UMUR "W.A.S.P." is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by US heavy metal act W.A.S.P.. The album was released through Capitol Records in August 1984. It was originally titled "Winged Assassins", but is mostly known under the eponymous title. The original version of the album was to have featured the track "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", but as a consequence of pressure from the PMRC (The Parents Music Resource Center), Capitol Records decided to cut the track from the album, and W.A.S.P. instead opted to release the track as a UK single. The album, and especially the opening track "I Wanna Be Somebody", was an instant success, and the promo video for the latter further enhanced the group´s profile.

The music on the 10 track, 38:20 minutes long album is hard rocking heavy metal, featuring hard edged guitar riffing, blistering solo work, a pounding rhythm section (loads of anthemic galloping rhythms to be found here), and Blackie Lawless powerful "I swallowed a dozen razors" voice on top. The instrumental side of the music is well played, but slightly formulaic sounding as a result of the vers/chorus structured tracks, but the vocals and the backing- and harmony vocal arrangements make the music shine.

While few tracks on the album reaches the excellence of "I Wanna Be Somebody", which is a really powerful and relatively raw rocker, the material are generally well written and quite memorable too. Some of the anthemic choruses are infectiously catchy, and it´s hard not to pump your fist in the air and shout along. It´s very audience friendly music, and I can imagine how great the material functioned live in those days.

The album is decently produced, featuring a raw and organic sound production. The drums and especially the bass drum sound could have been handled with a bit more finesse, but overall the sound production suits the material well. So "W.A.S.P." is upon conclusion a pretty strong debut album by W.A.S.P., and a promising start to their career. Not all tracks are equally great, but all tracks are catchy and stay in your memory long after the album is over. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur When it comes to WASP's early sleaze metal phase, before they shifted gear to more thoughtful material like The Crimson Idol, it's truly hard to beat their self-titled debut album. Mashing up a dual lead guitar style reminiscent of a rawer, rougher Judas Priest with Blackie Lawless' vocal performance, which finds him shanking Alice Cooper with a broken Thunderbird bottle and stealing his shock rock crown, it's a delicious mashup of traditional heavy metal power and parent-shocking transgression.

This combination is best expressed on Animal (Fuck Like a Beast), which is restored to its rightful place at the start of the running order on recent reissues, but the songs which didn't get censored from the original release are all pretty strong in their own right - with School Daze being a wonderfully defiant anthem against the nonsense of high school.

Don't, therefore, let the somewhat cheesy cover art fool you; WASP might look at first glance like a glam metal band, but only because they've murdered some poor anonymous hair metal hopefuls and are wearing their skins as trophies. This is rough, dirty, primal stuff.

Stephen If Alice Cooper was the king of shock in the 70s, then probably W.A.S.P is the right successor in the 80s. Their controversial eponymous debut was released in 1984, and W.A.S.P at that time, spread some serious fear to the parents with their intimidating songs such as "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)" or "Tormentor". The music they played is a straight-forward traditional heavy metal and you can hear the classic roar in both Holmes/Piper's guitars and watch how Lawless sang his heart out with his iconic raspy scream.

After “Animal”, they continued with the firey "I Wanna Be Somebody", this track is catchy as hell, the punchy verse is awesome, and I personally think this is the best track of the album. Came up next, "L.O.V.E Machine", and through the pounding drums and fun chorus, this one is also another blasting commercial track. "The Flame" and "Hellion" have outstanding solos to love and both are well-composed melodic metal. "School Daze" and "The Torture Never Stops" are another fave, and the rest are pretty good, nothing's bad at all.

This album marked the beginning of the legendary shock-rock giant before they eventually sold 12 million albums worldwide, and if you're new to the band, this is the right choice to start. While this may appeal to fans of glam metal, I’m pretty sure casual heavy metal fans will dig this as well. And as many fans claimed this as one of the band's best release, I also gladly gave this gem a full five stars to honor the birth of such a great band.

Double-D The birth of a legend!

One of the greatest recordings ever made. Every single song here is absolute classic, there are no fillers here. The album starts with I Wanna Be Somebody, which is for sure the most popular W.A.S.P song. Real anthem and declaration of whats to come "Cause I, I got the guts to be somebody......to cry out". The comes the L.O.V.E Machine. Well I'm pretty sure everyone knows this song. The other songs that cannot be missed are Hellion - the fastest track on the album, and maybe the most covered W.A.S.P song, of course the great ballad Sleeping (In The Fire) and the show opener On Your Knees.

So if you want some great heavy metal with balls of steel try this out. WASP is absolutely brilliant record that sounds vital and modern even after all these years.

HAIL, Blackie!!!

metalmillennium The group's self-titled debut shows W.A.S.P. and their Rock N' Roll meets Blues meets Metal formula that took them straight to success. Both "I Wanna Be Somebody" and "Love Machine" are prime examples of rocking early 80s party anthems. "Sleeping in the Fire" marks a more mature approach with accoustic sections and slower, more heart warm vocals. "Hellion" is one of the shorter, more faster tracks, containing some sharp riffs from axe man Chris Holmes, accompanied by the thick, soaring chorus by Lawless.

Blackie's vocals are much more refined here than modern-day W.A.S.P.--smooth, but not quite as raspy. The aforementioned tracks make this album a worthwhile listen from a band thats held a pretty decent following for all those years now. Fans of Hard Rocking 80s Metal may love this. W.A.S.P.'s better days, however, are still to come.