During a recent SiriusXM interview, W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless was asked about whether he foresaw METALLICA‘s meteoric rise to fame when they opened for W.A.S.P. on a U.S. tour back in 1985.
“Honestly, I don’t think anybody has the ability to look into a crystal ball and see that,” he responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “I see it differently. I mean, for me, METALLICA is James. And I don’t say to slight any of the rest of the band — certainly not at all — but being a singer, I relate to the singer. And even to this day, I listen to how James drives songs and that singer lingo for when we drive a track, that means we’re pushing the crap out of it. We’re really hitting it hard, using the vocal to carry the track. And the way James drives it, I mean, he had that even then.
“Just before I came on the air here, there was that commercial for the ’80s thing, and the first thing I heard was [late QUIET RIOT singer] Kevin DuBrow‘s voice. Kevin was one of the best at driving a track there ever was. I mean, the power that comes out of these guys, I mean, it’s just — it’s unrelenting and it’s a force to be reckoned with. So James had that even then. So, like I said, I could see that early on, but predicting what that would become? No, of course not.
“To be completely honest about it, METALLICA did not become METALLICA until about …And Justice For All, at least not in the mass sense that we know it now,” Blackie continued. “Did they have a following before that? Of course they did. But to get into where it became supersonic, like it is now, no. And it takes a while for that to happen. And literally the planets aligned for them. I mean, they had done …And Justice For All. The Black Album comes out, and it’s got that song [‘Enter Sandman’] on it, man. And history is rewritten at that point.”
W.A.S.P. will hit the road this fall for their “Album ONE Alive” tour, supported by ARMORED SAINT and UNTO OTHERS.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of their iconic first album, released on August 17, 2024, W.A.S.P. will perform the record in full for the first time in four decades as part of their “Album ONE Alive” tour.
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