W.A.S.P. - New Album

W.A.S.P. - New Album Title, Artwork And Tracklisting Unveiled



On October 12th, W.A.S.P. will release their new album, Babylon. The cover art is pictured at left (click to enlarge).

Babylon is themed around biblical visions of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.

The tracklisting is as follows:
'Crazy'
'Live To Die Another Day'
'Babylon's Burning'
'Burn'
'Into The Fire'
'Thunder Red'
'Seas Of Fire'
'Godless Run'
'Promised Land'

W.A.S.P. will be touring extensively throughout Europe this autumn/winter to bring their sonic massacre to the masses. Confirmed dates are available at the band's MySpace page.

W.A.S.P.'s current lineup consists of Blackie Lawless - vocals/guitar, Doug Blair - guitar, Mike Duda - bass, Mike Dupke - drums.

Doug Blair

W.A.S.P. - 'Crazy' Single Available For Download From September 28th


Hot Flashes




Global Music have announced the release of ‘Crazy’, the first single from the new W.A.S.P album, Babylon. The single will be available for download from September 28th.

Frontman Blackie Lawless commented on the track: "Although like it may sound like a man talking to a woman, 'Crazy' is about a performer talking to an audience; the dangers of idol worship and elevating musicians and politicians to a level that's dangerous!"

Amazon UK is sampling each of the nine songs that appear on the new W.A.S.P. album, Babylon, at this location.

On October 12th (UK, Europe), and October 16th (Germany), W.A.S.P. will release Babylon. The album is themed around biblical visions of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. The tracklisting is as follows:

'Crazy'
'Live To Die Another Day'
'Babylon's Burning'
'Burn'
'Into The Fire'
'Thunder Red'
'Seas Of Fire'
'Godless Run'
'Promised Land'

W.A.S.P. will be touring extensively throughout Europe this autumn/winter. Confirmed dates are available at the band's MySpace page.

W.A.S.P. – Blackie Riding With The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse



By Robert Deutsch

Deep into a storied career spanning the early days of L.A.’s metal scene, battles with the PMRC (that’s probably bound to happen with a song called ‘Fuck Like A Beast’), and the misnomer of continuing on since then drenched in blood and gawdy imagery, it’s been a long ride to reach the current incarnation of W.A.S.P. Over a quarter century deep, the band is still going strong and recently released Babylon, a sorta-kinda biblically-inspired collection of songs very much in the W.A.S.P. style metalheads young and old know and love.

Led by one of metal’s most modest, honest, and strikingly intelligent front men, all early debauchery and controversy can be cast aside, because there’s no doubting the W.A.S.P. machine is a well-oiled one, churning out quality traditional metal like it’s no big deal at this point in leader Blackie Lawless' career.

The once controversial Los Angeles band has released a series of artistically-viable LPs since the early 90s with release of the now-classic The Crimson Idol and, more recently, the one-two punch of 2004’s The Neon God: Part 1 and Part 2. Every time there’s a new album from W.A.S.P., listeners can be assured Lawless, a true face of the metal legends, won’t only whip up something catchy as Hell, but he’ll also embark on the journey with an equally bright backing band… and he’ll tell you exactly what’s on his mind, too, whether you like it or not.

In this case, it’s Babylon, the band’s 14th effort and the jumping point for a year-long world tour. The European leg is done, North American dates have been announced for February and March of this year, and W.A.S.P. has already been confirmed as one of the main attractions for Wacken: Open Air 2010 - and much of the rest of the European festival circuit. If that’s not enough, Babylon is pretty damn good, too.

Ever the journeyman, and quite the gentleman, Lawless took time near the end of a marathon press day to talk with BraveWords.com from everything from the old W.A.S.P., the new W.A.S.P., and even a little politics. Heck, the man even called up five minutes early, apologizing, and asking if that was all right. Talk about the consummate professional.

First up: great album with Babylon. It’s always fun when a new W.A.S.P. album comes out, but I know you must be blue in the face about this. There’s not a theme for the record this time around, right? I read something about the four horsemen thing, but then I read about something about it being a loose critique on the world, right?
“Kinda, sorta. Basically it’s about the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse and each one of them is a different color: one is the pale rider, one’s color is red, one black, and white – each rider corresponded to a color. One song, ‘Babylon’s Burning’, is about the Pale Rider, one song (‘Into The Fire’) was about the Red Rider. I finished those up and thought about it and, pardon the pun, but about all we could say was that we’re gonna be beating a dead horse if we made a whole album about it.”

