Line #56 Music/WASPBand


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frontpage.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The current line up (from left to right): Mike Duda, Blackie Lawless and Doug Blair]]
3
4	-> ''"We ain't sure, pal."''
5	-->-- '''Blackie Lawless''', when questioned about the meaning of band's name.
6
7	W.A.S.P. is a Heavy Metal band from Los Angeles USA. Initially formed from the ashes of Sister, Circus Circus and London, W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock antics (throwing raw meat to the audience, naked models tied to torture racks etc.) and the feud with PMRC in the 1980's over their "objectionable" lyrics. Despite its attempts to ban the band, [[StreisandEffect the outrage only resulted in higher album sales]]. The band took a more serious turn lyrically and sonically in the 90's with ''The Crimson Idol'' and, with the exception of ''Helldorado'', has continued to this day. The frontman, Blackie Lawless, is the only member of the band from the original albums, very much a case of IAmTheBand.
8
9	-----
10	!!Lineup:
11	Founding members in ''bold''. Current members in ''italic''.
12	* '''''Steve Duren/[[StageNames Blackie Lawless]]''''' - Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards (1982-present)
13	* '''William "Randy" Piper''' - Rhythm guitar (1982-1986)
14	* '''Anthony Orlando/Tony Richards''' - Drums (1982-1984)
15	* '''Chris Holmes''' - Lead guitar (1983-1990, 1995-2001)
16	* John Tumminello/Johnny Rod - Bass (1986-1992)
17	* ''Mike Duda'' - Bass (1995-present)
18	* ''Doug Blair'' - Lead guitar (2006-present)
19	* ''Aquiles Priester'' - Drums (2017-present)
20
21
22	!!Discography:
23
24	* 1984 - ''W.A.S.P.''
25	* 1985 - ''The Last Command''
26	* 1986 - ''Inside the Electric Circus''
27	* 1989 - ''The Headless Children''
28	* 1992 - ''Music/TheCrimsonIdol''
29	* 1995 - ''Still Not Black Enough''
30	* 1997 - ''Kill, Fuck, Die''
31	* 1999 - ''Helldorado''
32	* 2001 - ''Unholy Terror''
33	* 2002 - ''Dying for the World''
34	* 2004 - ''The Neon God Part One: The Rise''
35	* 2004 - ''The Neon God Part Two: The Demise''
36	* 2007 - ''Dominator''
37	* 2009 - ''Babylon''
38	* 2015 - ''Golgotha''
39	* 2018 - ''Re-Idolized (The Soundtrack to the Crimson Idol)'' (A re-recording of ''The Crimson Idol'' to commemorate its 25th anniversary)
40
41	-----
42	!!"I Trope Like A '''''Beast!'''''":
43
44	* SeventiesHair: Former rhythm guitarist Randy Piper had this in the music videos for "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E Machine", "Wild Child" and "Blind In Texas".
45	* AsHimself: Them making an appearance in ''Film/TheDungeonmaster''.
46	* TheAlcoholic: Former lead guitarist Chris Holmes was definitely this in the 1980s, as his infamous interview in "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" proves. He's been sober for years now, though.
47	* AnthropomorphicVice: ''Thunderhead'' depicts heroin as a demonic entity that demands that those devoted to it utterly debase themselves for its amusement.
48	* BadassBiker: An occasional lyrical theme on their earlier albums. Examples include "Hellion", “Show No Mercy”, “Restless Gypsy”, “Maneater”, "Mean Man", and "Savage".
49	* BadassBoast: "Widowmaker", "Mean Man".
50	* TheBigGuy: While the 6'3 Blackie Lawless has been this for last ten years, Chris Holmes was this during his time in the band, standing at a huge 6'6.
51	* CarefulWithThatAxe: "You fucking suck...You fucking suck...You fucking suck...'''''LIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!'''''"
52	* ChainsawGood: Blackie Lawless wore a codpiece with a circular saw on it in band's earlier stage shows.
53	** "Chainsaw Charlie" begins with not one but three chainsaws revving up before the music kicks in.
54	* ConceptAlbum: ''Kill Fuck Die'' is one about sex and death.
