W.a.s.p.
8 vinyl records found
W.A.S.P. is the shock rock outfit that emerged from the Los Angeles heavy metal scene in 1982, built on theatrical provocation and raw intensity. Fronted by Blackie Lawless, the band sold over 12 million records worldwide and became fixtures on arena bills alongside Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath throughout the 1980s and beyond.
About W.a.s.p.
The band formed after Lawless and guitarist Randy Piper dissolved their previous project Circus Circus, assembling W.A.S.P. with Rik Fox and Tony Richards. Their debut album arrived in August 1984 on Capitol Records, launching the band into immediate controversy; the single 'Animal (F**k Like a Beast)' was deemed too explicit for the US release, though the track became a calling card in the live setting. The PMRC targeting the band in the mid-1980s only amplified their profile, and The Last Command followed in October 1985 with tracks like 'Blind in Texas' that would anchor their catalog for decades. After 1986's Inside the Electric Circus and the 1987 live document Live... in the Raw, W.A.S.P. shifted creative direction with The Headless Children in 1989, a more conceptually ambitious record that stripped away the overtly sexual imagery for thematic depth and reached number 48 on the Billboard 200.
The band's most artistically significant moment arrived with The Crimson Idol in 1992, a concept album that emerged from Blackie Lawless's solo ambitions and is now regarded as a cornerstone release in their discography. This was followed by Still Not Black Enough in 1995, and subsequent albums like Kill.Fuck.Die (1997), Helldorado (1999), and Unholy Terror (2001) maintained touring momentum despite further lineup shifts. The 2000s saw releases including Dying for the World (2002), the two-part The Neon God (2004), Dominator (2007), and Babylon (2009), with the band marking three decades of activity in 2012 through a world tour revisiting catalog cuts and material from The Crimson Idol. The album Golgotha landed in 2015 after an extended recording period, and 2018 brought ReIdolized (The Soundtrack to the Crimson Idol), a reworked edition of their concept classic with additional material.
The Groove Hunter currently tracks 8 editions of W.A.S.P. vinyl, including the UK Exclusive Clear pressings of The Last Command, The Headless Children, The Crimson Idol, and W.A.S.P., alongside Half-Speed Master reissues of The Last Command and The Headless Children. The catalog also captures the standard W.A.S.P. pressing and the 40th Anniversary High-Speed Master Marble variant, giving collectors multiple entry points to this band's physical history.
