W.A.S.P. The Neon God Part 2 The Demise
Review by Noel Barton
The Demise is an incredibly tricky album to review. Its not your every day release. Its part 2 of W.A.S.P.s The Neon God epic double rock opera concept album thats been eagerly awaited by many for months now since the release of part 1 The Rise.
The album starts off well with storming catchy anthem Never Say Die. The song contains a surprisingly meaty guitar riff for W.A.S.P. and towards the end Blackie howls some seriously awesome howls! Like part 1 this album is produced by Blackie Lawless himself but guitarist Darrel Roberts is credited as Executive Producer this time. This could have something to do with the guitars being beefed up a little on this release and its a positive thing.
Second song is Resurrector which borrows heavily from Sister Sadie from part 1. This happens mainly in the chorus which is almost the same with different lyrics. Of course this is done on purpose but it takes a bit of getting used to. After numerous listens this song stands out as its own song and I find it really uplifting to listen to. I was joking to people saying that the song made me want to take my clothes off but reading the lyrics that is somewhat appropriate. The song is about pagan naked orgies within the cult. That could of course just be my dirty minds interpretation.
The Demise is next and is the follow up to the song The Rise from the first album. It has similar but altered lyrics and music but also extra parts. Its a longer and even better extension to The Rise.
Clockwork Mary is a about the return of Jessie Slaines mother who cruelly abandoned him by putting him in an orphanage in part 1. She joins his cult and comes to claim him her son. To me this is the most emotional part of the whole story and the lyrics are integral to really feeling this song. The song starts with an acoustic guitar melody which there is something unusually sinister about and it leads to an eerie and saddening ballad. Its all going incredibly well until the songs finale which is the end of I Cant from the Still Not Black Enough album from 1995! Now I couldnt help but feel disappointed here. I like the song I Cant but Ive heard it hundreds of times and it wasnt what I wanted to hear on a new album, especially at such a crucial point in the story. The lyrics were obviously relevant to the concept so they were re-used. The music couldve at least been different. Still it doesnt spoil the potency of the song just prevents it from being the absolute classic it had the potential to be.
Tear Down The Walls is a full on rocker which does exactly what it says on the tin! Its reminiscent of seventies rock but played ten times faster. At this point Jessie doesnt care anymore about being a cult leader.
Come Back To Black has rock anthem stamped all over it. Its catchy but driven with really powerful guitar riffs and has some truly excellent guitar soloing. The theme of the song is Judah and the disciples trying to persuade/warn Jessie not to leave them.
All My Life is the slowest song on the album but its incredibly intense emotionally. I defy anyone to listen to this song and not feel goose bumps over their entire body. The only negative point to this song is that it is only two and a half minutes long.
Destinies To Come (Neon Dion) brings the album back on a much heavier course. Its fast riffing verses and stomping chorus are ingredients for another wasp classic except the chorus sounds familiar. It sounds a little too close to the excellent My Wicked Heart from the Dying For The World album. Still after a few plays thats easy to forget and its a great song where Judah plots to broadcast the end of Jessie Slaine to the world for financial gain.
The Last Redemption is the finale of the whole concept. It is the equivalent of The Great Misconceptions Of Me which ends The Crimson Idol album. It follows a similar formula of using previous parts of the concept but adding a new twist to them as well as adding completely new verses to create a long epic ending piece. The Last Redemption is even longer though at an impressive thirteen minutes and thirty nine seconds long! Its the longest W.A.S.P. song ever. Due to its length it takes many listens to truly appreciate as an individual song but it gets better and better with every listen. Even the lyrics are the best on the album with chilling parallels to the story of Christ such as, Hate me, slay me. Its danger to hang my face on your walls. Take me, change me. Im nothing but crown of thorns on your hearts. Its very epic and a grand finale indeed to a very ambitious rock opera that most bands wouldnt dream of attempting to create.
Only when you play both Neon God albums in succession do you start to realize the enormity of this project. I cant decide which part I prefer and I think its best to think of The Neon God as one album. I cant help wonder whether it wouldve had a greater impact if it was released as one double CD album but we will never know. Still this is the biggest and most ambitious musical project Ive ever heard. It has a couple of minor flaws and the front covers to both parts are just plain amateur. The guy from the cover of the film platoon slightly edited and pasted between a foreground and background layer in Photoshop. To say these covers are not worthy of the product content is an understatement. Still its the music which matters and thats absolutely fantastic. The story is interesting too but if people only want to hear lots of great rock music they can do that without looking too deep into the concept. This album is a huge achievement for the band and they should be proud. Even if you dont like W.A.S.P. you have to give them credit for having the balls and vision to put out a double rock opera concept album. Now there is only one question left which looms in my mind. What on earth will Blackie Lawless do next?
