W.A.S.P.

The Neon God: Part One — The Rise

Sanctuary/EMI

Keith Carman (CHARTattack)

04/20/2004 4:51pm

W.A.S.P. putting out another concept album? Creepy, especially when this one follows some sort of pseudo-Jesus Christ Superstar story: the rise and fall of a false messiah under singer Blackie Lawless' soul-searching question: "God, why am I here?" Musically similar to The Headless Children, this one is a vast undertaking more full of orchestration than typical songwriting. The end result is surprisingly impressive and dynamic for something so enveloped in W.A.S.P.'s classic metal sound. Strong but not perfect, some tracks forsake cool riffs for telling the overall story but most of the disc rocks, proving the Lawless is on the right path. He's got his shit together here, seeing the idea as a whole instead of just piece by piece. To date, this is the closest Lawless has ever come to creating his own Tommy. And having that comparison in any sentence involving W.A.S.P. is no small feat. We'll see if he can improve on it for Part Two.

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