By: Rich Catino

W.A.S.P. – The Crimson Idol (1992) “Crimson Idol” is another album overlooked and underrated at least by the majority, not the minority, overshadowed by the band’s previous work and hits. W.A.S.P., led by Blackie Lawless, started out as shock rock, very theatrical following in the footsteps of Alice Copper’s stage show but more brutal. From 1984-87 with song title like ‘Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)’, ‘Tormentor’, ‘Wild Child’, ‘Blind In Texas’, ‘Sex Drive’, and ‘9.5. Nasty’, the band were all about sex, drugs, blood, and rock n roll. It was 1988 when Blackie showed the band’s maturity and his intelligence with “The Headless Children” where politics and social issues are now a theme throughout the album. The title track, ‘The Heretic (The Lost Child), and ballad ‘Forever Free’, all indicate what’s to come on “Crimson Idol”.

“Crimson Idol” was originally going to be a Blackie Lawless solo album and includes none of the players from the previous W.A.S.P. albums, features Bob Kulick (brother of Bruce from Kiss) on guitar and Frankie Banali from Quiet Riot on drums. The story is about a boy named Johnathan and his rise and fall in the music industry, and his struggle to find love and acceptance by his parents. The album is emotionally delivered both through the music arrangements, guitar leads and melodies, and Blackie’s vocals. Still very metal in W.A.S.P. attitude, though the guitars, bass, and drums have a more polished tone. Numbers ‘The Titanic Overture’, ‘Chainsaw Charlie’, and epic nine minute album closer ‘The Great Misconceptions of Me’ open with acoustic guitar and melodic vocal setting up the track. Dialogue and pre-recorded characters/sounds to the story segue the power ballad ‘The Idol’/Hold on to My Heart’, with ‘The Gypsy Meets The Boy’ seeing Blackie taking center stage as poet and storyteller.

“Crimson idol” is W.A.S.P. at their best and a classic, demonstrating class, dynamics and variety in their history, and should be recognized as important musically as the debut and “The Last Command”.