Blackie Lawless' gravelly voice is WHY so many people love WASP. It's timeless and has that raw, gritty edge that crosses from the Hair Metal/Stadium Rock over to the heavy metal fans so so well.
EXACTLY! Lawless wasn't trying to be a pretty boy glam rocker, he wanted to be what Alice Cooper was in the 70's but cranked up to 11 because the 80's, if anything, was about pushing everything as far as they thought they could get away with.
WASP never really fit in with the generic "hair metal" styling of the time. WASP was always darker, nastier and angrier than Motley Crue or even Twisted Sister. As much as I love The Last Command and Wild Child, there are much better songs across WASP's catalog. Widowmaker, I Wanna Be Somebody, The Headless Children or Forever Free... They're an awesome band though, even their later material into the 2000s is pretty damn solid!
Absolutely spot on , there debut album and Last Command were play through albums. I wouldn't put them in the hair metal category , they were more like Shock rock metal. Like a metal version of Alice Cooper. I don't even know if you could call them Glam metal either , because those bands were more like commercial pop metal. W.A.S.P. was way heavier than TS and the Crue IMO!!! The album Babylon is heavy as hell also , that came out in 2009. His voice is still the same...
The Crimson Idol album is a masterpiece. It's a concept album with serious storytelling and songwriting. Chainsaw Charlie is a great metal track to react to.
Just hope they make sure to react to the ORIGINAL version in 1992... NOT the "Re-Idolized" 2017 do-over (unless it's new songs not on the original). Chainsaw Charlie got wussed out cos of Lawless' return to religtardation.
I wasn't big on the lighter sounding metal bands of the 80s but WASP was one of those types of bands that I did like. Blackie's voice was just so nasty and their rhythms hit pretty hard.
Well W.A.S.P. is one of the very few hair bands to be recognized as "true metal" amongst the goofy "gatekeepers" at websites like metal archives, and there actually is a reason for that
Hell yeah and Blackie's voice still sounds the same , and the Babylon album was kick ass they put out a few years back. The song Babylon Is Burning sounded just like their classic shit!
Great story about WASP: At their first show of a tour in Dublin, Ireland, a firework that was loaded into Blackie Lawless’s codpiece exploded setting Blackie’s legs and backside on fire and resulting in some pretty serious burns. Backstage the band were pretty sombre as it looked like the tour was over on the first night. In an effort to cheer them up, Blackie infamously quipped, “Y’know if we wrote better songs I wouldn’t have to do shit like this.” The tour continued anyway and from October ’85 to March ’87 the band trekked around the world with Lawless continuing to use the firework codpiece without incident.
Wild Child is a good tune, it's catchy, but to me Wasp's best song is Love Machine. Sounds awesome and has amazing drums that really take it to the next level, especially in the intro.
Listen to Clyde fellas. Clyde knows! I'd suggest "I wanna be somebody" as well, just because it's kind of like a buzz saw. My 14 year old son loves it, because it pumps him up before his hockey games.
The Hair Metal name wasn't something anyone called anyone until it was over. These guys were just metal. They weren't hair metal because hair metal was more about guys looking like girls, which was glam metal. These guys had the gore and blood on stage, scare your parents kind of band. Their newer stuff is totally different. Galgotha is a newer one from them that is pretty good, nothing like the old stuff though.
OMG! Blackie Lawless! I flat love this entire album. WASP in the early years are so badass!!!! My fave song off this album is "The Widow Maker". You must check it out!
When I was stationed at Ft. Bliss, we used to request this song ALL*THE*TIME practically everywhere we went … rarely, rarely ever got it played. Like 90% of the places, if they had any hard rock, it was like 1 AC/DC song ("You Shook Me All Night Long," almost invariably). A couple of places did occasionally play Metallica's "Seek And Destroy" as well as a few of the hair metal bands, but WTF? IN TEXAS you would think they'd at least have this song, but nooooooo. *smh*
No, it is not in a style LIV will enjoy and it is nowhere as good as most of the songs from the self-titled, The Headless Children and of course The Crimson Idol. I hope the do Chainsaw Charlie or Show No Mercy first.
I'm 50, and WASP is without a doubt, one of my favorite 80s bands. This song is only the tip of the iceberg! Blackie Lawless has one of the best, most unique voices in hard rock. They have MUCH better songs. Try Harder Faster, Mean Man, Helldorado, Revengeance, Forever Free, Hellion. SO MANY great songs!
Ill be 54 later this year, and I still rock out to WASP. I've bought so many copies of their first 4 albums, its crazy. At least one of their songs will be played at my funeral... in addition to Forever Free and pics of me on my ride.
!!FACTS!! I told a friend of mine that for years, when he finally sat down and listened to the whole thing, he called me late at night to talk about how good it was and thanked me for bugging him to listen to it
I don’t care what anyone says…I love this song! 🎧 🤟🏻 Best W.A.S.P. songs for this channel to check out… Trust me on this one. “I don’t need no doctor” 🔥 “mean man” “I want to be somebody”
If you like his voice, you should try "Sleeping (In the Fire)" (from 1984's ST album), and especially the ballad "Forever Free" (from 1989's "The Headless Children"). Love your videos, guys!
W.A.S.P. was the Slayer of hair metal, at least early in their career. They were way over the top with blood and raw meat and dark imagery. Love for you to check out I Wanna Be Somebody. A really great song and one of their first hits. I'd love for you guys to do a little deep dive on the P.M.R.C. and how it really affected music after the 80s. They ruined WASP's career in the US. There's a list they put out at the time the Filthy Fifteen songs that were bad for children, in their opinion. You've reacted to most if not all the bands on the list. It is Judas Priest -Eat Me Alive, Motley Crue - Bastard, Prince - Darling Nikki, Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls, WASP - Animal, Mercyful Fate - Into the Coven, Vanity - Strap On Robbie Baby, Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night), Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It, Madonna - Dress You Up, Cyndi Lauper - She Bop, AC/DC - Let Me Put My Love Into You, Black Sabbath - Trashed, Mary Jane Girls - In My House and Venom - Possessed. I think all the rock/metal ones, besides Animal, you would dig. There were actual US senate hearings about this. Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and others spoke showed what rock and metal was really about.
