I am one of the few people on this sad excuse of Planet Rock who has the motherfucking sense to fully appreciate the greatness of the first WASP album. It’s not that I introduce myself like that at cocktail parties, but it’s true. And it’s not that I am ever invited to cocktail parties period, but still… Shut the fuck up. You know what I mean.

After the decent follow-up “Last Command”, the band (Blackie) decided to get rid of guitarist Randy Piper and let the singer (Blackie) tackle the guitar duties himself. According to the band (Blackie), Randy was a loser of the highest fucking magnitude and should be stricken from all official WASP records since he hadn’t contributed in any form or shape to any of the albums. As a matter of fact, says the band (Blackie), Randy was just there for the photo sessions and the shows. So, naturally, Randy was kicked to the curb of the Rock’n’Roll Highway and had to beg for scraps of food, living under bridges and shit. He played the spoons down at the Salvation Army, and every once in a while he dressed up in drag and signed autographs as “Cher”, blowing hobos for food stamps and affection. Life was tough. He cried a lot. OK, so I made that shit up, but that’s pretty much the story WASP (Blackie) wants us to swallow.

Well, let me ask Mr. Blackless this then:

How is it, Mr. WASP, that this bona fide loser, who in no shape or form contributed to the original patented WASP sound, has now released an album that sounds more like WASP than anything you, yourself, have ever put out? (And, while we’re at it – and going along the same line of questioning, why is it that neither Chris Holmes nor you can play the guitar solos from the first two albums live? Not so fucking mouthy now, are you? Dumbass...)

Because that is the state of facts here, kids… Randy Piper’s group Animal has just released the “lost” WASP album with “Violent New Breed”, and they have done it in flying colors. Joining him on this album is a bunch of no-name peeps, but for all we, the listeners, could guess it’s the fucking original WASP lineup, complete with Tony Richards on drums! The singer, Rich Lewis, sounds like a young and hungry motherfucking Blackie Lawless, the drums are Tony Richards to a tee, and since we will just never know who actually played the guitars on that first WASP album we will just say that Randy Piper (and Chris Laney) has the VINTAGE sound of that first album... Like no time has passed between that album and this. On Piper’s debut album, a few years back, Chris Holmes and Tony Richards actually did play, so I guess the band (not Blackie) has forgiven him his unfortunate musical shortcomings since? Uh-huh… The image fucking sharpens…

The title track kicks off the album with that spacey Flanger effect on the guitars that I hate, and leads me to believe we are going to have fucking Rammstein march out of the speakers. But no… it’s an old school WASP tune, like a mix between “Fuck Like a Beast” and “School Daze”. It’s fucking spooky how much Lewis sounds like Blackie, but better. At least these days. Blackie is fucking crap these days. Motherfucker.

Anyway… Great songs follow… Like the pummeling “Morning After”, with its soft savage verse and classic sing along chorus, and “Eye of the Storm” with crushing melodies and bestial guitars. The beautifully sappy ballad “Turn and Walk Away” is almost better than “Sleeping in the Fire” and “Hellchild” has that dark ominous kickass sound that leads into that opening chorus – just like “Wild Child” of “Last Command”, but not as fucking gay. Some weird chromatic fucking keyboard effects in the background of this track send me into mental warp drive, but I’ll let that fucker slip. This time. It was a cheap high.

The two slow songs, “Salt” and “In the Mirror”, are decent closers, even though it fucking sucks to lose the momentum of my head banging here. One semi-lame Dragon Ass tune would have been enough.

And then we have the two big buts of the album. Big fucking Jennifer Lopez butts, but not as attractive to squeeze into…

1.The last song, “Boom”… What the fuck? Are you motherfuckers high? All of a sudden Rammstein did march out of my fucking speakers and tore up my place like it was a fucking Nine Inch Nails festival live on Ibiza 2005. Take that gay ass fuck industrial wannabe piece of shit the hell out of here. Why defile a good album with that fucking garbage? I don’t get it, and I’m not even drunk yet.

2.And this leads to the second problem: With a title like “Violent New Breed”, blatantly stolen from Shotgun Messiah’s third album, it would be wise to not try to rip off that band’s sound on most of the guitar riffs found on this album, and especially the whole last fucking song. The similarities were painfully fucking obvious even without the dead giveaway of the title-theft. Just saying…

All in all… This is the best WASP album WASP never released, from the hands of the man who supposedly never did shit for that sound to begin with.

Yeah, right…

Would have been a solid 4, maybe even a 4.5, if it hadn’t been for that last tech-song and the two other musical speed bumps at the end of the album.

Comments? Go to the Blitzkrieg Guest Page.

Animal

"Violent New Breed"

Rating:                               

Reviewed by:

Beppo Blitzkrieg

Artwork used with permission from Neverland Music Inc.