Best of Wasp
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Price : $16.98
Offer Price : $10.54
2010-03-08
By Tommy Morais (New Brunswick, Canada)
In the 1980s there were basically two types of metal, one was hair metal which had a pop sound to it, was more commercial and on radio, and there was the heavier metal with trash, heavy and other genres. W.A.S.P. are one of those heavier bands (although they emerged from L.A. home of many hair metal bands) who had a hardcore attitude and clearly weren't another hair metal band. They certainly weren't as heavy as some of the other bands out there and they have often been mistaken for a hair-metal band which they're not, if they are then they should be thought of as a heavy hair metal band. When they started and released their self-titled album in 1984 (later certified gold) they were pretty heavy. W.A.S.P. is still around today fronted by leader Blackie Lawless but they aren't remembered as much as more famous 80s bands such as Motley Crue. They never achieved much success but over the years they made some terrific music and remained true which is why I find them so enjoyable.
It's great to see that the W.A.S.P. discography received a well deserved two disc, career-spawning compilation. In most cases the "Greatest Hits" compilation are not recommended but this one is perfect and I feel it does justice to the band. Besides unless you are a hardcore fan I doubt you will buy all of the band's albums so this compilation gives a good taste of the band. In a way this is a more complete reissue of The Best of The Best: 1984-2000, Vol 1 which only had 15 songs and a little different song listing, in fact it they even have an almost identical album cover. The stuff you would expect to be here like Animal (F*** like a beast) and Wild Child is here, almost no surprise.
To me disc 1 is the superior one as it has their earlier material which I feel is a little stronger than on the second one. That doesn't mean the second disc is bad, it's also good. I like the track listing and they picked the best of this amazing band and put it together. Usually there are things missing on compilations but not here, everything is great. The booklets, the songs, even the packaging which comes in different case than my other CDs, it all made it special to me.
32 of the best W.A.S.P. songs is enough for you to love them, if you haven't yet checked them out and you're a fan of 80s metal you should definitely get this. The booklet also gives an excellent and very detailed biography of the band, a great overview of their works. In a way W.A.S.P. is the opposite of the hair metal band, they don't have a pop sound to them and they're pretty dark in their music and imagine, controversial, plus they were never really popular. They're a good band and they're sort of a well-kept secret, with this greatest hits collection you truly get the best of the best.