I'd say the difference is this era is overly glorified. No one glorifies the mimic rappers of the post-2000's or the grunge copycats but the 80's/early 90s glam metal is constantly heralded as the great era of music when the truth is it was just an attitude and had very little to do with good music. Regardless, Glam metal is definitely one of the most brutally devastated genres by copycat syndrome.
12 million records sold is no joke. All pretty much before social media and file sharing. Blackie knows how to write songs. Also, every musician has their inspiration for their song. It's all borrowed from everyone before them and will always be borrowed after.
Dude. I'm glad you guys got to this song. It's one of my favorites along with For Whom the Bell Tolls, Savage, 9.5 Nasty and a bunch of others. I love that band and Blackie has such a great voice.
When this era of music started to be popular every record company started signing all the bands in the L.A. area and tried to use the same formula in sound and the writing of the music. Now every band sounded the same. Dokken, Poison, Warrent, Winger etc... When Motley Crue came with the ballad of Home sweet Home ...Now every band had to have a ballad on their record. This happened all they way through the 80's till everyone got sick of it and in came Grunge... And based on your reaction you see why the formula was followed.. You don't know why but you liked it.
I agree with most of what you said , with the exception of Dokken and Ratt. Their guitarist's and musicianship was 10x better than poison and the rest of the bands you named. George Lynch is still killing it , have you seen him with Dokken in the past month , he's still shredding like a beast. But Don's voice is shot , listen to Kiss of Death from last month. George hasn't lost a step , he's still crushing it!
@@mikeg.9238 Yep ...I have always like Lynch's playing... Lynch Mob was a good band.. Dokken and bands like them are the ones came to my head at the time... Quiet Riot is the one that kicked the door open ... there were some really good bands out in LA at the time. Warrior, Kingdom Come. I remember seeing Alcatraz with Yngwie Malmsteen and they tried to have them follow the same formula. I lived across the street from Canter's Restaurant in West Hollywood in the 80's. in one of the apartment buildings by the news stand . It was a blast at the time . it's nice talking to a person who knows his stuff! thanks
@@jamescrawford7090 👍 Thanks and that must have been a blast back then , a non stop party! Also we used to call Kingdom Come , Kingdom Clone. Because they tried to hard to sound like Zeppelin IMO! I saw them once at the monsters of rock tour , at the Gillette Stadium where the Patriots used to play. It was a 3hr drive from CT. But was worth it , ended up hooking up with some hot chicks from Mass 😉 75.000 people , we were on the field. It was VH , Scorpions , Metallica , Dokken and Kingdom Come. Killer show and great time! We ended up driving all the way back to New Bedford Massachusetts a few weeks later to stay over the girls house we met at the show. A 4hr drive , but well worth it if you know what I mean 👍🤣
Their song "Animal (F... like a beast)" 1984 is the reason that we now have the Parental Advisory label on all records. The thing is that the whole thing backfired and all the records labeled with Parental Advisory became the most wanted
Check out their later stuff, like 'Heaven's Hung in Black' or 'I Miss You' ( written about the death of his brother) which both have some of the best guitar solo work I've ever heard. Also Blackie just pours out the emotions lyrically.
WASP are one of my favorite bands from the 80's, They have matured over the years and some of their later albums from the late 90's have some really epic songs. couple i really like from there Dying for the World album, Hallowed Ground and Trail of tears it would be interesting to have your reaction on those songs.
I saw them on this tour in Baltimore, April of '86, they tore the roof off the Civic Center ears were ringin' for a month, W.A.S.P just cranks it up and rocks out!!💯
Wild Child is a good song indeed. Try "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Hellion" or "Sleeping In The Fire" for example. BUT, I think their best song is "The Idol" one of the greatest ballads of the hair metal period.
Blackie (lead vocals) was in a band with Nikki Sixx before all this as well a short time member of the New York Dolls. Chris Holmes (lead guitar) was highschool buddies with Eddy Van Halen, so yes WASP was in the mix of the formation of the sound. Last Command was where it started going bad.
W.A.S.P.'s main man, Blackie Lawless and Crüe's mastermind Nikki Sixx, had a band together before their main blockbuster acts called merely "Sister", that group already fit into much of W.A.S.P.'s shock rock mannerisms, and roaming around L.A area they were already packing Sunset Strip clubs, experimenting and testing much of the gimmicks that they would use in near future on their own bands.
Funny when you guys were like "I want to not like this, but it broke me down"....for me that was Janes Addiction. Nothing Shocking is probably one of my top 10 albums all time. I didn't want to like it, but I absolutely love it. lol
Blackie vocals are far from beign simple to do. On the heavy stuff , he has that particular thing that few others singers had , its , with full voice , or strong mix , that sounds medium , but its up by the 4th octave in basic key . Often he let out the gunshot screaming at the end when most people would have no breath left . On the savage screaming , but also on tasty melodic phrasing , blackie took a lot from the RNB singers of his childhood ( Blackie is from 1956) pushed it hardcore. He can sing clean , he can sing low .. he can sing very high. And sustain that , for decades , its also technical .
Any track off "The Headless Children" album you guys would love. Less hair metal tropes and Lawless's best vocal performance. Personal fav album from them.
This song is a great example why i like 80s rock! Alot of it may be a bit cheezy but many songs are just great songs that you want to sing along too! You should do another Dokken song! Keep up the great content!
WASP was the opening act for Iron Maiden's 'Live After Death' concert/album at Long Beach Arena, CA 1985. Maiden sold out 4 nights in a row in about 20 minutes, all 4 sold out! It was all word-of-mouth, almost no radio airtime. LA in the 80's was hella fun. A lot of big metal bands would play small clubs around LA under different names. Like, Aerosmith would play under the name Dr. J. Jones and the Interns, or the Scorpions would play as The Snoiprocs, Scorpions spelled backwards. KISS and Van Halen would do it too. Sometimes the night after stadium concerts.
Always loved them.Never thought about them as hair metal. Totally different from anything else. W.A.S.P. is W.A.S.P.. Blackie's voice and songwriting just gets to you. This was their early phase. Please react to "The Idol". The whole Crimson Idol album is a masterpiece. Just sit on the couch, grab a beer, the lyrics and listen to it from beginning to end. Amazing!!!
