Description

Double album featuring both part 1 and part 2 of the Neon God on black vinyls with gatefold cover

The Neon God Part 1: The Rise
W.A.S.P. mastermind Blackie Lawless has one of the most distinctive set of pipes in heavy metal. The primal scream that graced earlier recordings like Headless Children and Last Command has grown into a powerful, guttural wail on the first installment of his conceptual Neon God project. The storyline concerns an abused telepathic orphan who uses his powers to attract a legion of followers. Heavy metal’s obsession with narrative albums about “dark messiahs” is as old as the leathery prophets themselves, resulting in ventures that often succeed despite their simplistic aims — Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime, Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, etc. Neon God, Pt. 1 succeeds primarily through Lawless’ passionate delivery, as the lyrics do little to convey the story — the written version that appears in the liner notes, however, is surprisingly complex and involving. Musically, the group has changed little since its heydays, relying on standard three-chord motifs that occasionally veer off into a guitar solo, but it’s this decidedly unpretentious approach to a pretentious subgenre of rock that makes the whole thing palatable. The quiet acoustic interludes are never too long, and flow seamlessly into anthemic rockers like “Sister Sadie” and “The Red Room of the Rising Sun” — the latter is a rare, melodic, psychedelic moment for the band that includes a nod to the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” — but they fail to generate much emotion. It’s only on the finale, the surging “Raging Sun,” that the weight of the protagonist’s cross is felt, and within a chorus reminiscent of the Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me,” the listener feels it as well.

The Neon God Part 2: The Demise
W.A.S.P. circa 2004 was clearly “the Blackie Lawless show,” as Lawless remains the only original member left in attendance (in addition to — as always — handling the lion’s share of the songwriting). A mere five months after the appearance of The Neon God, Pt. 1 comes The Neon God, Pt. 2: The Demise, an album that explores similar sonic terrain as its predecessor. Although W.A.S.P. is best known for its theatricality and sleaze metal anthems — after all, this was the group that gave us “Animal (F*ck Like a Beast)” — leader Lawless tends to think on a grand scale. And besides, this isn’t the first time he’s explored the concept album domain, as evidenced by such previous efforts as 1988’s The Headless Children and 1993’s The Crimson Idol. The Neon God, Pt. 2 tends to work best on the tracks where Lawless manages to incorporate the expected W.A.S.P. ingredients — while also working in the story line — especially the hard rockers “Resurrector” and “Clockwork Mary.” While it’s admirable that Lawless flexes his songwriting muscles on concept works like this, most W.A.S.P. fans would probably agree that he’s best off when he’s cranking out anthems about “love machines” and “being blind in Texas.”

Track list:
Lp 1: The Neon God Part 1: The Rise
1. Overture
2. Why Am I Here
3. Wishing Well
4. Sister Sadie (And The Black Habits)
5. (Why Am) I Nothing
6. Underature
7. Asylum Nr 9
8. Red Room Of The Rising Sun
9. What I’ll Never Find
10. Someone To Love Me
11. X.T.C. Riders
12. Me And The Devil
13. Running Man
14. The Raging Storm

Lp 2: The Neon God Part 1: The Demise
1. Never Say Die
2. Resurrector
3. The Demise
4. Clockwork Mary
5. Tear Down The Walls
6. Come Back To Black
7. All My Life
8. Destiny’s To Come
9. The Last Redemption