Battle of the Bands: WASP and/or Maiden?
Today, another post from our friend HIM!
It was one of those rarer and rarer weeks in metal: two recognized “heritage” metal bands; two new releases. But, in some ways, the two bands couldn’t be more different.
First up, Iron Maiden and the new song “Speed of Light” off the forthcoming The Book of Souls album:
Next up, W.A.S.P.’s “Last Runaway” off of the forthcoming album Golgotha:
The former has continued to blaze a trail sold-out stadiums (in South America and elsewhere), recovering some of the luster they lost after Bruce Dickinson left the band . . . by welcoming him and Adrian Smith back into the fold in 1999. The latter has experienced numerous lineup changes and shrinking fortunes in the years since their 80’s heyday, none more apparent than the loss (and then loss again) of Chris Holmes in 2001.
Both songs find both bands in good form considering their years in the game. Maiden was formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, who is 59. W.A.S.P. was formed in 1982 and Blackie Lawless is a well-worn 58, having suffered in recent years from some health issues. They both belong to an increasingly shrinking club of bands who made their names in the golden years of metal and still continue to ply their trade, regardless the divergent paths they find themselves on. In an age where the once indestructible Lemmy—pale, drawn, and frail—can barely recall the right song to sing, that matters.
The initial reactions from the keyboard quarterbacks are as one would expect. On the one hand, some claim that Maiden is just repeating past glories and Dickinson’s holy orifice—his mouth, and those vocals which lifted the band past its punkish/NWBHM origins in the hands of singer Paul Di’Anno—is starting to show signs of age. On the other, this is the best thing ever released and shows fans of watered down contemporary metal how it is done. On the one hand, W.A.S.P. sound far too upbeat and really need to get back to the glories of their self-titled debut and The Last Command. On the other, this is perfectly in keeping with some of their lesser known but well-regarded songs, such as “Inside the Electric Circus” off the album of the same name or “Forever Free” off of The Headless Children.
Personally, I find the release by W.A.S.P. the more tantalizing of the two. W.A.S.P. are, and will continue to be, a guilty pleasure for me for one signal reason (not the raw meat of the past, or the puerile lyrics of their most shock-provoking songs): Blackie’s voice. He can still sing. He can still write songs that play to his strengths. Now if he can only keep the fans happy while also navigating his new-ish calling to bring a religious element into a catalog that was once so thoroughly bereft of any.
Though I still enjoy Maiden, I occasionally fall into the first camp of interweb reactionaries: more of the same, even if it is—in some ways, like a lesser AC/DC—comforting to hear one of the bands of my youth consistently releasing solid songs (and fun to watch videos). I don’t fault Dickinson his voice, for the same reasons I don’t moan about Halford’s.
I am just glad both bands are around and will see them if I get the chance. So, where do you stand? Take one, take ‘em both, or leave them?