Lmao, I was Blackie Lawless for Halloween one year when i was a kid in the 80's, had a black wig that i sprayed white streaks on with a spray can and arm blades made from cardboard and aluminum foil. You guys should've reacted to the video for this. 😂
I was on their show here I Brazil years ago. Was one of the best shows I saw in my life. Still remember like it was yesterday. For me Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue) is their best song.
W.a.s.p have 40 years anniversary this year. He never use Steven Duren and have been called Blackie as a nickname since his childhood Lawless he added in adulthood. Blackie Lawless is such a underrated songwriter and singer. He is awesome and have written so many great songs from songs like Wildchild to beautiful ballads like hold on to my heart. 🙂❤
W.A.S.P. has it's fair share of hits and duds... but their 1992 album 'The Crimson Idol' is a masterpiece w/ tracks like 'Arena of pleasure' ... ' Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)' ... 'The invisible boy'...🤘🤘🔥🔥 Other W.A.S.P. classics - 'Harder, faster' ... 'L.O.V.E. Machine' ... 'Still not black enough' ... 'Forever free'...
«The Manimal (Live... In the Raw)» & «Hellion» are probably my favorite by W.A.S.P. (We Are Sexual Perverts). But «I Wanna Be Somebody», «L.O.V.E. Machine», «9.5. N.A.S.T.Y (Live... In the Raw")», «Sleeping in the Fire (Live...)» & «Inside the Electric Circus» are part of my guilty pleasure as well... «Live... In the Raw» is an awesome "not so live" album if you like that kind of cheese.
Saw them a few years ago and they are still sprinting up and down that stage like they're in their 20s. They must be sucking on oxygene canisters in between the songs or something, it's amazing!
I have “Wild Child “ tattooed on my upper thigh !!!!! I love Blackie!!! Cries In The Night, Forever Free, Animal, they are like comedians to me . They have so many great songs!! They came out in 2015 with a new album “Golgotha” !!!! Witch I love!!!
"Headless Children", that is a great one! With more phylisopical lyrics to it. And from the same album, more into shock rockstyle "Mean Man", a great rocker!
WASP are just classic man. Their first few albums were incredible, the Crimson Idol was an interesting take on a rock opera of sorts. Their 2001 album Unholy Terror is among my all time favorite WASP albums. My suggestion would be to check out Unholy Terror/Charisma or Locomotive Man!!
Agree, please react to Fates Warning. I am a fan of both the Arch and Alder eras but I think a good starting point would be something off of Theoies of Flight or Parallels. Fates are amazing and deserve much more recognition.
Holmes is average, at best, riffs are o.k. but his soloing pretty weak. He was the weak point of the band....Blackie is special, with that unique and powerful voice and good songwriting!
I "grew up" in the 80s and I'm a HUGE fan of Iron Maiden, Rush, Judas Priest, Metallica, and Queensryche. I didn't get into W.A.S.P. until the early 2000s. I feel like I completely missed the bus when I had the chance back in the 80s and early 90s. These guys are SO much better than I ever gave them credit back in the day. Awesome band! They've got a ton of catchy tunes. Try Mean Man.
Blackie has the greatest voice in heavy metal! this song is good but kinda soft. They have more raw and aggressive songs u guy's should dive into. My favorites are "harder faster" or "show no mercy". Thank you for this one tho!
I'm just getting ready to watch. I hope you guys go easy on this song 😅 I have such nostalgia with it (this whole album actually.) Yes George!!😅❤️ Fun fact, this song is written for Lita Ford. She was going back and forth from Blackie to Nikki Six. It was Blackies pleading for her to come back. Also, when Blackie was auditioning guitarists for the band, he required they be as tall as him (he was 6'+), and "good looking".
A huge Thankyou goes out to Ryan for pointing out the exact Pat Benitar vibe so much . The moment I heard this song ( and I love Wasp ) the first time I wondered where I heard this before. You answered a question I've had my entire adult life
wasp was honestly one of the most underrated bands.. they weren't really a great fit in the hair metal band category as they were placed...real metal is were they should have been placed
You guys should react to "The Headless Children" (title track of the album of the same name) by W.A.S.P. It's more Metal than anything on this album :)
WASP is one of those weird bands. They started out total 80's; shock rock and was pretty heavy. Then they came out with Electric Circus which was my jump the shark moment (for a while) and I quit listening to them. I regret doing that as I rediscovered them a few years back with the later music and was blown away by the musicianship of Blackie and band. I was reintroduced to them by reaction channels who did The Idol and a later song Golgotha. Was like "No Way" this can't be that same band. Then went out and bought a few of the later albums and found what I feel is one of my favorite albums of all time; the Crimson Idol album is a masterpiece of killer music which makes you feel on a Pink Floyd type of level. Another killer tune is Heaven's Hung In Black which is another great song which deals with war and our soldiers in the Iraq War. That song brings the full spectrum of emotions. Blackie has since found Christ and turned his life around and the newer song Golgotha is a masterpiece as well. I don't even listen to the older stuff like this anymore, just the newer WASP. I'm glad you did a song but would love if you did Heaven's Hung In Black, Miss You, the Idol, the Great Misconception of Me, or Lake of Fools. Would take that "hair metal" label off them for you and maybe introduce you to some killer new music.
Same here i was a huge fan of wasp back in the day . I started getting into heavier music just forgot about them till a couple of years ago when Golgotha came on Amazon music and i was blown away . I got back in to them and they are one of my favorite bands
I had a bit of a different introduction to WASP. I first heard them on the Live... In The Raw album, which I wore out during a 40 minute bus ride to school. However, I didn't check out any of their studio albums at the time, so those high energy, stripped-down live versions were all I was familiar with by the time Headless Children came out. That was the first studio album of their's that I purchased and at that point Blackie had taken the band in a more serious and socially conscious direction. Follow that up with the Crimson Idol, and those early albums from their career are like a different band. Blackie has shown his musical diversity over the years, so now I'm used to the different flavors of WASP, but back then the difference was incredible to hear.
@@jasonprescott3927 I did the exact same thing. Was getting into Slayer and the Thrash scene back then and WASP just seemed like they were getting cheesy with the Electric Circus album so I gave up on them. Wish I didn't but the upside is, I now have a bunch of new songs to listen to.