Was that a conscious idea to change the angle of it from concept like The Crimson Idol or the Neon God albums to a more-song based record while you were writing, then, or was it just a natural evolution?
“No I don’t think so. Especially after those last couple – The Neon God. One thing I learned was to try not to over-complicate stuff, quite frankly. We finished The Neon God records and those were so long, such a painful bloodbath, that I said, ‘I don’t care – we’re not doing that again. It’s too big a price to pay.’ As much as I love those albums and how good they might have come out, I just wanted us to be as relaxed as we can. Then, I can just approach this album, start writing, and what happens, happens. We’ll take whatever happens. You know those Chinese Thumb Cuffs things? It was sorta like that – just go with it nice and smooth, take your time, and then look what you get [laughs].”

Specifically: ‘Babylon’s Burning’ – that been kicking around as an inspiration from lyrics on The Headless Children, right? Or was that just something that popped up as a tie in for the artwork and a throwback to something you were talking about back in ‘89?
“I think it was more an afterthought. The beginnings of this record all started at end of [George W.] Bush’s presidency. You know, the whole global financial crisis, and everything was sliding downward. A bunch of the EU [European Union] leaders were meeting in Brussels, and one of them was saying, ‘Listen – the world’s coming to an end. We screwed it all up. Let’s just make a one world government.’ Then another guy would come up and say, ‘Well if we’re gonna have a one world government, we might as well have one currency for the one government world to go with it.’ And then this third guy has this idea – and this is the one that really got me – he’s just saying, ‘Well if we have a one world government, we should microchip everyone in the EU.’ He’s saying that by 2017, we could have the technology to do that, so we should.’”




[Laughs] Yeah, that’s what I heard was one of the inspirations. I wanted to ask you about that.
“Yeah, we should do it because we can? No.”

But as an artist, do you feel some responsibility to bring this to peoples’ attention – like maybe somebody over here in the States or here that doesn’t have a chance to hear that they’re really wanting to do this? Do you feel like it’s your job to tell people how bizarre that is?
“Yeah, for sure. [Pause] Well, let’s just put it this way: I have very average tastes. I watch the same movies, listen to the same music, eat the same food as everyone else. I’m really not that eclectic at all, but if I see something that moves me… when you say in 2017, we’ll have the ability to microchip people, and that we should? I’m going to guess whatever motivating me [against that] will motivate someone else too if I’m pretty average. So, yeah. If I can say something, I will.”

Now you’re back in the States after the European tour for Babylon. But I saw you guys are playing Wacken, Sweden Rock, the summer festival tour stuff is already popping up for this summer. How does all that measure up with you guys for comparing it to expectations for the US dates you just announced for February and March? Will there be different live shows and stage setup?
“Well, it’s bigger over there. But it’s strange because, I’ve noticed over last five years or so, audiences were different. Audiences are getting younger over there. You go over and it’s like a lot of 16 - 20 year olds… Like they rolled a whole generation over, like they got whole new audience [into the music]. American audiences have gotten old, and because of the media, they literally don’t farm out a new generation for music. The mass media just continued to cling to tired formats. On the radio, it’s the same 50 songs on FM stations, and in America the radio stations are crying about how they lost the audience. Well, duh - you didn’t do anything to farm any new audiences 15 years ago. You didn’t fertilize the ground, and now you have a barren crop, so in some ways bands laughing at them for that. They rolled their cards and they didn’t want to know about it then, so there’s little sympathy throughout the rest of the world. It’s not just that scenario; they have pretty healthy summertime over there in Europe. It’s festival after festival after festival. It’s like playing a stadium every time.”

Yeah, exactly. We’re jealous over here. But you guys started in the days of the heyday of the L.A. music scene - MÖTLEY CRÜE and all that debauchery ripping it up around town. Is there any sense of nostalgia for that kind of a community nowadays? I haven’t been to the Troubadour [the West Hollywood club that helped launch Los Angeles live debuts for METALLICA, WARRANT, and the CLASSIC GUNS ‘N ROSES line-up, among others] for a metal show in a few years. They still have your picture up on the wall, though – that’s reassuring.

[Laughs] “Well that’s good.”

But it seems like it’s a different beast now. I guess, are there cities for you guys nowadays in this climate where you can always know it’s gonna be a great show for you?
“Well, that’s a two part question, really. Two things: Yes, because the reason all artists are going to have areas where it’s always strong; it’s the same reason one artist can play next door and not have a strong following in California, but the band plays somewhere in Arizona and it’s like they’re BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. Nobody knows why that is. Really, why is David Hasselhoff huge in Europe and he’s a laughing stock here? You always find pockets where it can be really strong, and then 100 miles down the road you can’t get arrested. Just how it works.”

Speaking of live, you’ve called the old live show abstract art and you said it spoke so loudly in another interview. Does it bug you, then, that maybe some people might still come out to a W.A.S.P. show and expect something like that nowadays? I mean, especially the newer output in the past few years, it’s so musical, and there’s meaning behind the lyrics, and that’s what always ropes me in. Do you ever run into disappointed people that it’s more about that now than about the shock factor?
“Well, I think the ones that are willing to actually take the time to see a show nowadays have a pretty good idea what to expect, so that they don’t show up accidentally and say, ‘Well what the hell is this?’ Also, you have to remember that for us, this isn’t really anything new. Really, the line in the sand was The Headless Children [in 1989]. From where we started to that point is like one thing and from then on to what we’re doing now is something different.”

