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Rating: There are albums written to change the history of music, and there are others that are, more humbly, the right records at the right time. "Wide Fuckin' Open" (a motorcycling term), W.F.O. for friends, is one of these.
The year was 1994. The thrash metal genre had already been declining for some time, and although some of the protagonists of the last decade would still deliver great performances, the masses were moving in search of an original or at least successful way out. Some would make it (Slayer, Sepultura), others were destined to fail, at least for a while (Testament, Metallica). The New Yorkers Overkill, on their eighth release, instead reach their maximum level of power, mastery, furious elegance; an album, this "W.F.O.", completely devoid of even the slightest weakness. A perfect product; perhaps not a creative masterpiece, but certainly thrash craftsmanship rich and varied enough for many consecutive listens (a rare thing for the genre).
It starts with the crescendo of "Where It Hurts", which immediately makes it clear what our guys are made of. The strength of the album is a decisive change in production; although the cleanliness of the latest releases is still far away, one notices a very personal sound. Apart from Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth's acidic voice, the sound of the bass is the true trademark of Overkill, and here D.D. Verni is truly unleashed, greatly supported by drummer Tim Mallare. This leads to "Fast Junkie", decidedly speedy, and then returning to the more classic thrash with the heavy and atmospheric "The Wait - New High In Lows", one of the two best tracks on the album. It continues with a series of typically speed metal songs, among which "Under One" stands out for the power of the riffs, the bluesy feeling (alive in many Overkill productions) and the obsessive and acidic finale, "Supersonic Hate", for its aggressiveness and speed, but also "R.I.P.", a short and emotion-laden instrumental. Then comes "Bastard Nation", the most commercial track, marked by an easy-listening chorus and a usual powerful and aggressive pace.
But it’s the last track that reserves the album's surprise. A song that is a true masterpiece, and perhaps the best episode not only of the album but maybe in the entire history of Overkill. "Gasoline Dream" is atmosphere, obsessive heaviness, it lives on a most original sound, with a visionary lyrics perfectly attuned to the blurred and deliberately disorienting sound. A track that resolves in the usual violence, which compels you to turn up the volume well beyond the bearable to fully appreciate its acidity, melancholy, and suffering. Despite their good intentions and several admirable albums, Overkill will never be able to reproduce the stylistic and technical perfection of "W.F.O.". A must not only for thrashers but also for those approaching heavy metal more generally.
One last gem: the CD is made up of a full 99 tracks. All empty ones between 11 and 98, with the last one reserving a gem for Overkill fans; our guys playfully tackling the Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell" and Judas Priest's "The Ripper", the bands Overkill has always referred to, in two truly entertaining versions.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 Under One (04:14)
Send me all your tired weak, your hungry sick disgusted.
My back is broke, flame is out, eyes and head are rusted.
My arms are open wide.
Under one nation,
Under one God.
Under one nation,
Under one fog.
Send us all your criminal insane inflamed indignant.
Your terminal infected hopeful, juvenille delinquents.
My arms still open wide.
Under one, under one god.
Flies are fucking on my face, I watch the magots breed...
Providing everything they want,
Everything they need.
My hands are tied, my hands are tied,
Tied hands set them free...
My eyes pealed to your pain,
Call me liberty.
I am but a part of you,
Your daughters and your sons.
Embrace my heart my patience now,
Before it all is gone.
Untie my hands, untie my hands,
For blatent disregard...
I see no color differences and remain always under one... God.
Under one God.
Under one.
10 Bastard Nation (05:38)
Twisted torn and ripped,
The balance goes away.
Mine is but an active immagination.
Tear the boundary down!
Know more line.
Take a look inside the bastard that you find.
Yelling screamed and ripped,
Just to have a say.
Yours is but an over exaggeration.
Throw the civil down!
Kill your fear.
Feel the need, to act on what you hear!
Did they say we were hard?!
Did they say we were separation?!
Citizens of a bastard nation?!
Waste me for what I do,
Not for what you hate.
Guilt became the prime motivation.
Throw the civil down!
Kill his seed.
Let's cut out the heart to see if it bleeds.
Crippled lame and trapped,
The balance falls away.
Move, to total separation.
Dissolve the boundary now!
Kill the line.
You become the new! bastard that you find.
Did they say we were hard?!
Did they say we were separation?!
Citizens of a bastard nation?!
I'll walk away if you do.
And I'll stay if you do.
What you fear? Fearing be a man.
Did they say we were hard?!
Did they say we were separation?!
Citizens of a bastard nation?!
11 Gasoline Dream (06:49)
Wishful thinking, eyes are blinking,
In the sun the garbage stinking.
To ignore the rancid, won't make it go away.
Untruth spoke through blistered lip,
Unclean thoughts that take the step,
Down upon the roaches,
Won't go away.
Born! to follow!
To be the first to swallow,
Garbage from the plate.
Now! to borrow!
A match, ignite the gasoline,
To burn away.
Surviving through a gasoline dream,
In the month the razon blade gleam,
Slashing up the tongue, won't make it go away.
On a binge of self destruction,
Children of the reconstruction,
Suck the tit of discontent,
Go away.
Slam! slam down!
Respond in kind malcontent,
Don't go away.
Burn! burn down!
Temple of the conscience,
Don't go away.
I was soaked in gasoline,
Playin' with a match.
I was everything I seemed,
They stood and watched.
Ate from your table!
Ate from your hand!
Eight days of waiting!
Buried in the sand!
Burn in a gasoline dream, burn away my love.
Burn away the conscience, burn away, my love.
Take away my dignity, take away my pain,
Take just for taking, we are one in the same...
Burn... Burn...
Burn in a gasoline dream, burn away my love.
Burn away the conscience, burn away, my love.
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