@@bloodstone2k My bus ride tape was Live After Death from Maiden. Just thought I'd share as I think most of us 80's metal heads had a tape for that dreaded bus ride. I still like the live versions of most of those songs over the studio versions. Go figure. As for the WASP, I think I like some of the older stuff but as I get older, I mellowed out just a bit and most of the newer stuff reminds me of the 80's metal I liked best; great guitar and his voice is chilling at times on those ballads. Think that's why I gravitate to the late 80's stuff and beyond. Headless Children is fantastic. Wish I would have stuck around and given the album after Electric Circus a chance back then.
@@troyv8302 Oh believe me, I had 10 or so albums in heavy rotation on my bus rides to and from school! Live After Death, Powerslave, Somewhere in Time from Maiden, Holy Diver and Dream Evil from Dio, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, Metallica's Garage Days Re-revisited. I also put some good mileage on Leatherwolf's (second) self-titled album, and Dokken's Back For The Attack. Good, good times!
Blackie's voice is actually the reason I like W.A.S.P. It's unique, and the gravelly quality made it special. This band had a darker edge than a lot of their peers. They always came off as more dangerous than the typical hair metal band. I always appreciated that about them. Though this particular song is a bit more tame than some of their other material.
I'm into a wide variety of metal, rock and grunge and somehow this song has always been top of my playlist. Such a catchy and well written song! Another WASP song that I keep coming back to is Locomotive Man.
You should give the WASP catalog an actual listen. WASP was a theatrical band and you have to expect that kind of voice with such a beastly title and image. In all honesty, I don’t believe you’re grasping what they’re about. There’s more of a Shock Rock element involved. They were more badass than the pop metal of the 80s groups. Also, Blackie Lawless is brilliant at writing heavy Rock songs. Check out the songs “Sleeping In The Fire” “IDOL“ “Hellion” “I Want To Be Somebody “ and “Love Machine. “ Just a suggestion guys.
Blackie Lawless is one of the most criminally underrated vocalists of all time. His power and range is phenomenal.
No he’s not. He’s rated exactly where he should be
@@juanrestrepo7599Nah, I agree with the other guy.
@@juanrestrepo7599Easily more badass sounding than Vince Neil...
Brian Johnson doesn't have shit on him!
Wasp is underrated I like them better then motley crue
Blackie Lawless' gravelly voice is WHY so many people love WASP. It's timeless and has that raw, gritty edge that crosses from the Hair Metal/Stadium Rock over to the heavy metal fans so so well.
EXACTLY! Lawless wasn't trying to be a pretty boy glam rocker, he wanted to be what Alice Cooper was in the 70's but cranked up to 11 because the 80's, if anything, was about pushing everything as far as they thought they could get away with.
Oh yeah man, they just dig in and hit hard, I'm absolutely a massive fan of those huge raspy voices
When I think perfect "80's heavy metal vocals", that's WASP's Blackie, Savatage's Jon Olive and Quiet Riot's DuBrow.
WASP never really fit in with the generic "hair metal" styling of the time. WASP was always darker, nastier and angrier than Motley Crue or even Twisted Sister. As much as I love The Last Command and Wild Child, there are much better songs across WASP's catalog. Widowmaker, I Wanna Be Somebody, The Headless Children or Forever Free... They're an awesome band though, even their later material into the 2000s is pretty damn solid!
Thunderhead and The Heretic, too. The Headless Children is a great album.
Hellion
@@MinisterOfMetal probably my favorite wasp album. It was the beginning of a more thoughtful and mature WASP
Came here to write the same thing as you, WASP was cut above the rest of hair metal bands, they’re just a kick ass heavy metal band
Absolutely spot on , there debut album and Last Command were play through albums. I wouldn't put them in the hair metal category , they were more like Shock rock metal. Like a metal version of Alice Cooper. I don't even know if you could call them Glam metal either , because those bands were more like commercial pop metal. W.A.S.P. was way heavier than TS and the Crue IMO!!! The album Babylon is heavy as hell also , that came out in 2009. His voice is still the same...
The Crimson Idol album is a masterpiece. It's a concept album with serious storytelling and songwriting. Chainsaw Charlie is a great metal track to react to.
Great song, really good song. The great misconception of me is fantastic
...W.A.S.P. ???....MASTERPIECES ???....BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Yeah this track is fun pop metal but that album is legitimately good
@@fasteddie777666 Ahah so right
Just hope they make sure to react to the ORIGINAL version in 1992... NOT the "Re-Idolized" 2017 do-over (unless it's new songs not on the original).
Chainsaw Charlie got wussed out cos of Lawless' return to religtardation.
"I wanna be somebody" and "Blind in Texas", those are the songs that you need to listen to!
Harder Faster
Blind in Texas, man i have to put that one on right now, killer song
Hellion
The torture never stops, relentless gypsy, sleeping in the fire
Seconded. Those are the two best.
I wasn't big on the lighter sounding metal bands of the 80s but WASP was one of those types of bands that I did like. Blackie's voice was just so nasty and their rhythms hit pretty hard.
Well W.A.S.P. is one of the very few hair bands to be recognized as "true metal" amongst the goofy "gatekeepers" at websites like metal archives, and there actually is a reason for that
Hell yeah and Blackie's voice still sounds the same , and the Babylon album was kick ass they put out a few years back. The song Babylon Is Burning sounded just like their classic shit!
Great story about WASP:
At their first show of a tour in Dublin, Ireland, a firework that was loaded into Blackie Lawless’s codpiece exploded setting Blackie’s legs and backside on fire and resulting in some pretty serious burns. Backstage the band were pretty sombre as it looked like the tour was over on the first night. In an effort to cheer them up, Blackie infamously quipped, “Y’know if we wrote better songs I wouldn’t have to do shit like this.” The tour continued anyway and from October ’85 to March ’87 the band trekked around the world with Lawless continuing to use the firework codpiece without incident.
LOL - that's hilarious!
That quote is hilarious man
I imagine Jesse James Dupree said the same thing the first time he nicked himself with his chain saw too.
How is this comment a year old??
@@jaymer2928 Patreon, my dude
I saw WASP, Metallica and Armored Saint in the early 80's for $5. Blackie has a very underrated voice.
Wild Child is a good tune, it's catchy, but to me Wasp's best song is Love Machine. Sounds awesome and has amazing drums that really take it to the next level, especially in the intro.
L O........V E....ALL I NEEDS MY LOVE MACHINE!!!!