Yeah, exactly. Like a different beast.
“Here’s the cool thing from an artist’s point of view, though: Dealing with a 20 year old, like we were talking about, they don’t come from the point of view of having a bias from an original fan. I used to refer to them as ‘the first album people’ and ‘The Crimson Idol People’, and believe me – when that came out that didn’t work [Chuckles]. There was almost an invisible line at the shows - half on one side, half on the other. It made for a bizarre atmosphere. It just doesn’t exist where they didn’t have preconceived notions when a record came out. The new people, they weren’t there so they see it as one complete piece of work. From an artist’s perspective, asking, ‘What’s your favourite record’… What’s my favourite? That’s like if you count all your work as big book, and asking what your favourite chapter is in a book. It’s really more like one piece of work. When someone really likes something and they weren’t there for the early days or something, to them it’s just one big piece of work instead. There’s no direction of bias. From an artist’s point of view, that’s like having cake and eating it too.”

[Laughing] That’s a great way to put it!
“Yeah, it’s just expecting it for what it is. You’re not coming from a point of view or an opinion, not like fan of five years clinging tightly to that one record and expecting just that again. They’re just listening unbiased. When a record becomes really dear to someone, they don’t want to give it up. When people identify a song or record as something important, as their own emotional fabric, you can’t add to that without forgetting about not replacing it. I ain’t gonna do that. So we do as much as we can to allow them to become part of it. You got to leave room to add on too.”




Can we talk about the Babylon’s Burning video? It seems like that’s kind of like what you guys did on the Crimson Idol Anniversary Tour. Can we expect something like that for these new dates? Like with more of the footage behind you guys while you play?
“Yeah – we will use a big movie screen behind us. And what it will be, actually, is that you’ll see all the new promo videos, well and some new ones too. What you will have is us playing along with the songs, and me singing along with it, but live along to the video in synch. Like singing in time with what’s going on. [Laughs] It was really bizarre to see it [over in Europe this past fall] to watch the crowd look at the movies, then watch band, then watch the movies and back to the band and see them kind of go, ‘Huh?’ It turns them kinda into the RCA dog with his head cocked to the side. [Laughs] Like, ‘How are they doing this?’ But it gives a really cool 3-D effect to have us playing live along with all the clips.

That is awesome. What else can we expect on these US dates? How can you guys pick from so many songs in the back catalog? Doesn’t it always sort of end up with somebody saying ‘Oh – you didn’t play this song or that song!’?
“Yeah, we have to be careful because I think the natural tendency is to play a lot of stuff that’s new. No matter how good it is, inevitably, you’re gonna be viewed as self-indulgent. The fan base that goes back a really long way, I mean they had all those years to romance the songs in their heads, for them to mean something to them. If we don’t do fair job to them, that’s not gonna be cool. Actually, to figure out this set, what we did is we took everything we’ve done film to, sat down, and said, ‘OK, how’s this gonna work?’ So we started editing it backwards to figure out what to take out. So through a process of elimination, we ended up where we are at with this set. It’s not that some stuff wasn’t good or anything, it’s just that maybe they were not the right for the flow of live set: how does it flow, does it move the way you want it to? You know? With the best laid of plans of mice and men, you know? Sometimes we get there and it falls on its face. Then, occasionally, we might think that it’s not that good, but then it ends up being something killer. I guess we don’t really know until do it.”

You guys have always kind of done the cover songs here and there, too. The DEEP PURPLE cover [‘Burn’ from the 1974 album of the same name] was for another album, originally, right? That song is great and it really fits in with the rest of the vibe. Even ‘Promised Land’ sort of fits even though W.A.S.P. is way closer to Deep Purple than maybe CHUCK BERRY. I mean it almost doesn’t sound like Chuck Berry and seems like it fits.
“Well, with that, we hadn’t been in studio for a while, and playing live and in the studio is two different universes. We wanted to do that for Dominator [the 2007 release], but we used it here. So, we usually start out looking for a way to ease back into it. Maybe like putting on training wheels or something, you know? To slide back into the feel of the studio. But, I always loved that song too [‘Promised Land’], and we recorded it this time to get our feet wet. It was the first song that we recorded, but didn’t think it would ever show up on record, so we treated it basically like a warm-up thing and were ready to move on. Then, we got to end of record and I started thinking, ‘Wow this is cool.’ It’s kind of at a dark place at the end [of Babylon], and ‘How cool would it be if we gave a little glimmer of hope there?’ I’d like to say it was all part of a master plan and smartly enough, that’s what I was planning, and it was gift. [Laughs] But it just kind of panned out.”