55	* CoverVersion: They have covered [[Music/TheRollingStonesBand "Paint It Black"]], "[[Music/UriahHeep Easy Living]]", "[[Music/JethroTull Locomotive Breath]]", [[Music/TheWho "The Real Me"]], [[Music/LedZeppelin "When the Levee Breaks"]], [[Music/{{ACDC}} "Whole Lotta Rosie"]], [[Music/{{Queen}} "Tie Your Mother Down"]], "[[Music/EltonJohn Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting]]", "Promised Land" by Music/ChuckBerry, "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain, "I Don't Need No Doctor" by Music/RayCharles, "Somebody to Love" by Music/JeffersonAirplane, "Burn" by Music/DeepPurple.
56	* CrucifiedHeroShot: On the cover of ''[[http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/pop_albums/cov200/drf800/f847/f84740rf9kc.jpg The Crimson Idol]].
57	* DarkerAndEdgier:
58	** ''Kill, Fuck, Die'', which featured industrial influences and rougher production.
59	** W.A.S.P. themselves was this to the glam scene in general, both in terms of sound and onstage theatrics.
60	* DrivenToSuicide: Jonathan Aaron Steel, the protagonist of ''The Crimson Idol'', hangs himself onstage with his own guitar strings during the final song on the album.
61	-->''With these six-strings, I make a noose,\
62	To take my life, it's time to choose,\
63	The headlines read of my demise, of my suicide.''
64	* DrugsAreBad: Blackie Lawless is one of the VERY few 1980s rockers who didn't do drugs (though he did drink alcohol). ''The Headless Children'' album's anti-drug message was somewhat lost on most hard-partying fans in the late 1980s.
65	* EarlyBirdCameo: Eagle-eyed viewers can catch a glimpse of Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper as bikers in the very odd 1980 movie, ''Film/CantStopTheMusic'' (the story of the Village People, starring the Village People themselves).
66	* EpicRocking: "The Heretic (The Lost Child)", "Thunderhead", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)", "The Idol", "The Great Misconceptions of Me", "The Horror", "Wasted White Boys", "Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits)", "The Last Redemption", "Heaven's Hung in Black", "Shotgun", "Miss You", "Slaves of the New World Order" and "Golgotha".
67	* FunWithAcronyms: Band's name is a memorable example. However, two out of six of the song titles are actual acronyms; those being "D.B. Blues" (Douchebag Blues) and "Rebel in the F.D.G." (Rebel in the Fucking Decadent Generation). Other two are {{Spelling Song}}s ("L.O.V.E. Machine" and "B.A.D."), one is a phone number ("9.5. - N.A.S.T.Y.") and one is a case of XtremeKoolLetterz ("X.T.C Riders").
68	* GreatestHitsAlbum: There are three: ''First Blood, Last Cuts'' and 1 CD and 2 CD versions of ''The Best of the Best''.
69	* GroinAttack: Blackie used to wear a codpiece on stage that had Roman candles shoot out sparks. One night it backfired and hit Blackie in the crotch with the force of a shotgun. He had to put a ''lot'' of ice on it, but other than that he was fine. Supposedly, while he was recovering backstage he said "We wouldn't have to do this shit [[SelfDeprecation if we wrote better songs!]]"
70	* HarshVocals: Though not quite as much in recent years, Blackie's basically a master of this trope.
71	* HeavyMeta: "Rock Rolls On", "War Cry", "Rock and Roll to Death"
72	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: The four are featured on the cover of ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fi/thumb/6/6e/WASP_Babylon.jpg/252px-WASP_Babylon.jpg Babylon.]]''
73	* IAmTheBand: W.A.S.P. has essentially been Blackie Lawless with a backing band for the last twenty years.
74	* {{Instrumentals}}: "Mephisto Waltz" and "Euphoria".
75	* IntercourseWithYou: They were shock rockers, what did you expect? Examples include "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", "9.5. - N.A.S.T.Y.", "Don't Cry (Just Suck)", and "Harder Faster".
76	* IWasQuiteALooker: Blackie Lawless has never been a heartthrob exactly, but he was at least quite handsome in his [[http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/5753004/454full-blackie-lawless.jpg younger days]]. Fast forward to [[http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/blackie-lawless-2014.jpg 2015]]...
77	** In his defense, Blackie looked great for his age up till about 2012 or so, when he had serious health issues (such as a broken femur) that obviously took years off his life.
