W.A.S.P.'s Blackie Lawless Talks About 30 Years Of Thunder Part 10; The Crimson Idol - "I Really Had No Idea Of The Scope Of What I Had Begun"

June 21, 2012, 12 years ago

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To celebrate the band's 30 Years Of Thunder anniversary tour, W.A.S.P. leader Blackie Lawless has penned a monthly diary (fifteen in total) to chronicle the real events of the band and give fans all a little better insight to the last thirty years in their history. Check out the tenth diary detailing The Crimson Idol years called "The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling" below:

"I really had no idea of the scope of what I had begun. I don’t want to go into a lot of technical stuff here so I’m not going to go into much of the recording process. But it was a MONSTER!! Frankie’s expertise on the record was invaluable. A lot of people don’t know but Ken Hensley originally had played all the B3 tracks on the album but the songs had to be re recorded because they were recorded in keys that were not right for the songs. It was all my fault. Unfortunately Ken was not available to come back and do the new tracks, so I played them.

As the recordings went on the ideas started to grow and grow. This Character of 'Jonathan' really started to reveal himself. Earlier the year before as I was writing the songs, I had a plan of going down to Hollywood Blvd. and spending a week there undercover (in disguise). A lot of teenage kids end up homeless down on Hollywood Blvd. so I wanted to go there, sleep on the street at night and really get a feel for what I was writing. Instead, I only needed one day. It all came back to me REAL FAST. When I first came to Hollywood I was homeless for the first year and a half. I slept on peoples’ floors that whole time. I was as close to being on the streets as you could be without being there permanently.

In some ways making the record went by in a flash. In other ways it was like time stood still. Little things that hardly anyone would ever notice had to be painstaking repaired or done over. Bob Kulick came in and played lead guitar and sometimes his fingers would bleed from the recording sessions being so long. He did a masterful job. I told him before the record started that I did not want ONE GRATUITUS NOTE on the entire record. He did not disappoint!!

Half way through the record I was literally out of my mind! I had worked myself to a point where I was getting sick all the time. I went to the doctor and he wanted to put me in the hospital for 2 weeks. I made a deal with him. I would not work for those 2 weeks and that way I could stay home. It really got that bad!! He agreed. Gene (Simmons) was looking to do some studio work so I let him come in for the 2 weeks I was supposed to be resting. Right around that time we hired a 2nd engineer to help with the record. He didn’t have any experience but his enthusiasm was infectious. It was just what I needed at the time because I was so burnt out. He was into the whole idea of what the record was about and was a real cheerleader. I soon got where I trusted his opinion on ideas. We were paying him $75 a week and I let him live in the studio. His name was Ross Robinson. Two years later he would go on to produce KORN, LIMP BIZKIT, SLIPKNOT and more.

The night I was to record 'The Great Misconceptions of Me', I asked him to turn all the lights out in the studio. The only lights that were left on were the lights from the equipment in the control room (which are mostly red). It created an eerie glow in the whole studio. I lowered the microphone and got down on my knees in the dark. I waited for the room to get quiet and then told him to “roll the tape”. I then sang the intro to 'Misconceptions'. What you hear on the record today is the first and only real take that I did. I came in the control room and asked him what he thought. He didn’t speak. He showed me the hairs still standing up on his arm. I guess it was OK!!

As a side note, he no longer lives in my studio!!!"

Read more here.

On September 21st, W.A.S.P. will begin the 30 Years of Thunder anniversary Tour starting in the United Kingdom and continue worldwide.

This World Tour will be the biggest spectacle W.A.S.P. have ever created. The two-hour show will consist of three parts. A one hour set contain songs from the first four albums. The second set will be a 25 minute shortened version of The Crimson Idol complete with the movie accompaniment. A third set will consist of material from the new studio album, older material and everything in between. This show will see multiple video screens, pyrotechnics, and elements from the early W.A.S.P. shows (maybe even an exploding cod piece) and Blackie’s moving microphone stand Elvis!

Check out the new dates below:

September

21 – London, UK - The Forum
22 – Edinburgh, UK - HMV Picture House
23 – Newcastle, UK - Academy
24 – Belfast, Ireland - Ulster Hall
25 – Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
27 – Manchester, UK - Hmv Ritz
28 – Leeds, UK - Academy
29 – Nottingham, UK - Rock City
30 – Norwich, UK - Waterfront

October

1 – Wolverhampton, UK - Wolfrun Hall
3 – Cardif, Wales - The Great Hall
4 – Bristol, UK – Academy
6 - Varverg, Sweden - Arenan
7 - LinkÖPing, Sweden - Cupolen
9 - Uppsala, Sweden - Katalin
10 – Hässleholm, Sweden - Qpoolen
11 – Trollhätan, Sweden - Älvhögsborg
12 – Sundsvall, Sweden - Spegelsalen, Stadshuset
13 – Örebrö, Sweden - Kongress
14 – Eskilstuna, Sweden - Lokomotivet
16 - Tallin, Estonia - Rock Cafe
17 - Helsinki, Finland - The Circus
18 - Tampere, Finland - Tampere Hall
19 - Turku, Finland - Logomo
20 - SeinaJoki, Finland - Rytmikorjaamo
21 - Lulea, Sweden - Kulturenshus
25 - Huskvarna, Sweden - Teaterladan
26 - Stockholm, Sweden - Rockklassiker Krysningen
27 - Karlstad, Sweden - Nojesfabriken

November

2 – Tilburg, The Netherlands - 0 13
3 – Antwerp, Belgium -Trix
4 – Lille, France - Le Splendid
5 – Paris, France - Le Bataclan
6 – Toulouse, France - Bikini

7- Barakaldo, Spain - Rockstar Live

8 - Santiago, Spain - Sala Capitol
9 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
10 – Lisbon, Portugal - Campo Pequeno
12 - Cartagena, Spain - La Matriz Creativa
13 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
14 - St. Etienne, France - Le Fil
15 – Strasbourg, France - La Laite


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