W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

When W.A.S.P. covered The Who's 'The Real Me' on 1989's 'The Headless Children' it was something of a giveaway - even if the song fitted W.A.S.P. like a glove. That track was from The Who's 'Quadrophenia' concept album and obviously gave Blackie Lawless the idea of doing his own rock opera / concept album. The result of that idea is 'The Crimson Idol', a story with the rock n roll world as a backdrop. Blackie's story follows main protagonist Jonathon Steel on a typical trail of rock n roll excess brought about by parental neglect. This album was basically a solo Lawless album under the W.A.S.P. moniker, Blackie saw fit to fire all the band members from 'The Headless Children' and set out on creating his magnum opus alone, and dammit he pulled it off too!! Lawless handles all the instruments and vocals except lead guitar and drums, giving 'The Crimson Idol' its at times basic orchestral feel. But the music's power and strength of Lawless' vision overpower the limits of his musicianship, making 'The Crimson Idol' a match for any similar operatic works of Queensryche and Savatage [no - seriously]. The album is full of swelling melodies and thunderous drums, the album is given even more tremendous power by Bob Kulick's often dazzling lead work. Indeed his playing on cuts like 'The Idol' lend the instrumental emotion that make a lot of it classic metal. Indeed 'The Crimson Idol' is a poke in the eye for many of Blackie's critics

1. THE TITANIC OVERTURE (3.23)
‘I look at my face in the mirror and I don’t understand. Don’t feel like a boy and its not getting clearer, But I don’t feel like a man’ – these lyrics and delicate acoustic guitar open the album and set the scene, giving you an early impression of main character Jonathan Steel. From here to track runs to a turbo charged instrumental that sees a great marriage of acoustic and electric guitar. The drums from Stet Howland are phenomenal positively punching you with every beat and this is one BIG sounding album. The track dies down to echo the delicate intro – ‘I’m seventeen and somebody’s son my dad don’t know where I stand. Cause when he looks at me he don’t like what he sees, He don’t know what I am’ before launching into…

2. THE INVISIBLE BOY (4.04)
This is where the story begins proper telling us Jonathans upbringing in an insecure environment where he elder brother grabs all the attention and Jonathan begins to feel like ‘The Invisible Boy’ – ‘Who am I, the orphan son you would never need. Who am I, cause I’m the boy only the mirror sees’. This is a strong track with a great riff and excellent solo work from Bob Kulick. Jonathan decides to run away and become a rock star.

3. ARENA OF PLEASURE (4.59)
The ‘Arena Of Pleasure’ is the city Jonathan runs to when he leaves home – ‘Take me down, I’m coming home, the road to ruins inside the pleasure dome. Take me down I’m coming home, arena of pleasures where I belong’. The track has a great driving intensity that is a little reminiscent of Rainbows ‘A Light In The Black’ with a thunderous rhythm section that moves along frantically. The bridge is superb ‘I was sixteen going nowhere, will I see seventeen alive. And I was running from the nightmare I stand at the promised land with fire in my eyes’ before launching into the solo section where Bob Kulick is pretty darn impressive – full of metallic charm. The track brings us up to date with Jonathan starting to blossom into a rock star. A definite highlight.

4. CHAINSAW CHARLIE [MURDERS IN THE NEW MORGUE] (7.48)
Ignoring the laughable title and sound of chainsaws at the start [which sound more like a lawnmower] the track is actually pretty good with a strong chorus that of reminiscent of Iron Maiden. Charlie is the president of one of the worlds largest record companies. The chainsaw is symbolic to the music industry itself, with Charlie wielding it to manipulate young musicians luring them into the business. Jonathan is Charlie’s latest prey although he is on the road to making the big time.

5. THE GYPSY MEETS THE BOY (4.15)
After the sonic onslaught of the first few tracks we see some calmness with mellow acoustic guitar. The story continues with Jonathan visiting a Gypsy who offers to read his fortune. Jonathan agrees and the gypsy lays down a few tarot cards and starts going into detail about Jonathans past, describing his parents and his brother with pinpoint accuracy. Then she get she gets ready to turn over another card, which she sees but he does not. Jonathan starts prompting her about it, but the gypsy’s reluctant to tell him what she saw. Eventually she agrees, but says ‘Be careful what you wish for, it may come true’. The three cards she turns over foretell a tragic end. Two minutes into the track the tempo picks up with more excellent arrangements and rhythms.

6. DOCTOR ROCKTER (3.51)
Jonathan is now well on his way to stardom, at one of his party’s Doctor Rockter walks in and introduces himself to Jonathan. Doctor Rockter is a drug dealer and he opens his briefcase, which is a walking drugstore. This is an avenue Jonathan thinks will help his problems so he falls into the world of drug abuse – ‘He’s the king of sting Mr Morphine my friend Uncle Slam medicine man. And I’m a junkie with a King Kong sized monkey crawling up and down my back’. Musically the track is reminiscent of the ’95 Nasty’ from the bands debut album, a strong track with an emphatic vocal delivery from Lawless.

7. I AM ONE (5.25)
Jonathan is now at the peak of his career. Everything that he worked for is starting to come true. He is starting to believe his own press, which is a dangerous thing. Really this track is pretty uneventful and my least favourite, its repetitive and overlong with a weak chorus.

8. THE IDOL (8.40)
The track starts with the sound of a party when Jonathan’s manager storms in and is appalled at the debauchery around him. He tells Jonathan he either cleans it up or he is quitting as his manager. This is where Jonathan realises just how far things have gone. Loaded, he plucks up the courage to call his mother hoping that she will welcome him back like the prodigal son, the thing she says before hanging up is ‘We have no son’. This is when Jonathan realises that his parents will never love and him and it pushes him close to the edge. Sound wise the track is the highlight of the album, a delicate ballad that grows into an epic with its haunting acoustic guitar work and swathes of colour that Blackie throws around. However, the undisputed highlight of the track is Kulicks solo that could not be any better – superb!

9. HOLD ON TO MY HEART (4.22)
This track is not about a guy talking to a girl. Rather in reality it’s a last ditch attempt by Jonathan to make a plea to his audience to remember the way he was – this should give you an indication of what is going to happen. On the sound front it is another ballad but a happier sounding one, again not one of my favourites but its okay.

10. THE GREAT MISCONCEPTION OF ME (9.44)
The final track and the great confessional piece – ‘Welcome to the show the great finale’s finally here, I thank you for coming into my theatre of fear. Welcome to the show you’re all witnesses you see. A privileged invitation the last rights of me’. This tells you of Jonathan’s intention to end his life on stage in a grand way. But first he clears up all the misconceptions of the story that sees Jonathan talking to his mother, father and other characters telling them what he thinks and what they have done to him. The story ends with Jonathan taking his life by taking the strings off his guitar, makes a noose and hangs himself on stage – the ultimate rock n roll suicide [Blackie Lawless]. As you all know the character was doomed from the start but that is quite an exit. Musically again it’s a triumphant, using many of the motifs heard on previous tracks but mixed in such a way that it is all very effective, an excellent way to end a good album.