Love Machine is so catchy
Listen to Clyde fellas. Clyde knows! I'd suggest "I wanna be somebody" as well, just because it's kind of like a buzz saw. My 14 year old son loves it, because it pumps him up before his hockey games.
You should check ,,Wild child” from Crazy Lixx, awesome catchy song
i always thought animal was theyre best song
The Hair Metal name wasn't something anyone called anyone until it was over. These guys were just metal. They weren't hair metal because hair metal was more about guys looking like girls, which was glam metal. These guys had the gore and blood on stage, scare your parents kind of band. Their newer stuff is totally different. Galgotha is a newer one from them that is pretty good, nothing like the old stuff though.
OMG! Blackie Lawless! I flat love this entire album. WASP in the early years are so badass!!!! My fave song off this album is "The Widow Maker". You must check it out!
Great album and Widow Maker is a great song.
"Widowmaker" is def my fave too!
Try "Blind in Texas" from the same album. Funny as hell, and even better guitar.
Totally agree! That was my intro to WASP. Loved that song and video!
Second that and then Chainsaw Charlie as a Third one?
When I was stationed at Ft. Bliss, we used to request this song ALL*THE*TIME practically everywhere we went … rarely, rarely ever got it played. Like 90% of the places, if they had any hard rock, it was like 1 AC/DC song ("You Shook Me All Night Long," almost invariably). A couple of places did occasionally play Metallica's "Seek And Destroy" as well as a few of the hair metal bands, but WTF? IN TEXAS you would think they'd at least have this song, but nooooooo. *smh*
I agree but they need to listen to the entire Crimson Idol album. Yeah it's only blackie. But it's an insane album and very underrated in my opinion
No, it is not in a style LIV will enjoy and it is nowhere as good as most of the songs from the self-titled, The Headless Children and of course The Crimson Idol. I hope the do Chainsaw Charlie or Show No Mercy first.
I'm 50, and WASP is without a doubt, one of my favorite 80s bands. This song is only the tip of the iceberg! Blackie Lawless has one of the best, most unique voices in hard rock. They have MUCH better songs. Try Harder Faster, Mean Man, Helldorado, Revengeance, Forever Free, Hellion. SO MANY great songs!
Ill be 54 later this year, and I still rock out to WASP. I've bought so many copies of their first 4 albums, its crazy. At least one of their songs will be played at my funeral... in addition to Forever Free and pics of me on my ride.
WASP is one of my favorite band, very underrated because of their look. The Crimson Idol is an absolute masterpiece.
The CRIMSON IDOL is one of the top five concept albums in metal. Facts.
1,000,000% 🍻🤘
That is literally an opinion. Facts.
!!FACTS!! I told a friend of mine that for years, when he finally sat down and listened to the whole thing, he called me late at night to talk about how good it was and thanked me for bugging him to listen to it
Hell yes 🤘🏻
I personally have it in my top one.
You guys should definitely do a video about songs that grew on you. I'd be down for that
15 yrs old
No they were'nt into rock and metal at all back then. That's why this channel is successful it's a reaction channel - that means first time.
I don’t care what anyone says…I love this song! 🎧 🤟🏻
Best W.A.S.P. songs for this channel to check out… Trust me on this one.
“I don’t need no doctor” 🔥
“mean man”
“I want to be somebody”
I love Inside The Electric Circus...great song, goes pretty hard, not my fave album but the title song is catchy AF.
Ditto
If you like his voice, you should try "Sleeping (In the Fire)" (from 1984's ST album), and especially the ballad "Forever Free" (from 1989's "The Headless Children"). Love your videos, guys!
W.A.S.P. was the Slayer of hair metal, at least early in their career. They were way over the top with blood and raw meat and dark imagery. Love for you to check out I Wanna Be Somebody. A really great song and one of their first hits.
I'd love for you guys to do a little deep dive on the P.M.R.C. and how it really affected music after the 80s. They ruined WASP's career in the US. There's a list they put out at the time the Filthy Fifteen songs that were bad for children, in their opinion. You've reacted to most if not all the bands on the list. It is Judas Priest -Eat Me Alive, Motley Crue - Bastard, Prince - Darling Nikki, Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls, WASP - Animal, Mercyful Fate - Into the Coven, Vanity - Strap On Robbie Baby, Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night), Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It, Madonna - Dress You Up, Cyndi Lauper - She Bop, AC/DC - Let Me Put My Love Into You, Black Sabbath - Trashed, Mary Jane Girls - In My House and Venom - Possessed. I think all the rock/metal ones, besides Animal, you would dig. There were actual US senate hearings about this. Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and others spoke showed what rock and metal was really about.
They're more like the Megadeth of Hair Metal to Motley Cru as their Metallica
I like Slayer but Megadeth is higher on the food chain than Slayer when it comes to music complexity and subject matter without trying hard.
I've never thought of comparing Blackie's voice to Sting's
Aaaaaannnnd
I still don't
They have alot of good songs, but Blind in Texas is probably their most well-rounded. Blackie Lawless is a great singer, no one sounds like him
And most infamous (true) story! They literally drank ALL the alcohol in the bar.
Cinderella's Tom Kiefer sounds a lot like Blackie. I personally like Cinderella a little more than WASP. I wouldn't mind seeing them on tour - again!
@@metalmike570 And Tom can still rip it. Look at his collabs with Lzzy Hale.
@@corymcthrash Yes when his voice is up for it! I'll look the collabs up sometime.
W.A.S.P. is my favorite band of all time
Was always a big fan of their “L.O.V.E. Machine.”
WASP has a whole pile of great songs. Very underrated band.
It's sad they don't get the credit they deserve
My personal favorite of theirs is “The Torture Never Stops”. It is a relentless heavy metal punch in the face.
"Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" and "Blind In Texas" are other W.A.S.P. songs that I recommend 😃
Yea, they shut that down too soon here.
This is one of my fav videos from y’all’s patreon lol
Glad y’all released it for all of TH-cam to see now
Widowmaker is a top drawer tune off this album, one of my favs. Blackie has one of the best metal voices imho.
LOVE MACHINE!!! My favorite W.A.S.P song, give it a listen.
I thought they were singing "hello, piggy" :D They didn't teach us the alphabets in school, I think :P
Forever free was a great ballad they did from back in the day.
