W.A.S.P.: (1998) Live ...in the Raw

Blackie Lawless and his co-horts in WASP sprung out of the early eighties L.A. metal scene with the impact of a small hurricane. This was largely due to their over the top live shows and raunchy, explicit lyrics. In hindsight, what WASP offered was nothing new-mix in an Alice Cooper/KISS influenced stage show with some of metal's true big, dumb rock songs and you have WASP at its primal best.
That being said, WASP-Live...In The Raw is a pretty entertaning 'live' album, though those who actually attended the shows may dispute the album's 'live' credibilty, as many of the songs here were never actually performed at those shows. What we have is a very energetic sounding recording that was probably more than a little doctored in the studio. The best evidence for this is in the bonus tracks included in this release-Shoot From The Hip, Sex Drive and Widowmaker sound much more 'live' than the rest of the cd.
As for the actual songs, WASP penned quite a few memorable numbers in their career and the best of them are here-Inside The Electric Circus, Wild Child, Sleeping (In The Fire), The Manimal, I Wanna Be Somebody, Blind In Texas-these are all fine songs that stand up to repeated listenings. Curious, that their controversial debut single was not included-Animal(F**K like a Beast), this song is responsible more than any other for garnering the band attention and is actually a very cool tune. The CD also includes an awesome cover of Scream Until You Like It, an old chestnut redone by WASP for one of the Ghoulies horror film soundtracks.
The large majority of the remaining material suffers from truly inane and insipid lyrics and in some cases music that borders on tedium. Shoot From The Hip and Sex Drive will have to go down in history as two of the most misogynistic and idiotic songs of all time, 9.5. Nasty and Harder Faster aren't much better either. Also, the Sleeping In The Fire(acoustic) is anything but, featuring a very electric solo.
The digipack is nothing to write home about either, featuring some superficial and fluffy liner notes by a WASP 'expert' named Dom Lawson and the same photos initially featured in the 1987 vinyl and cassette release.
For those looking for WASP at their best, this is the only place to start. Ultimately, the only release by the band that stands the test of time in a eighties hair metal sort of way.;; Eric Mehta

pass = hmbreed
download link 1 = http://lix.in/899a68
download link 2 = http://lix.in/db772c
===================================