When I was asked to be a Metal Temple editor I decided to set my tendency to judge music from the first hearing aside. And this time it was definitely for good. After listening to the Neon God once, quite superficially I must confess, I thought it was something like the Crimson Idol part 2.
As I was sure that such a statement would underestimate the album I got determined to spend hours and hours listening to both W.A.S.P.'s concept albums and compare them to a degree in order to culminate in a more objective view. And fortunately W.A.S.P. is one of my favorite bands so this process was really interesting.
In the Neon God, Blackie exorcizes his demons again through his music and makes his obsessions a source of inspiration. What detains his mind both in the Crimson Idol and this last release is how neglect and lack of love leads people to false conclusions about what could fill this blank.
Let me tell you the album's story in a few words in case you don't already know it. Jesse at the age of 8 is abandoned by his alcoholic and drug-addicted mother in an orphanage ran by nuns. His life there is as miserable as one can imagine and even more. But the real nightmare starts when Sister Sadie, the headmistress of the institution violates him mentally and sexually in repulsive ways. When he reveals the tortures he went through Sister Sadie makes sure he is transferred to a mental hospital next door so that her reputation will remain clean. Even Jesse's attempt to commit suicide can't prevent his imprisonment. In the hospital he meets other neglected and abused children and makes a friend who undertakes protecting him like an elder brother. Two years pass in a drug made fog. The time Jesse leaves comes and his friend kills himself because his hope for a chance to live normally fades out. Then our hero returns to the orphanage but a week later he escapes for good and wanders homeless until he runs into a magician who teaches him psychism and the art of manipulation. Jesse eventually becomes a leader of destroyed and hopeless people who adore and serve him as if he was a new Messiah while he exploits them in every possible way. But although he temporarily thinks he found his purpose for living he finally realizes that he cannot offer redemption to them. What happens is that by means of his artificial power he pushes them deeper in shit.
There are many similarities in the Neon God's and the Crimson Idol's concepts. An ignored child survives hell but when he thinks he has managed to stand out and be a Messiah/Idol falls to the ground abruptly again and faces the vanity of his notorious evolution. This is Blackie Lawless' life story (he grew up in a religious family who ignored him and sent him away in a military school so that he would learn discipline). A mentor, Chainsaw Charlie/Judah Magic plays the role of a guide in the way of oblivion and delusion about reality. But ghosts of the past will never stop haunting Blackie/Jesse; no matter what he becomes he can't erase his memories of misery. He is convicted to eternal suffering by his own consciousness.
But the Neon God is not a Crimson Idol's copy. It's a darker and more corrupted version of it. The desperation and agony that transpire the album are obvious even if you don't get into the lyrics.
Blackie's vocals, always recognizable, show that this time he sold his whole soul to the devil to find the power to bring all his feelings out. His cry for love and savior will make you chill in songs like Why am I here, Why am I nothing, Asylum #9 and Someone to love me and his rage explodes underneath in Sister Sadie (and the black habits) and all the speedy tracks of the Neon God. You come to a dead-end: you have to choose whether you'll open his Four Doors of Doom, depression, fear, hatred and anger, or not.
If you prefer staying behind and just listen to W.A.S.P.'s 11th studio album you will be completely satisfied too. It's sure that Blackie stays on track coming up with extremely well made albums, providing us with great moments of pure metallic feast. His voice has maturity and depth and he is accompanied by fine musicians. Listen to the Neon God in combination with Inside the Electric Circus, The Headless Children and of course The Crimson Idol and if you haven't heard much of Blackie Lawless so far begin from the previous albums. The new one is quite more difficult.
And what is good for us but probably exhausting for him is that the battle between Blackie's megalomania and minority complex is long-lasting and uncertain.
I'm waiting for the second part to form opinion about whether the Neon God is W.A.S.P.'s masterpiece.