So was Wild Child!
Sleeping in the Fire has to be their ballad.
This era isn't the only generic music genre. You can literally find patterns in any genre. Rap, Grunge, RnB etc.
I'd say the difference is this era is overly glorified. No one glorifies the mimic rappers of the post-2000's or the grunge copycats but the 80's/early 90s glam metal is constantly heralded as the great era of music when the truth is it was just an attitude and had very little to do with good music.
Regardless, Glam metal is definitely one of the most brutally devastated genres by copycat syndrome.
Not to mention the standard radio rock that grunge and post-grunge helped develop still exists with many of the same similarities today!
@@gibiati8295 it’s not even glam metal. It’s just metal. Compare these guys to poison or late era Motley Crue.
12 million records sold is no joke. All pretty much before social media and file sharing. Blackie knows how to write songs. Also, every musician has their inspiration for their song. It's all borrowed from everyone before them and will always be borrowed after.
Dude. I'm glad you guys got to this song. It's one of my favorites along with For Whom the Bell Tolls, Savage, 9.5 Nasty and a bunch of others. I love that band and Blackie has such a great voice.
That Chris Holmes tone slices like a knife!
When this era of music started to be popular every record company started signing all the bands in the L.A. area and tried to use the same formula in sound and the writing of the music.
Now every band sounded the same. Dokken, Poison, Warrent, Winger etc... When Motley Crue came with the ballad of Home sweet Home ...Now every band had to have a ballad on their record. This happened all they way through the 80's till everyone got sick of it and in came Grunge... And based on your reaction you see why the formula was followed.. You don't know why but you liked it.
I agree with most of what you said , with the exception of Dokken and Ratt. Their guitarist's and musicianship was 10x better than poison and the rest of the bands you named. George Lynch is still killing it , have you seen him with Dokken in the past month , he's still shredding like a beast. But Don's voice is shot , listen to Kiss of Death from last month. George hasn't lost a step , he's still crushing it!
@@mikeg.9238 Yep ...I have always like Lynch's playing... Lynch Mob was a good band.. Dokken and bands like them are the ones came to my head at the time... Quiet Riot is the one that kicked the door open ... there were some really good bands out in LA at the time. Warrior, Kingdom Come. I remember seeing Alcatraz with Yngwie Malmsteen and they tried to have them follow the same formula. I lived across the street from Canter's Restaurant in West Hollywood in the 80's. in one of the apartment buildings by the news stand . It was a blast at the time . it's nice talking to a person who knows his stuff! thanks
@@jamescrawford7090 👍 Thanks and that must have been a blast back then , a non stop party! Also we used to call Kingdom Come , Kingdom Clone. Because they tried to hard to sound like Zeppelin IMO! I saw them once at the monsters of rock tour , at the Gillette Stadium where the Patriots used to play. It was a 3hr drive from CT. But was worth it , ended up hooking up with some hot chicks from Mass 😉 75.000 people , we were on the field. It was VH , Scorpions , Metallica , Dokken and Kingdom Come. Killer show and great time! We ended up driving all the way back to New Bedford Massachusetts a few weeks later to stay over the girls house we met at the show. A 4hr drive , but well worth it if you know what I mean 👍🤣
Their song "Animal (F... like a beast)" 1984 is the reason that we now have the Parental Advisory label on all records. The thing is that the whole thing backfired and all the records labeled with Parental Advisory became the most wanted
Check out their later stuff, like 'Heaven's Hung in Black' or 'I Miss You' ( written about the death of his brother) which both have some of the best guitar solo work I've ever heard. Also Blackie just pours out the emotions lyrically.
WASP are one of my favorite bands from the 80's, They have matured over the years and some of their later albums from the late 90's have some really epic songs. couple i really like from there Dying for the World album, Hallowed Ground and Trail of tears it would be interesting to have your reaction on those songs.
I saw them on this tour in Baltimore, April of '86, they tore the roof off the Civic Center ears were ringin' for a month, W.A.S.P just cranks it up and rocks out!!💯
Of all the reaction vids on You Tube, u lads are the best and most interesting. Its fun watching people react to music I remember from the day.
Wild Child is a good song indeed. Try "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Hellion" or "Sleeping In The Fire" for example. BUT, I think their best song is "The Idol" one of the greatest ballads of the hair metal period.
I was in elementary school in the 80s in Jugoslavija...i am crying!!Nasty,Inside the electric circus!!Ahhhh man love W.A.S.P for life!
Blackie (lead vocals) was in a band with Nikki Sixx before all this as well a short time member of the New York Dolls. Chris Holmes (lead guitar) was highschool buddies with Eddy Van Halen, so yes WASP was in the mix of the formation of the sound. Last Command was where it started going bad.
W.A.S.P.'s main man, Blackie Lawless and Crüe's mastermind Nikki Sixx, had a band together before their main blockbuster acts called merely "Sister", that group already fit into much of W.A.S.P.'s shock rock mannerisms, and roaming around L.A area they were already packing Sunset Strip clubs, experimenting and testing much of the gimmicks that they would use in near future on their own bands.
Funny when you guys were like "I want to not like this, but it broke me down"....for me that was Janes Addiction. Nothing Shocking is probably one of my top 10 albums all time. I didn't want to like it, but I absolutely love it. lol
One of my favorite songs, glad you guys got to it.
Really surprised about the reaction to his voice. He's not much of technical singer but he's got a great rock voice. Very original.
Totally agree!
NOBODY sounds like Blackie Lawless!!
Blackie vocals are far from beign simple to do.
On the heavy stuff , he has that particular thing that few others singers had , its , with full voice , or strong mix , that sounds medium , but its up by the 4th octave in basic key .
Often he let out the gunshot screaming at the end when most people would have no breath left .
On the savage screaming , but also on tasty melodic phrasing , blackie took a lot from the RNB singers of his childhood ( Blackie is from 1956) pushed it hardcore.
He can sing clean , he can sing low .. he can sing very high.
And sustain that , for decades , its also technical .
Any track off "The Headless Children" album you guys would love. Less hair metal tropes and Lawless's best vocal performance. Personal fav album from them.
This song is a great example why i like 80s rock!
Alot of it may be a bit cheezy but many songs are just great songs that you want to sing along too!
You should do another Dokken song!
Keep up the great content!
