W.A.S.P. - Unholy Terror
Metal-Is - 2001
By Rodrigo
/images/covers/wasp_unholyterror.jpg
Believe it or not but Unholy Terror is the first W.A.S.P. album that I have listened to and what an excellent album to introduce myself to Blackie Lawless (his singing reminds me of Rock and Rolf of Running Wild but a lot better) and company. Unholy Terror contains 10 songs of raw, blistering rock and roll. The music is filled with memorable choruses, razor-sharp guitars, excellent drumming and plenty of fast and exciting guitar solos. This is definitely the case with the first song of the album, the scorcher "Let it Roar". This song is one of the best of the album. It evokes all the musical qualities that I mentioned to make it an instant highlight of Unholy Terror. Another song with similar sizzling qualities is "Who Slayed Baby Jane?" which happens to be my favorite song of the album. This song is fast, features very catchy vocal melodies, and it gives off a "party" music vibe to it despite the title and subject of the song. But W.A.S.P. can also be effective when toning it down as in the case with the instrumental "Euphoria". Slow guitar playing and effective drum tapping drive it and it is a song perfectly fit for just sitting in a couch and chilling out.
Another excellent strength of the album is the thought provoking lyrics that deal with religious, social and political issues. W.A.S.P. has been a band that has been targeted as a detriment to society by various activist groups. If they would only take the moment to actually read the lyrics they would see that Blackie has excellent imagery about the problems with society and how we can change it. One of the best examples of this is the song "Loco-Motive Man". It tells a story of a man who knows that he wants to go to a school and commit a mass murder-suicide. This is a powerful song that should open plenty of peoples eyes. Two other songs with powerful music and lyrics are "Unholy Terror" and "Charisma". The title track of the album is a short intro piece to "Charisma" and it introduces the musical and lyrical themes for that song. They are both slower tempo songs and the lyrics are personified by various "evil" historical figures like Hitler and Satan as well as religious figures like the Popes of the Vatican, Christians and Muslims.
The two last songs of Unholy Terror are also of special note. "Evermore" has a definite western music feel to it, think the music found in the "Young Guns" movies. Finally, "Wasted White Boys" finishes the album with the same powerful intensity that it began with. Some keyboards actually pop in but the main aspect of this song for me is the almost 3 final minutes of the song featuring absolutely fantastic guitar solos. Roy Z (Tribe of Gypsies, Bruce Dickinson solo albums, and producer) plays lead guitar on this song as well as on "Who Slayed Baby Jane?" and continues to shine and make his presence felt as one of metals rising stars.
Unholy Terror is simply an amazing album from beginning to end. It is a great joy to listen to this album. With the backing of the rising label Metal-Is (I usually find almost 10 albums of their artists at every store I go to), this is a perfect album for Metal-Is to bring to the masses. Come this April, get Unholy Terror or miss out on one of the years best releases.
Metal-Is - 2001
By Rodrigo
/images/covers/wasp_unholyterror.jpg
Believe it or not but Unholy Terror is the first W.A.S.P. album that I have listened to and what an excellent album to introduce myself to Blackie Lawless (his singing reminds me of Rock and Rolf of Running Wild but a lot better) and company. Unholy Terror contains 10 songs of raw, blistering rock and roll. The music is filled with memorable choruses, razor-sharp guitars, excellent drumming and plenty of fast and exciting guitar solos. This is definitely the case with the first song of the album, the scorcher "Let it Roar". This song is one of the best of the album. It evokes all the musical qualities that I mentioned to make it an instant highlight of Unholy Terror. Another song with similar sizzling qualities is "Who Slayed Baby Jane?" which happens to be my favorite song of the album. This song is fast, features very catchy vocal melodies, and it gives off a "party" music vibe to it despite the title and subject of the song. But W.A.S.P. can also be effective when toning it down as in the case with the instrumental "Euphoria". Slow guitar playing and effective drum tapping drive it and it is a song perfectly fit for just sitting in a couch and chilling out.
Another excellent strength of the album is the thought provoking lyrics that deal with religious, social and political issues. W.A.S.P. has been a band that has been targeted as a detriment to society by various activist groups. If they would only take the moment to actually read the lyrics they would see that Blackie has excellent imagery about the problems with society and how we can change it. One of the best examples of this is the song "Loco-Motive Man". It tells a story of a man who knows that he wants to go to a school and commit a mass murder-suicide. This is a powerful song that should open plenty of peoples eyes. Two other songs with powerful music and lyrics are "Unholy Terror" and "Charisma". The title track of the album is a short intro piece to "Charisma" and it introduces the musical and lyrical themes for that song. They are both slower tempo songs and the lyrics are personified by various "evil" historical figures like Hitler and Satan as well as religious figures like the Popes of the Vatican, Christians and Muslims.
The two last songs of Unholy Terror are also of special note. "Evermore" has a definite western music feel to it, think the music found in the "Young Guns" movies. Finally, "Wasted White Boys" finishes the album with the same powerful intensity that it began with. Some keyboards actually pop in but the main aspect of this song for me is the almost 3 final minutes of the song featuring absolutely fantastic guitar solos. Roy Z (Tribe of Gypsies, Bruce Dickinson solo albums, and producer) plays lead guitar on this song as well as on "Who Slayed Baby Jane?" and continues to shine and make his presence felt as one of metals rising stars.
Unholy Terror is simply an amazing album from beginning to end. It is a great joy to listen to this album. With the backing of the rising label Metal-Is (I usually find almost 10 albums of their artists at every store I go to), this is a perfect album for Metal-Is to bring to the masses. Come this April, get Unholy Terror or miss out on one of the years best releases.
