By Albert Mansour
I’ve got to tell you, I’m a BIG TIME W.A.S.P. fan. They are BY FAR one of my favorite bands. Being a huge fan of W.A.S.P. ever since I first saw the video clip for “I Wanna Be Somebody” from their self titled album back in the 80’s, it pains me to tell you that there’s not much new happening here, except for some recycled riffs and solos from previous albums. This is one of those albums that grows on you, but only after many, many listens. This current line-up features one original W.A.S.P. member, Blackie Lawless, and the album just doesn’t stand out like The Headless Children, The Crimson Idol or Unholy Terror. The nine track album floats along with some slow paced tracks such as “Into The Fire” and “Godless Run.” One of the biggest (perhaps the only?) strength of this CD is Blackie Lawless’ vocal performance on the two cover tracks – Deep Purple’s “Burn” and Chuck Berry’s 1964 hit “Promised Land” -which stick out on here like a sore thumb. Okay, this might not exactly be the best work of Blackie Lawless’ career but, this is NOT a total write off. There are some good tracks here like “Crazy,” “Thunder Red” and “Babylon’s Burning” but this album is best described as a perfect blend of b-side tracks and a couple of cover tracks. Babylon is riding on the same line as the 1999 W.A.S.P. album Helldorado. This is the type of CD that would be dusted off once every year at the very most. Not really recommend unless you are a hardcore W.A.S.P. fan.
(Demolition Records)
6.5