80s have the greatest guitar solos too
This is one of those rare ones I click like before I even watch it!!! So much great content you could do from W.A.S.P 🤘🤘🤘
WASP was the opening act for Iron Maiden's 'Live After Death' concert/album at Long Beach Arena, CA 1985. Maiden sold out 4 nights in a row in about 20 minutes, all 4 sold out! It was all word-of-mouth, almost no radio airtime. LA in the 80's was hella fun. A lot of big metal bands would play small clubs around LA under different names. Like, Aerosmith would play under the name Dr. J. Jones and the Interns, or the Scorpions would play as The Snoiprocs, Scorpions spelled backwards. KISS and Van Halen would do it too. Sometimes the night after stadium concerts.
Always loved them.Never thought about them as hair metal. Totally different from anything else. W.A.S.P. is W.A.S.P.. Blackie's voice and songwriting just gets to you. This was their early phase. Please react to "The Idol". The whole Crimson Idol album is a masterpiece. Just sit on the couch, grab a beer, the lyrics and listen to it from beginning to end. Amazing!!!
Any song off of their debut album it's a no skip metal masterpiece I would do tormentor or the torture never stops or the ballad sleeping in the fire
LOVE MACHINE.... That's a good song
Lmao, I was Blackie Lawless for Halloween one year when i was a kid in the 80's, had a black wig that i sprayed white streaks on with a spray can and arm blades made from cardboard and aluminum foil. You guys should've reacted to the video for this. 😂
I want to do that for Halloween this year!!
I was on their show here I Brazil years ago. Was one of the best shows I saw in my life. Still remember like it was yesterday. For me Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue) is their best song.
So glad that you're playing and reacting to hidden gems and classics from my youth. Simple is good. Less is great at times.
W.a.s.p have 40 years anniversary this year. He never use Steven Duren and have been called Blackie as a nickname since his childhood Lawless he added in adulthood. Blackie Lawless is such a underrated songwriter and singer. He is awesome and have written so many great songs from songs like Wildchild to beautiful ballads like hold on to my heart. 🙂❤
"The Idol" by Wasp is one of my favourite metal ballads ever.
The entire Album just kicks ass. Still listening it start to finish on the regular.
That chorus got me like "get these hooks out of me!" Absolute classic!
Sleeping in the fire or The idol.......hands down!
Greetings from Greece.
Man you guys did WASP dirty. A very under appreciated band that influenced a lot of bigger names.
If anyone want a more Metal track from W.A.S.P check "Chainsaw Charlie"
W.A.S.P. has it's fair share of hits and duds... but their 1992 album 'The Crimson Idol' is a masterpiece w/ tracks like 'Arena of pleasure' ... ' Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)' ... 'The invisible boy'...🤘🤘🔥🔥
Other W.A.S.P. classics - 'Harder, faster' ... 'L.O.V.E. Machine' ... 'Still not black enough' ... 'Forever free'...
So many great tracks, Chainsaw Charlie being the biggest hit.
An album of pounding toms, hair metal solos and those gloriously gravelly vocals.
Epic
Arena of pleasure rules!!
The song “lack of communication “ by Ratt might be worth a listen the guitars are great.
Yyyyyeeeeeessssss
All Ratt is great.
and scene of the crime and back for more
IMO Wasp is the most underrated 80s metal band of all time.
WASP “The Idol” is an incredible song, probably would have been bigger if it came out mid 80’s and not early 90’s
WASP - CRAZY, HEADLESS CHILDREN, THUNDERHEAD, L.O.V.E. MACHINE, THE LAST COMMAND
«The Manimal (Live... In the Raw)» & «Hellion» are probably my favorite by W.A.S.P. (We Are Sexual Perverts). But «I Wanna Be Somebody», «L.O.V.E. Machine», «9.5. N.A.S.T.Y (Live... In the Raw")», «Sleeping in the Fire (Live...)» & «Inside the Electric Circus» are part of my guilty pleasure as well... «Live... In the Raw» is an awesome "not so live" album if you like that kind of cheese.
WASP are still brilliant live and Blackie's still got it!
Heaven's hung in black!
Saw them a few years ago and they are still sprinting up and down that stage like they're in their 20s. They must be sucking on oxygene canisters in between the songs or something, it's amazing!
I have “Wild Child “ tattooed on my upper thigh !!!!! I love Blackie!!! Cries In The Night, Forever Free, Animal, they are like comedians to me . They have so many great songs!! They came out in 2015 with a new album “Golgotha” !!!! Witch I love!!!
"Headless Children", that is a great one! With more phylisopical lyrics to it. And from the same album, more into shock rockstyle "Mean Man", a great rocker!
Blackie Lawless has one of the best voices in Metal.
WASP are just classic man. Their first few albums were incredible, the Crimson Idol was an interesting take on a rock opera of sorts. Their 2001 album Unholy Terror is among my all time favorite WASP albums. My suggestion would be to check out Unholy Terror/Charisma or Locomotive Man!!
George please take Ryan to the doctor. His brain getting Loopy! 😂
Can we get ppl to request Fates Warning - The Scorceress……absolutely amazing musicians, vocals, arrangement, lets get it done!!!!!
I think they almost have to start with Fata Morgana or Guardian. Opinion of course.
@@Wyl7 Hell yeah!!!! Anything by FW would be awesome
Agree, please react to Fates Warning. I am a fan of both the Arch and Alder eras but I think a good starting point would be something off of Theoies of Flight or Parallels. Fates are amazing and deserve much more recognition.
My first concert was Kiss with wasp being the opening band on this album. Great concert.
WASP was different for the 80's, they successfully offended parents coast to coast lol. Chris Holmes is a really good guitarist, underappreciated
Holmes is average, at best, riffs are o.k. but his soloing pretty weak. He was the weak point of the band....Blackie is special, with that unique and powerful voice and good songwriting!
I "grew up" in the 80s and I'm a HUGE fan of Iron Maiden, Rush, Judas Priest, Metallica, and Queensryche. I didn't get into W.A.S.P. until the early 2000s. I feel like I completely missed the bus when I had the chance back in the 80s and early 90s. These guys are SO much better than I ever gave them credit back in the day. Awesome band! They've got a ton of catchy tunes. Try Mean Man.
