W.A.S.P.
Live... In The Raw

"Live... In The Raw" is the first live album released by W.A.S.P. in 1987.

Let's start by saying that this album has added value for me for various reasons that I will avoid listing, so I will try to be as objective as possible.

The songs included in the album are recordings from previous years, so we have the classic lineup featuring Mr. Chris Holmes on guitar, Steve Riley on drums, Jhonny Rod on bass, and of course guitar and vocals by the immense Blackie Lawless!.

We have everything in place to hope for a truly kicking ass live performance, and you will discover how truly this is as soon as the album starts with "Inside the electric circus", where the first thing that stands out is the splendid vocal form of Mr. Lawless, truly impeccable and never dropping in tone throughout the album. Right on time comes "I don't need no doctor", a truly flawless performance that will take us through other classics like "L.O.V.E. machine" and the renowned "Wild child", leading to "9-5-Nasty", which is the only live version of this song published on their albums (obviously excluding various bootlegs). A touching moment due to "Sleeping in the fire", truly noteworthy. Thus, we arrive at "The Manimals", a track that we will not find on studio albums, as the only relapse of this song is found in this live album, so for band enthusiasts, this represents a real gem and a reason for interest. The same goes for "Harder Faster". After these two rare tracks, we smoothly arrive at the great finale with "I wanna be somebody" and "Blind in Texas".

It is also important to note that the re-release published in 1997 includes 5 bonus tracks, one of which is "Scream until you like it", the soundtrack of "Ghoulies 2", and other live tracks of the band ("Shoot from the hip", "Widow maker", and "Sex Drive") including the acoustic version of "Sleeping in the fire".

Everything would suggest a memorable live performance, but there are 2 flaws that impair the album:

1) Do you think something is missing?......OH YES!...the version of "Animal (Fuck like a beast)" was not included, a true anthem for the band!

Various rumors say that the damned P.M.R.C. prevented the band from releasing that track. So, everything makes sense, but its absence is certainly felt.

2) The recording is too clean, severely impairing the live impact of some tracks, making them sweeter and gentler than they should actually be.

I have been very objective and have pointed out the flaws that, for me, are truly negligible, but I would give this live a 10!

I strongly recommend you listen to it, W.A.S.P. have been and still are one of the greatest Heavy Metal bands of all time, they NEVER fail!