W.A.S.P. - The Best of the Best

[Victim of Deception]

W.A.S.P. – The Best of the Best
Snapper Music Recordings - 2007
By Adam McAuley



Having never been well exposed to a full-length discography of this much-lauded classic band, I felt a best-of compilation would give me a good grasp of a lot of their material. This turns out to be one of the better ones I’ve heard, with a nice mix of different styles of material, particularly on the second disc which features a number of serene ballads to balance things out. Their style is one that mixes a traditional vibe similar to Judas Priest circa Defenders of the Faith with a distinctive glam one that is much like what Motley Crue does so well.

Vocalist Blackie Lawless does a reasonably efficient job at carrying out these anthemic tunes, but unfortunately doesn’t quite have the same impact as Halford does, for example, though this is a small flaw. The collection has many standout cuts from 'Sleeping (In the Fire)' with its catchy chorus to the wonderful ballad 'Titanic Overture,' which manages to be enjoyable and grow on you simultaneously. One can sense the longitivity of bands like Priest via the diversity of this collection alone, and this band puts together quite a compelling collection. However, they also make their presence known in immediacy via the undeniably old-school style the disc portrays.

W.A.S.P. can be thus seen as one of my most sadly overlooked band of the classic period, but one that is undeniably worth checking out because of the amount of solid material that can be found on their splendid compilation here. I’m somewhat anxious to check out their full recordings now after hearing these songs, because of the variety of quality material.

Official W.A.S.P. Website
Official Snapper Music Website

[thespectralsorrows]

If you want to hear W.A.S.P. at their best then pick up 1985's The Last Command and 1986's Inside The Electric Circus or even 1998's Double Live Assassins very good heavy glam Metal!

[rockinspain]

where buy it?

[DBCMetal]

They put on a show back in the 80s. Still going strong I love it.

[Agent 00Awesome]

Never really got too much into WASP, however I did see them at a tiny gig back in March. It was a pretty great show!

[chicagometal]

Originally Posted by thespectralsorrows

If you want to hear W.A.S.P. at their best then pick up 1985's The Last Command and 1986's Inside The Electric Circus or even 1998's Double Live Assassins very good heavy glam Metal!

this, fuck all of these greatest hits cd's. greatest hits aren't meant for real fans.

[Stormwatch]

Originally Posted by chicagometal

this, fuck all of these greatest hits cd's. greatest hits aren't meant for real fans.

True, but they are a way for people to discover great bands.

Headless Children, WASP, Last Command, Electric Circus, Still Not Black Enough, Unholy Terror, Dying For The World. That'd be my order of buying, the rest can be bought whenever.

[metalheadmike]

Good Album for fans who have never heard the band. I do own this album. I've been a W.A.S.P. fan since 1987. Still am to this day. But this album I don't listen to that much

[silversun]

Crimson Idol is still the best!

[mdmatt4ever]

Originally Posted by Stormwatch

True, but they are a way for people to discover great bands.

Headless Children, WASP, Last Command, Electric Circus, Still Not Black Enough, Unholy Terror, Dying For The World. That'd be my order of buying, the rest can be bought whenever.

i'd change the order a bit:
self titled, headless children, crimson idol, still not black enough, last command. get the rest whenever

[Shinkicker]

Nice review mate

A great band who I've neglected over the years. Many fantastic tunes. I've never seen them live either. Shocking!!

[SoundMaster]

It's easy to get derailed by all of the cheese and silliness, but the fact remains that WASP is a very strong band with a great songwriter at the helm. They're definitely underrated and should have become far more popular than they did.

Another poster's description of "Defenders" era Priest combined with prime 80s Crue is spot-on and really explains this band well.

All of their records deserve a listen.

[AmIEvil?YesIAm]

Personally, my very favourite album that W.A.S.P. put out is "The Headless Children". That album RIPS