Blackie has the greatest voice in heavy metal! this song is good but kinda soft. They have more raw and aggressive songs u guy's should dive into. My favorites are "harder faster" or "show no mercy". Thank you for this one tho!
I'm just getting ready to watch. I hope you guys go easy on this song 😅 I have such nostalgia with it (this whole album actually.) Yes George!!😅❤️
Fun fact, this song is written for Lita Ford. She was going back and forth from Blackie to Nikki Six. It was Blackies pleading for her to come back.
Also, when Blackie was auditioning guitarists for the band, he required they be as tall as him (he was 6'+), and "good looking".
WASP are fun, and most of their stuff is rawer and more aggressive than this, and most 80s hair metal for that matter. Check out I Wanna Be Somebody
FINALLL!! I’ve been waiting for some wasp to hit this channel! Blackie is the man
"The Idol" by W.A.S.P is a great song also. Give that one a listen.
A huge Thankyou goes out to Ryan for pointing out the exact Pat Benitar vibe so much . The moment I heard this song ( and I love Wasp ) the first time I wondered where I heard this before. You answered a question I've had my entire adult life
The Scorpions and WASP are different styles. WASP toured with Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, Armored Saint, Iron Maiden in those early years.
It is always a joy to watch you guys react to the tunes I grew up loving
wasp was honestly one of the most underrated bands.. they weren't really a great fit in the hair metal band category as they were placed...real metal is were they should have been placed
One of my favs in high school. I saw Slayer open for them in 87'.
You guys should react to "The Headless Children" (title track of the album of the same name) by W.A.S.P. It's more Metal than anything on this album :)
Absolutely! That whole album is on a whole other level from their previous work. The Headless Children into Thunderhead does it for me every time.
The Heretic, Headless Children and Thunderhead all stand out. Amazing album!
Miss You and Babylon is Burning are both great.
It's not the best song in the world. But it's hard to not smile while you listen to it.
i have loved wasp and the last command album ever since i first heard it.i am now passin the love of their music onto my nephew.long live wasp
WASP is one of those weird bands. They started out total 80's; shock rock and was pretty heavy. Then they came out with Electric Circus which was my jump the shark moment (for a while) and I quit listening to them. I regret doing that as I rediscovered them a few years back with the later music and was blown away by the musicianship of Blackie and band. I was reintroduced to them by reaction channels who did The Idol and a later song Golgotha. Was like "No Way" this can't be that same band. Then went out and bought a few of the later albums and found what I feel is one of my favorite albums of all time; the Crimson Idol album is a masterpiece of killer music which makes you feel on a Pink Floyd type of level. Another killer tune is Heaven's Hung In Black which is another great song which deals with war and our soldiers in the Iraq War. That song brings the full spectrum of emotions. Blackie has since found Christ and turned his life around and the newer song Golgotha is a masterpiece as well. I don't even listen to the older stuff like this anymore, just the newer WASP. I'm glad you did a song but would love if you did Heaven's Hung In Black, Miss You, the Idol, the Great Misconception of Me, or Lake of Fools. Would take that "hair metal" label off them for you and maybe introduce you to some killer new music.
Same here i was a huge fan of wasp back in the day . I started getting into heavier music just forgot about them till a couple of years ago when Golgotha came on Amazon music and i was blown away . I got back in to them and they are one of my favorite bands
I had a bit of a different introduction to WASP. I first heard them on the Live... In The Raw album, which I wore out during a 40 minute bus ride to school. However, I didn't check out any of their studio albums at the time, so those high energy, stripped-down live versions were all I was familiar with by the time Headless Children came out. That was the first studio album of their's that I purchased and at that point Blackie had taken the band in a more serious and socially conscious direction. Follow that up with the Crimson Idol, and those early albums from their career are like a different band. Blackie has shown his musical diversity over the years, so now I'm used to the different flavors of WASP, but back then the difference was incredible to hear.
@@jasonprescott3927 I did the exact same thing. Was getting into Slayer and the Thrash scene back then and WASP just seemed like they were getting cheesy with the Electric Circus album so I gave up on them. Wish I didn't but the upside is, I now have a bunch of new songs to listen to.
@@bloodstone2k My bus ride tape was Live After Death from Maiden. Just thought I'd share as I think most of us 80's metal heads had a tape for that dreaded bus ride. I still like the live versions of most of those songs over the studio versions. Go figure. As for the WASP, I think I like some of the older stuff but as I get older, I mellowed out just a bit and most of the newer stuff reminds me of the 80's metal I liked best; great guitar and his voice is chilling at times on those ballads. Think that's why I gravitate to the late 80's stuff and beyond. Headless Children is fantastic. Wish I would have stuck around and given the album after Electric Circus a chance back then.
@@troyv8302 Oh believe me, I had 10 or so albums in heavy rotation on my bus rides to and from school! Live After Death, Powerslave, Somewhere in Time from Maiden, Holy Diver and Dream Evil from Dio, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, Metallica's Garage Days Re-revisited. I also put some good mileage on Leatherwolf's (second) self-titled album, and Dokken's Back For The Attack. Good, good times!
Blind In Texas definitely.
I Wanna Be Somebody definitely. That one is an anthem!
For WASP in their sweet spot: The Headless Children.
Blackie's voice is actually the reason I like W.A.S.P. It's unique, and the gravelly quality made it special. This band had a darker edge than a lot of their peers. They always came off as more dangerous than the typical hair metal band. I always appreciated that about them. Though this particular song is a bit more tame than some of their other material.
Can't go wrong with the first five albums.
7, if you include live...in the raw and headless children
All their albums beside Helldorado are killer. Hav u not heard unholy terror dying for the world?
I'm into a wide variety of metal, rock and grunge and somehow this song has always been top of my playlist. Such a catchy and well written song!
Another WASP song that I keep coming back to is Locomotive Man.
You should give the WASP catalog an actual listen.
WASP was a theatrical band and you have to expect that kind of voice with such a beastly title and image. In all honesty, I don’t believe you’re grasping what they’re about. There’s more of a Shock Rock element involved.
They were more badass than the pop metal of the 80s groups. Also, Blackie Lawless is brilliant at writing heavy Rock songs. Check out the songs “Sleeping In The Fire” “IDOL“ “Hellion” “I Want To Be Somebody “ and “Love Machine. “
Just a suggestion guys.