''W.A.S.P.'' is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released August 17, 1984. The album has been known under three different names; the spine of the original European vinyl release had ''Winged Assassins'' printed on it, while early

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

releases of the album had the name of the album's first track, "I Wanna Be Somebody", printed in bold letters on the cover. The album is officially entitled simply ''W.A.S.P.'', which it is typically referred to as.

Overview

Prior to its original release, the controversial track "

Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) "Animal (F**k Like a Beast)" is a song by American heavy metal band W.A.S.P. It was originally intended to be the opening track on their self-titled 1984 debut album, but was dropped before the album's release, although it appears as a bonu ...

" was deleted from the album. The

Parents Music Resource Center The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes via labeling albums ...

had labeled the song as one of its "Filthy 15", songs that the group determined to be morally objectionable. Capitol Records subsequently bowed to pressure and pulled the song. The band released it as a single in the UK in 1984 on the

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

label

Music for Nations Music For Nations (MFN) is a British independent record label focusing mainly on rock and metal. It was a subsidiary of the larger label distributor Zomba Records, which was a division of BMG and later Sony Music Entertainment. Launched i ...

, and the single subsequently became a highly sought after item in North America as an import. The song was reinstated on the album with the 1998 reissue. The song "I Wanna Be Somebody", released as the album's second single with accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, was so popular that VH1 later placed it in their list of the "Top 100 Hard Rock Songs" of all time. "L.O.V.E. Machine" dates back to Lawless' pre-W.A.S.P. band Circus Circus, who frequently played the song live but never recorded it. Several of the album's songs have been covered by other bands. "Sleeping (In the Fire)" has been covered by

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial crea ...

and Anders Manga, "Hellion" by

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sepp ...

and In Aeternum, "L.O.V.E. Machine" by Fallen Man,

Lullacry Lullacry was a Finnish melodic band with gothic metal influences that hailed from Helsinki. History The band recorded their first demo (named ''Weeper's Aeon'') in 1998 and in a short time they had enough of a following to safely attempt a full ...

Fozzy Fozzy is an American heavy metal band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999 by lead singer Chris Jericho/Irvine, lead guitarist Rich Ward and drummer Frank Fontsere, who are the longest-serving members of the band and have appeared on all ba ...

and Alghazanth, "I Wanna Be Somebody" by Sentenced, Catamenia,

Witchery Witchery is a Swedish blackened thrash metal band formed by former members of Satanic Slaughter in 1997. The current lineup consists of guitarists Patrik Jensen and Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, vocalist Angus Norder, a ...

Avulsed Avulsed is a Spanish death metal band, formed in August 1991 in Madrid by Dave Rotten (who also manages the Xtreem Music record label). Biography The band developed its musical style through various demos: ''Embalmed in Blood'' (1992), ''Def ...

and

Gates of Ishtar Gates of Ishtar is a Swedish melodic death metal band. History Gates of Ishtar was formed in late 1992 under the name Disrupt, by Mikael Sandorf (vocals), Andreas Johansson (drums), Stefan Nilsson (guitar) and Harald Åberg (bass). Eventually ...

, and "The Torture Never Stops" by the death metal group Torture Division.Torture Division » Downloadgraphy
/ref> The song "Tormentor" was heard in the films ''

The Dungeonmaster ''The Dungeonmaster'' (originally ''Ragewar: The Challenges of Excalibrate'' and ''Digital Knights'') is a 1984 American anthology fantasy film produced by Charles Band, and is split up into seven distinct story segments, each written and direc ...

'' (1984) and ''

TerrorVision ''TerrorVision'' is a 1986 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Ted Nicolaou, produced and written by Albert and Charles Band and composed by Richard Band, all of whom would go on to found and work with Full Moon Features in ...

'' (1986).

Track listings

All songs written by

Blackie Lawless Steven Edward Duren (born September 4, 1956), better known by his stage name Blackie Lawless, is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist (formerly bassist) for heavy metal band W.A.S.P.B ...

, except where noted.

Personnel

;W.A.S.P. *

– lead vocals, bass, producer * Chris Holmes – lead & rhythm guitars * Randy Piper – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals * Tony Richards – drums, backing vocals ;Production *

Mike Varney Mike Varney is an American record producer and music publisher. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records, and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Recor ...

– producer *Duane Baron – engineer, mixing *Stephen M. Fontano – engineer * Jim Scott, Hanspeter Huber – assistant engineers *David Tarling – pre-production

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasp W.A.S.P. albums 1984 debut albums Albums produced by Mike Varney Capitol Records albums Albums produced by Blackie Lawless