GWAR - Lust in Space
This is an album for the die hard fans. This is an album for those who possess a bizarre sense of metal humor that the rest of us just do not understand. This album is like a dirty minded 9th graders concept album storyboard. I am dumber for having listened to it. Concept albums are dangerous territory for any band. Operation Mindcrime, for example, was an instant classic. This however, is a concept album from a concept band. After I finished the opening track, "Lust in Space", I dressed myself up as a superhero by stripping down to my boxers, tying a blanket around my neck as a cape, using a paper towel tube as a sword and posing in front of a full length mirror. I figure that pretending to be a super hero is on par with GWAR pretending to be a metal act looking to sell albums.
Each song makes the body move with quick tempos and chugging guitars. The music utilizes a very straightforward style of combining simple riffs in order to make people nod their head in approval. Musicians can certainly appreciate that the music stays simple. After all, why complicate things? Three chord punk has done well for decades, why not this? Because for those other bands, the lyrics also pulled through. Not so with this offering (or any other GWAR albums, to be honest). The lyrics are ones that only a die-hard GWAR fan could love. Like almost everything GWAR puts out, an instrumental version of the album would sell just as well as the album with the vocals left in it.
Concept albums are one thing, but since their inception, GWAR has made a name of being the immature half brother of more mature metal acts. The humor is amateurish, which, while is their schtick, also detracts from the music. There is potential in the music, but the vocals are the stake through the heart.
The idea of a concept album may turn off some, but jewels do exist out there. GWAR, manages to take the idea of a concept album and turn it into a completely undesirable musical idea. This album puts itself forth as the single A league of concept albums. While GWAR is a multi-sensory band with extravagant live shows, the music does not stand well on its own. There is little doubt that most copies of this album publicly owned are in CD racks in someone's parent's basement.
This album is for die hard fans only. Better put, this album is for die hard fans who see no reason to grow up.
Rating System
Thrash Magazine's overall rating system is based on the following criteria. GWAR received a 4.6 because of the following:
Instrumental Rating (1-30): 21
Vocal Rating (1-30): 10
Lyrical Rating (1-25): 6
Presentation Rating (1-15): 9