666 : The remarkable rehabilitation of Mr. B. Lawless
If you want a true definition of resilience and durability, then you need to look no further than Blackie Lawless and his horde. They encapsulate completely the idea that a career in rock n’ roll is a marathon as opposed to a sprint. W.A.S.P. have been written off on many occasions, yet each time they have laughed it off, brushed themselves down and come back brighter. Over forty years in (yes 40) from their inception they are now more relevant and more lauded than they have ever been. Their current 40th-anniversary tour is both critically lauded and sold out all over the shop and belatedly “Crimson Idol” is now viewed as a bona fide piece of musical genius. This is not bad for a band that was labelled as paperweight and shocking for shocking sake.
There are a number of reasons for their miraculous but inevitable resurrection. The first is they were always ahead of their time. We didn't get irony when they wheeled out the camp theatrics in those early years. Everything was very poker-faced and everyone took everything really rather seriously. There was a massive tongue in their collective cheeks as they rolled out the blood, the chainsaws and the scantily clad extras. It's a tongue-in-cheek that we are only now really getting to appreciate it. The rehabilitation of their early year’s stage show has shown that they were revelling in irony long before revelling in irony was even a thing. We can now see it for what it was, twisted macabre entertainment at its very best.
One other point is they were so far ahead of the curve that they were in danger of lapping the others in with the aforementioned "Crimson Idol". It foretold the development of prog metal at a point where even the forefathers of the movement were in short trousers and avidly learning all their scales. At the time (when grunge walked the earth) it seemed bloated and out of step. Now it is viewed as nothing short of a masterpiece. It showed that metal can be intelligent, thoughtful, and thoroughly intricate.
The second reason why W.A.S.P. still is as important now as they were in the days of the hairspray and circular saw codpiece, is that they had and still have the songs. Blackie Lawless is a man who knows how to write a tune. What was once viewed as dumb, and throwaway are now quite simply metallic anthems that are born to be sung in arenas. ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’, ‘Blind in Texas’, ‘Wild Child’, ‘Mean Man’, ‘Chainsaw Charlie’ are all gloriously wonderful showstoppers that still stand up today. However as importantly, Monsieur Lawless is still able to throw together a banger or two. “Golgotha” wasn't just a case of "will this do, let's get back out there on the road” it was actually an honest-to-God career highlight. With ‘Scream’, ‘Shotgun’ and ‘Slaves of the New Order’ he showed that he still knows his way around melody and can still pen killer choruses.
The final and probably most firmament reason for their longevity, is the survival instincts of Mr Lawless himself. He has been through the fire and been through the flames and not just survived but thrived. He is not about to capitulate and is not a man to take his foot off the gas. For over 40 years he steadfastly believed in his band and his vision. Where others are faltered, he has stood strong.
W.A.S.P. are hot property because they have always been a steadfast darn good rock 'n' roll band, it's just that we forgot that fact for a few decades. However Blackie Lawless never did and we are jolly glad that he held onto the flag. So as they ride into the UK for their much anticipated 40th-anniversary tour, let's raise a glass to one of the most important and one of most underrated exponents of this music that we all love and we will see you down the front.
