W.A.S.P.
The Crimson Idol

W.A.S.P., an acronym in America for "White Anglo-Saxon Protestants," to identify the elite, the wealthy and ruling class of America, the white middle-class.

But the group's name is not an acronym of this type, it stands for "we are sexual perverts"; indeed, because the "W.A.S.P." were a socially dangerous group and their leader and main composer, indeed the sole mind of the group (since he remained the only one never to have left the band and the only one to whom the image of the group was associated), as I was saying, the leader Blackie Lawless (formerly of the New York Dolls) was singled out by families and American puritanical morality, as the number one enemy of teenagers and several times subject to censorship. At that time, the "W.A.S.P." staged concerts with tortured women and proposed a dissolute and irreverent image, enough to make the early Motley Crue appear quite harmless. They were the most threatening band ever seen so far, and for them someone coined the term "shock metal".

They debuted with the single "animal (fuck like a beast)" which was immediately censored, both for the title and for the content. Blackie Lawless himself in a recent interview, talks about how he "screwed everything that walked and breathed" and that he ended up having sex with more than "800 women," stuff that neither Rocco Siffredi nor a gnat could do in a single lifetime! To those who know little about glam (even though W.A.S.P. cannot be considered glam), or the Los Angeles scene revolving around heavy rock, Lawless's words might seem excessive and from a braggart, but this was almost the rule of life for a rockstar in California in the '80s. The following albums were absolutely instinctive and full of energy, but unlike many groups that revolved in that circuit, the "W.A.S.P." managed to create compositions of a certain significance. Surely with a reputation like theirs, with everything they represented in the America of the '80s, who could have ever imagined that Blackie Lawless would come out with a concept album as deep and moving as "the crimson Idol"?

We are in 1992 and grunge had now taken over, sweeping away all the visual excesses of the '80s: the fake make-up, teased hair, and excesses of all kinds. The party was over and just like a new '29 crash, many bands collapsed or started wearing flannel shirts and having a blank stare!

{"did you do metal or melodic hard rock?" "what?!!! that crap from the '80s? I never liked metal, you must have me confused with someone else, don't you see how nice my flannel shirt is?"}.

The party was over and Blackie Lawless had understood that, so he conceived a concept based on an overused theme (the rise and fall of a rockstar) where, however, the music and the depth of many lyrics make it anything but banal, and it turns out to be anything but already heard! A partially autobiographical story narrates the exploits of the rockstar Jonathan Aaron Steel, a rock star on the crest of the wave and then on the brink of both moral and physical decline. In his last night of existence, before committing suicide, the crimson idol (as he was called by the crowds, hence the name of the concept) traces his entire existence: from a family that rejected him seeing him as the black sheep of the house, to the premature death of his 14-year-old older brother, the parents' favorite, to his escape from home, to the struggle and finally the debut in the world of rock'n'roll! From there on there will be his revenge against the world, with the protagonist shouting "I just want to be the crimson idol". An illusion that will manifest itself in all its evidence with the psychological collapse of Jonathan, making him more empty and isolated than before and realizing that the real reason for his torment is the non-acceptance by his father and mother. Then the protagonist calls home after many years and talks to his mother telling her that he is her son, but she responds "we have no children". It is the final collapse of the protagonist leading him to suicide.

It is difficult to single out a track, as it all functions as a whole made of elegant and delicate ballads and powerful heavy rock anthems, such as the track "chainsaw Charlie (murders in the new morgue)", a powerful anthemic ride, with almost musical-like tones and a liberating chorus. The song talks about the cruelty of the music business, where each artist becomes highly disposable meat. Worth noting is the beautiful "the Idol" with a moving guitar riff and the final track (a sort of collage of all the moments of the album).