Being a fan of Kiss, Alice Cooper, and later on, Mötley Crüe, when W.A.S.P. hit MTV in 1984 with ‘I Wanna Be Somebody” and ‘L.O.V.E. Machine’, I was immediately hooked. Bass player and lead vocalist, Blackie Lawless and his band of brat-rock desperadoes (Chris Holmes – guitar, Randy Piper – guitar, Tony Richards – drums) had been ripping up stages over the previous couple of years with their totally OTT show featuring, scantily clad young women, raw meat and Lawless’s saw blade codpiece. Chewing up and spitting out audiences along the sunset strip and beyond. First released in 2000, Best Of The Best is now issued on double vinyl to mark National Album Day and tells just a small part of the bands musical journey over the fifteen years from the release of their most controversial single ‘Animal (F**k Like A Beast)’.

As good as Blackie’s gang are at re-inventing other people’s tunes (The Who’s ‘Real Me’ on The Headless Children for example) starting the set with a cover of Elton John’s party piece, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ is something of an opening misstep and this, (one of two) completist luring “BONUS” tracks could have been better served tucked away later in the set (it was moved to the final track on the 2007 2CD expanded edition). The only proper way to open this, and any W.A.S.P. collection is with ‘Animal (F**k Like A Beast)’. Controversial back in the 1984 and still far from politically correct today, it achieved its intended roll by grabbing the attention of a rock crowd surrounded by the radio friendly rock of, The Cars ‘Drive’, and Pat Benatar’s ‘Love Is A Battlefield’. Despite its lyrical content ‘Animal’ really is a banger and did its ultimate job, which was to create a buzz around the band and get tongues wagging. ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ followed and was the first single from the debut self titled album (‘Animal’ was been dropped from the album until its 1998’s re-release). For the discerning heavy metal fans, ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ supplies a call to arms to rival Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ and ‘I Wanna Rock’. Finishing side A, and the final single from the debut, ‘L.O.V.E. Machine‘ oozes with confidence, something that W.A.S.P. have never lacked both personally and musically.

‘On Your Knees’ opens side B and concludes the offering from the first album, it also presents Blackie’s first of many religious reference… or does it? He really is the master of the double entendre. Jumping forward to 1987 and the “Dudes” punk rock revenge movie soundtrack, ‘Show No Mercy’ does a great job in continuing the W.A.S.P. signature driving rhythm and definitely “shows no mercy” on the guitar riff front, with Holmes in outstanding form. Not a total classic but certainly no dud. Returning to 1985, and The Last Command album, which saw Spencer Proffer (Quiet Riot, Cheap Trick etc.) knocking off the rough edges to produce a slicker more chart friendly sound on tracks like singles, ‘Wild Child’ (which closes side B) and their best known song (partly due to its accompanying wild west style video) ‘Blind In Texas’. “The lone star state is hot tonight”.

As if to prove that Blackie hadn’t completely forgotten his manly urges, The Last Command also included ‘Sex Drive’, a live version from 1998’s re-issue of Live… In The Raw album, of which is included here. Side C concludes with the sole contributions from Inside The Electric Circus (1986) and (forward fast to 1992) The Crimson Idol in the shape of ‘9.5. – N.A.S.T.Y.’ and ‘Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)’ respectively. With Lawless moving over to rhythm guitar and Steve Riley coming in on bass, Inside The Electric Circus marked a move to a more commercial, dare I say mature era which sadly saw the departure of Chris Holmes (temporarily) and Johnny Rod following the release of The Headless Children in 1989, with Bob Kulick (Meat Loaf, Kiss, Alice Cooper) and Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot, Billy Idol) stepping up. As well as setting the overall concept for The Crimson Idol, ‘Chainsaw Charlie (Murder In The New Morgue)’ has to be one of the best tracks that the band had produced since their initial duo of go to albums, mixing an Iron Maiden gallop with their unique flare for brash lyrical content.

‘Mean Man’ from The Headless Children kicks off the final side of this set with its arena rock chorus and cannon fire beats, before the second exclusive bonus track ‘Unreal’ and although there is nothing included from either of the bands “darker” albums, Still Not Black Enough (1995) or Chris Holmes’s return for Kill F**k Die (1997) ‘Unreal’ harks from that same era. A perfectly good “filler track” with all of the characteristic crash and bang but lacking a little of the glam of earlier material. Shelving the industrial feel of its predecessor (Kill F**k Die), 1999’s Helldorado puts the sleaze back on the turntable, although ‘Dirty Balls’, who’s at times questionably direct lyrics, take things full circle in the world of W.A.S.P. and features here alongside the albums title track, which takes the band back on the road to ‘Helldorado’… “Hell yeah!!”

Best Of The Best might omit a few essentials (there is no ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor, ‘The Real Me’ or ‘Forever Free’, etc.) but it is a good snapshot of a band which is sometimes overlooked within the sleaze/shock rock genre. It has been ten years since the band’s last new studio album, 2015’s impressive Golgotha, but Blackie and his current line-up of W.A.S.P. still roll on, and are currently making their way through Eastern Europe before planning further assaults across the rest of globe on their Album One Alive tour. Although they never received the recognition that was given to their boundary stretching contemporaries, this collection shows that Lawless may not be “The Crimson Idol”, but he certainly always wanted to “Be Somebody”.

• Revieweded By Peter Brockwell.
• Best Of The Best is released via Madfish on 18th October 2025.
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Track List:

Side A:

1. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting

2. Animal (F**k Like A Beast)

3. I Wanna Be Somebody

4. L.O.V.E. Machine

Side B:

1. On Your Knees

2. Show No Mercy

3. Blind In Texas

4. Wild Child

Side C:

1. Sex Drive (live)

2. 9.5. – N.A.S.T.Y.

3. Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)

Side D:

1. Mean Man

2. Unreal

3. Helldorado

4. Dirty Balls