Review by Noel Barton
The Demise is an incredibly tricky album to review. Its not your every day release. Its part 2 of W.A.S.P.s The Neon God epic double rock opera concept album thats been eagerly awaited by many for months now since the release of part 1 The Rise.
The album starts off well with storming catchy anthem Never Say Die. The song contains a surprisingly meaty guitar riff for W.A.S.P. and towards the end Blackie howls some seriously awesome howls! Like part 1 this album is produced by Blackie Lawless himself but guitarist Darrel Roberts is credited as Executive Producer this time. This could have something to do with the guitars being beefed up a little on this release and its a positive thing.
Second song is Resurrector which borrows heavily from Sister Sadie from part 1. This happens mainly in the chorus which is almost the same with different lyrics. Of course this is done on purpose but it takes a bit of getting used to. After numerous listens this song stands out as its own song and I find it really uplifting to listen to. I was joking to people saying that the song made me want to take my clothes off but reading the lyrics that is somewhat appropriate. The song is about pagan naked orgies within the cult. That could of course just be my dirty minds interpretation.
The Demise is next and is the follow up to the song The Rise from the first album. It has similar but altered lyrics and music but also extra parts. Its a longer and even better extension to The Rise.
Clockwork Mary is a about the return of Jessie Slaines mother who cruelly abandoned him by putting him in an orphanage in part 1. She joins his cult and comes to claim him her son. To me this is the most emotional part of the whole story and the lyrics are integral to really feeling this song. The song starts with an acoustic guitar melody which there is something unusually sinister about and it leads to an eerie and saddening ballad. Its all going incredibly well until the songs finale which is the end of I Cant from the Still Not Black Enough album from 1995! Now I couldnt help but feel disappointed here. I like the song I Cant but Ive heard it hundreds of times and it wasnt what I wanted to hear on a new album, especially at such a crucial point in the story. The lyrics were obviously relevant to the concept so they were re-used. The music couldve at least been different. Still it doesnt spoil the potency of the song just prevents it from being the absolute classic it had the potential to be.
Tear Down The Walls is a full on rocker which does exactly what it says on the tin! Its reminiscent of seventies rock but played ten times faster. At this point Jessie doesnt care anymore about being a cult leader.
Come Back To Black has rock anthem stamped all over it. Its catchy but driven with really powerful guitar riffs and has some truly excellent guitar soloing. The theme of the song is Judah and the disciples trying to persuade/warn Jessie not to leave them.
All My Life is the slowest song on the album but its incredibly intense emotionally. I defy anyone to listen to this song and not feel goose bumps over their entire body. The only negative point to this song is that it is only two and a half minutes long.
Destinies To Come (Neon Dion) brings the album back on a much heavier course. Its fast riffing verses and stomping chorus are ingredients for another wasp classic except the chorus sounds familiar. It sounds a little too close to the excellent My Wicked Heart from the Dying For The World album. Still after a few plays thats easy to forget and its a great song where Judah plots to broadcast the end of Jessie Slaine to the world for financial gain.
The Last Redemption is the finale of the whole concept. It is the equivalent of The Great Misconceptions Of Me which ends The Crimson Idol album. It follows a similar formula of using previous parts of the concept but adding a new twist to them as well as adding completely new verses to create a long epic ending piece. The Last Redemption is even longer though at an impressive thirteen minutes and thirty nine seconds long! Its the longest W.A.S.P. song ever. Due to its length it takes many listens to truly appreciate as an individual song but it gets better and better with every listen. Even the lyrics are the best on the album with chilling parallels to the story of Christ such as, Hate me, slay me. Its danger to hang my face on your walls. Take me, change me. Im nothing but crown of thorns on your hearts. Its very epic and a grand finale indeed to a very ambitious rock opera that most bands wouldnt dream of attempting to create.
Only when you play both Neon God albums in succession do you start to realize the enormity of this project. I cant decide which part I prefer and I think its best to think of The Neon God as one album. I cant help wonder whether it wouldve had a greater impact if it was released as one double CD album but we will never know. Still this is the biggest and most ambitious musical project Ive ever heard. It has a couple of minor flaws and the front covers to both parts are just plain amateur. The guy from the cover of the film platoon slightly edited and pasted between a foreground and background layer in Photoshop. To say these covers are not worthy of the product content is an understatement. Still its the music which matters and thats absolutely fantastic. The story is interesting too but if people only want to hear lots of great rock music they can do that without looking too deep into the concept. This album is a huge achievement for the band and they should be proud. Even if you dont like W.A.S.P. you have to give them credit for having the balls and vision to put out a double rock opera concept album. Now there is only one question left which looms in my mind. What on earth will Blackie Lawless do next?
