UMUR "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" is a single release by US heavy metal act W.A.S.P.. It was released through Music for Nations in April 1984. The single features the A-side title track, and the B-side track "Show No Mercy". "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" was originally intended to be included on the band´s self-titled debut full-length studio album, but Capital Records pulled the track from the final album release, as they feared that the explicit sexual content of the lyrics would get the album banned from some of the major US retail chains. Instead W.A.S.P. opted to release "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" as a single, but Capital Records didn´t dare to release that in the US either, so the single ended up being a UK only release through Music for Nations and "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" wasn´t available in the studio version in the US until it was included on the reissue of W.A.S.P. debut album in 1998.

Listening to "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" with the ears of today, it´s a bit hard to imagine why it was considered such a controversial track (the PMRC continuesly used the track, when they were rallying against explicit lyrics in rock music), but granted the lyrics are pretty explicit if you are sensitive to images of naked women and hard sex. The music itself is hard rocking heavy metal, but very catchy and melodic. "Show No Mercy" (which is not a Slayer cover) is one of the band´s more harder edged and dark heavy metal tracks. A pretty great B-side.

The material is well produced, well composed, and well played, and as a single release "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" is quite successful to my ears, but I doubt that it would have received as much attention as it did, if the lyrics for the title track hadn´t been as provocative as they are. A good publicity stunt, or maybe just the circumstances of the situation elevated the release to something a bit more interesting than it really was/is. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy ANIMAL(Fuck Like A Beast) was supposed to be included in W.A.S.P.'s eponymous titled debut album but because of the obvious controversial nature was scrapped and released as a single instead. This single was on top of the shitlist for the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) and Blackie Lawless and gang were laughing all the way to the bank as the controversy of the time helped their earlier albums garner enough interest to sustain a loyal cult following.

What makes the this single interesting to me isn't necessarily the shock value of the single itself (which I have to admit is a bit titillating) but the fact that both the single and the B-side (Show No Mercy) are extremely catchy and encapsulates the perfect traditional metal sound of the era. The fact that it pissed off the prudes of the American elite only adds a layer of prestige to the whole thing. Far from being the next long lost masterpiece of yesteryear, this single is now included on remastered versions of THE LAST COMMAND which is musically the extension of this sound of traditional metal.