78	** [[http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanmckeon/pics/Various/chris_holmes.jpg Chris Holmes]]has...gone through [[http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JKl7B1VABoM/maxresdefault.jpg some changes]], too.
79	* LargeAndInCharge:
80	** Band leader Lawless is 6 foot 3 inches tall and typically towers over his bandmates.
81	** Chris Holmes is even taller than Blackie. His guitar looks like a tennis racket in his hands.
82	* LeadBassist: Blackie was a Type C from 1982 (when Don Costa left) until 1986 (when Randy Piper left and Blackie took over rhythm guitar duties).
83	* LoudnessWar: ''Helldorado'' album.
84	* TheLostLenore: "Forever Free" from ''The Headless Children''.
85	-->''The wind cries out her name in the breeze\
86	But I can't hold her anymore\
87	Some fallen angel had come to me\
88	And fell too heavy on my soul\
89	It stole from me the love I heard\
90	Lords of time say never dies''
91	* MetalScream: Blackie does this a lot. "Kill,Fuck,Die" is almost entirely sung like this.
92	* MoneySong: "Fistful of Diamonds" from ''The Last Command''.
93	* MoodDissonance: Due to W.A.S.P.'s themes getting darker album by album in the 90's, return-to-form album ''Helldorado'' with it's IntercourseWithYou songs and bad-boy attitude weren't taken well by fans.
94	* MurderBallad: "Jack Action".
95	* NewSoundAlbum: Starting with ''The Headless Children'', they switched from singing mostly about being a badass and having lots of sex, and began writing about more serious social and political themes. Aside from the IndustrialMetal influences on ''Kill, Fuck, Die'' and the throwback ''Helldorado'', they've continued with it to this day.
96	* OneLetterTitle: "U" from ''Kill, Fuck, Die''.
97	* OneSteveLimit: Averted between 1984 and 1987 as the band featured two, drummer Steve Riley and Blackie himself (his real name being Steven Edward Duren). Played straight since, though.
98	* PhallicWeapon: "Shoot From The Hip" uses "pistol" as a very obvious metaphor.
99	* PowerBallad: "Forever Free", "Hold on to My Heart", "Evermore", "Heaven's Hung In Black", "Miss You".
100	* ProtestSong: "Goodbye America" from ''Still Not Black Enough''.
101	* RecycledLyrics / RearrangeTheSong: ''The Headless Children'' contains a B-side entitled "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Some of the lyrics and the melody would later form the basis of "The Gypsy Meets the Boy" from ''The Crimson Idol''.
102	* RevolvingDoorBand: The band has never been able to keep the same line up for more than two albums, meaning there's never been a "classic line up". The one exception was that Mike Dupke performed drums on ''Dominator'', ''Babylon'' and ''Golgotha'', but left right after recording the latter.
103	* RockOpera:
104	** ''The Crimson Idol'' chronicles the rise and fall of fictional musician Jonathan Steele.
105	** ''The Neon God'' duology is a story of a boy with an ability to [[ManipulativeBastard manipulate people]].
106	* SelfTitledAlbum: The first album.
107	* ShoutOut: "The Horror" is about Colonel Kurtz from ''Film/ApocalypseNow''.
108	* SignsOfTheEndTimes: "Babylon's Burning"
109	* SomethingBlues: "D.B. Blues" from ''Live Animal'' single and ''Inside the Electric Circus''.
110	* SpellingSong: "B.A.D." and "L.O.V.E. Machine".
111	* SubduedSection: "Helldorado", "Blind in Texas".
112	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Breathe" from ''Still Not Black Enough''.
113	* TakeThat: "Harder Faster" (from ''Live...in the Raw'') was written with the PMRC in mind.
114	* TheUnfavourite: Jonathan Steel, the protagonist of ''The Crimson Idol'', is this to his parents (especially his father) who favor his older brother Michael. It only intensifies after Michael's tragic death.
115	-->I was the boy unwanted, a prisoner I'm born to them
116	-->My brother was the one, that couldn't do no wrong
117	-->And I was there dying in the shadow of him
118	* UnusualEuphemism: The line "Virgo, my Leo's rising" in "L.O.V.E. Machine".
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Context Music / WASPBand