W.A.S.P. Babylon's Burning - The Official New Video

W.A.S.P. To Release 'Crazy' Video


W.A.S.P. have issued the following update:

"Coming soon - 'Crazy', the second promo video from 2009's hit album Babylon, which reached #15 in the UK Rock Charts and also highly throughout the rest of Europe! The band are currently recording the new clip for completion before the start of the US tour!"

Further updates to follow.

As previously reported, William Alexander at Metal Exiles recently caught up with W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Metal Exiles: You seem to have tremendous success of having a “midas touch” with cover song selections and making them your own with previous W.A.S.P. records. How did the DEEP PURPLE classic 'Burn' find itself on this record and incorporation into the meaning behind (new album) Babylon?

Lawless: "Thanks man, we thought it turned out pretty good. It was kind of funny the way it happened, it was almost an afterthought. We had played around with that song a little bit when we were doing Dominator, but there was no room for it so we didn’t really pursue it seriously. When it came time to do this record we got to the actual mastering phase of the record and for people who don’t know what that is, it is basically your last chance gas station for sonic repair, before the record goes to the public. We got to mastering and I had all of the song titles in front of me and I’m listening to what is going on, because we’re starting to assemble the parts. For the first time I looked at all the song titles put together because prior to that when we were working on the record I wasn’t looking at the record as a whole, I was looking at the individual tracks. When I was looking at all the song titles put together I thought man there’s a lot of fire on this record. Then it made me start thinking about the burn thing, so we went back and polished it off real quick and put it on the record and I think it works well on the record."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

W.A.S.P. live in Oulu, Finland 2009

W.A.S.P. Cancel Upcoming Shows In Mexico, Chile, Colombia And Peru






Word has come down that W.A.S.P. have cancelled their planned shows for Mexico (Monterrey and Mexico City), Chile, Colombia and Peru. Go to this location for details, such as they are. The band has not issued a reason for the cancellations as yet. We'll keep you posted.

The Ibex Rock Bar in Monterry has since issued the following statement:

"The gig agreed for this Friday, April 2nd in our bar is canceled for BREACH OF CONTRACT by the band W.A.S.P. The organizers of the event and the Ibex, had made a great investment for give them, a better scenario, a sound of better quality, professional lighting and other improvements and adjustments that were made for this event.

In addition to complying 100% with the contract, having paid timely, the band, flights, catering, sound and all expenses that an event of this magnitude requires. Although everything was agreed for the presentation in Monterrey, the band W.A.S.P. and his manager did not boarded its flights yesterday that were already paid, in Los Angeles,CA US which came directly to Monterrey for their first gig of 2 in Mexico, without disclosing the reason to the organizers of the event. From the moment that the organizers realized that they had not boarded the plane, tried to communicate through different media without an answer so far.

Due to the high pre-sale tickets that had been already sold, the Ibex was willing to forget this, trying to get today April 2, new flights because many were affected by this act of irresponsibility on the part of the band and its manager.

By the Ibex we apologize for this situation that is not in our hands, making known to you that the Ibex has acted with professionalism, planning an event in which it was intended to work with the best quality to stay in your preference and we make of your knowledge that it will take legal measures to ensure that the fraud committed by the W.A.S.P. group be sanctioned by the competent authorities and thereby contribute to such acts do not continue in our city that we are already tired of bands that think they can be above us.
We will act according to the law, taking account all the relevant legal measures to make pay for this irresponsible act and breach of contract by W.A.S.P.

In the near future it will disseminate the information in the days and times in which will be paid reimbursement the money of his ticket."

Assuming W.A.S.P. go ahead with the planned shows in Argentina and Brazil their schedule is now as follows:

April
8 - El Teatro Colegiales - Buenos Aires, Argentina
9 - Moinho - Curitiba, Brazil
10 - Santana Hall - Sao Paulo, Brazil
11 - Auditoria Adida - Medelln, Colmbia

As previously reported, Mexico's Search & Destroy has issued an audio interview with W.A.S.P. leader Blackie Lawless. Check it out at this location.

W.A.S.P. Brings The Return Of Babylon Tour To Stockholm Rock Out Festival










Stockholm Rock Out Festival organizers report:

We can proudly announce that W.A.S.P. will bring their The Return Of Babylon Tour 2010 to Stockholm Rock Out Part 3 on October 16th. Confirmed bands: W.A.S.P., KIX, STEELHEART, DIZZY REED, BADMOUTH.

The 1-day festival will be held at Gamla Tryckeriet in Alvik, Sweden. Enjoy the video for 'Babylons Burning' from the band's latest release, Babylon. This is the first official video in 15 years!"

Further festival details can be found at this location.