it as poorly as them) are considered controversial glam guys, gracing glossy covers and getting pre-pubescent girls all gooey? Sure, Crüe, W.A.S.P., and Alice Cooper became self-parodies in the late ’80s (Theater of Pain, Inside the Electric Circus, and Hey Stoopid are going to follow you to your graves, guys), but just how different is MM’s strap-on from Blackie’s buzzsaw over a decade after “F**k Like A Beast” (a song that beat prog boy Reznor to the punch, thus opening doors and pushing back the PMRC so classic rock radio could play an “intense” song like “Closer” in the first place)? And furthermore, which do you think is really going to make a person “feel you on the inside,” a whispering, mid-tempo pop hit by a recluse who poses for Details in a bathrobe petting a dog, or a roaring metal bootleg where everything is cranked to 11 and the singer, Lawless by name, wears a buzzsaw cod piece and more metal trinketry/ ammunition than Rambo and the Road Warrior combined?

Honestly, K.F.D. is not an especially great record. Hell, I’ll take the self-titled and The Last Command over it any day, but who wouldn’t? Songs like “I Wanna Be Somebody,” “The Flame,” and “Hellion” were uplifting spirituals sung to the metal godz, while “Wild Child,” “Ballcrusher,” and “Sex Drive” were rebel anthems whose lyrics were painstakingly etched onto brown paper bag-covered textbooks across the country. While it’s doubtful K.F.D. has the lyrics to summarize the jean jacket experience as they once did, W.A.S.P. now rolls toms throughout the songs, giving shock metal a bit of that tribal feel these crazy kids seem to dig so much. And while Blackie’s voice is almost inhuman to begin with, there are hints of effects that’d perk the ears of fans of KMFDM or Trent’s Tantrums®. I can tell you original guitarist Chris Holmes is back in the band, and that may account for a certain amount of W.A.S.P.’s return to metal ferocity, while Blackie’s constant evolutionary yearning is to credit for the production over-the-topness.