BAND – WASP
ALBUM – RE-IDOLIZED THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE CRIMSON IDOL
RELEASED – 2/2/18 NAPLAM RECORDS
FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/W.A.S.P.Nation
WEB SITE –  https://www.waspnation.com/waspnation.htm

REVIEWED BY – ERIC V  aka EVIL E

When it was first announced that W.A.S.P. will be re-releasing one of my all-time favorite W.A.S.P albums “The Crimson Idol” in conjunction with its 25th anniversary, I was excited and intrigued to find out more about it. I had several questions popping into my head. Will they be remastering it? Will it consist of unreleased tracks? What could they be doing to this masterpiece? Wait… they’re Re-recording it!? Fuck No! Come on! Are you kidding me? Why would they do something like this? The combination of Black Lawless’ ingenious story and well-crafted songs played by him, Bob Kulick and Frankie Banali (Stet Howland on “I Am One” & “The Great Misconceptions Of Me”) was a combination of amazing musicianship and flawless execution. What was Blackie thinking? Well, the collector in me started to hunt down and secure all the versions that were available. The CD Box set, Limited Earbook, Red, Black & Picture Disc vinyl versions. I secured them all, mission accomplished! Wait…there is a Gold LP European only version limited to 200 pieces and it is sold out? Fuck! This sucks!

I’m not one of those typical music fans who buy albums and goes to see shows and everything I hear is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I don’t drink the Kool-Aid that all these other kids do. Hey people, it is ok to say your favorite band didn’t sound good, their new album sucks or their performance this time around was lack-luster. I just can’t stand the people who come out of a show and say the band was great. The set was great, what an amazing night! When I hear this, I say to myself, are you serious? Were we just at the same show, because that was far from great? I know we are all passionate about music and the bands we listen to, but just be honest. It doesn’t make you any less of a fan. But to live in a dream world where your favorite band can do no wrong is ridiculous. You’re only fooling yourself.

So, the day has finally come and my stuff has arrived (Yes, I am still in need of the Gold LP version at a decent price). I open the Earbook and plug the CD into the stereo. As the album starts to play I begin to read the liner notes written by Blackie. He discusses how the idea came up for re-recording this album and how skeptical he was in the beginning to attempt such a feat. He praised and thanked Banali and Kulick (Howland too) for their contributions to the original album and how it would be impossible to re-create the magic that they all captured on the original. He goes on to say that he still had some of the same exact instruments and amps that he used for the original recording session, so duplicating the sound should not be too difficult for the most part, but realized what a huge undertaking he had taken on. The hardest part of doing this new version will be recreating the drums. The drums to me are a huge part of this album. They are deep, loud, thunderous and in your face. They pummel you from the first song to the last. They are relentless and never give up. Mike Dupke has huge shoes to fill and in my opinion he falls way short on fulfilling this task. Banali is a monster and executes the original with absolute perfection. Dupke does a fine job in trying to achieve Banali’s greatness, but to me there is something missing. They are slightly flat sounding and don’t have that punch behind them. Blackie vocally sounds great. So much better than I thought he would. You can definitely hear that he has aged over the past quarter century and doesn’t still have the same range in his voice. But whose voice still sounds the same so many years later? No one’s! The only person I can say that really was still at the top of his game vocally before leaving us is the late great Ronnie James Dio. As you age, so does your voice. You just can’t hit those notes anymore, just ask Paul Stanley or Joe Elliott. Some of these singers out there today should just call it a day because they just can’t sing anymore and sound nothing like they did back in the day, but now I am digressing and that’s a whole other issue.

The songs were recreated very close to the original versions. The biggest noticeable difference is with the “Invisible Boy”, which is about a minute shorter. The newly released songs of Michael’s Song, Miss You, Hey Mama, Lost Boy, The Peace (which features Frankie Banali on drums) & Showtime are all nice added bonuses. I was unaware that Miss you which appeared on 2015’s Golgatha was an unreleased song from the Idol sessions, great tune.

The main reason for this reissue was so that Blackie can release the movie associated with this story. It was finally good to see this short film which gives you an inside look to the characters and gives you a better understanding to the story and the world that Blackie created over 25 years ago. I would definitely watch this first before diving into the album, especially if you are a fan and know the album.

As I feel this re-recording should have never happened because you cannot recreate perfection, I understand the need for it. Overall, I am happy it was done because we finally got the movie we have heard so much about over the years and got to hear some new unreleased songs that were intended for the original album. If you are a diehard fan it is definitely a must have to add to your collection. If you don’t have to have everything the band releases, stick to the original as it is far superior.

-Evil E. \m/\m/