• AllMyVinyl #160
• Band: W.A.S.P.
• Album Title: The Last Command
• Release Date: 25 Oct 1985
• Date purchased: October 2023
• Location purchased: Gift
• Color of vinyl: black
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

A couple of years ago (2023) WASP put out a box set with their first five studio albums (plus a live album and a disc of bonus tracks) in a box set called “The 7 Savage: 1984-1992”.  It covered the years in the title (duh), and in that collection was today’s album – 1985’s “The Last Command”.

In 1985, this kind of stuff was what I generally listened to – so it was no surprise I bought this originally when it came out.  Not this version mind you – I’m fairly sure my original purchase was a pre-recorded cassette tape which no longer exists.  I remember the first album mostly for the Animal single, and the singles off that.  So when they came out with a second album it was on my radar.  As I sit here 41 years later, I can’t recall if it had yet gotten to “auto purchase” status, but I definitely was interested in it as I mostly liked the first album.

The first album had a “shock value” which I always thought came off as a bit childish.  That’s mostly gone for album two, but not completely.  One one of the videos, Blackie does that thing where they stare down and directly into the camera – a shot that’s “of the era”.  This album is one I always felt was flat beyond the two really big songs on it.  Not a bad album, but honestly, as I sit here writing in the intro segment for this in 2026 and look at the track listing, I can’t tell you what some of the songs are by title beyond Wild Child and Blind in Texas, which never seemed to leave the live setlists to this day.   Even the title track is a bit beyond me.

This album has a bit of a Quiet Riot connection.  After the Metal Health & Condition Critical albums for QR, those albums producers was initially tied to an album for Black Sabbath (after Born Again).  That fell apart pretty quickly, and Proffer came onboard to the second WASP album.  It’s probably why this album has a slightly different feel than the first one.  The first one has a more raw feel, this one has that mid 80’s hard rock sound to it.  Still sounds like WASP – kind of hard not to when Blackie is singing, but it’s got a bit more polish than the first one did.  The Quiet Riot connection didn’t stop with Proffer.  Carlos Cavazo (guitar) & Chuck Wright (bass, on and off over the years) both did background vocals on one of the songs.

WASP itself has already started down the path of a million different lineups.  Outside of Blackie himself, the band’s studio lineups generally fluctuate all over the place.  Three quarters of this album’s line up is the same as the first.  Tony Richards was out, and in on this album for drums was Steve Riley.  After the tour, the guitarist Randy Piper left the band, and Blackie switched from bass to rhythm guitar, necessitating a new bassist for the next album.  I would have to break out all the notes and check, but I believe every studio album in this box set has a different lineup on it – I wonder if ANY of the WASP albums have the same lineup from album to album (with the exception perhaps of Neon God Pt 1 & 2, which were recorded at the same time I believe).  Anyway, I digress…

Speaking of the tour, I saw WASP on this tour.  Was the first time I saw them.  They were opening for Black Sabbath on their Seventh Star tour.  Saw it in Philadelphia – Anthrax was there as well.  Was a great show.  I don’t remember any of the goofy live shit they were known for, like the throwing meat into the crowd antics.  The passage of time has me not positive if Blackie’s flaming codpiece was there as well, but this will happen when you’re forty years out from a concert.  :)

Going into this, I’m not sure how I will feel at the end.  On some of these, I have a general idea of how I’ll feel listening to the album because I have memories of it.  Again, sitting here in 2026, I simply cannot tell you the last time I listened to this album front to back in one go.  If I listen to anything off it, it’s Wild Child or Blind in Texas – the latter of which is one of my Top 10 WASP songs of all time.  I hope I enjoy this more than I expected going in to the songs….

Wild Child – Well, the album starts off with a pretty straightforward rocker.  Despite my calling it out as one of the two songs I know well from this album, it’s probably not their best “popular song”.  It’s not bad or anything – when I started the album, I like the metallic sound of the opening guitar riff.   Not exactly the most complicated riff, but it worked for me.  I do like the WASP vocal style which is in play here when in the chorus Blackie sings “I want youuuuuuuuuuu”.  The music playing behind the verses is quite minimal actually.  That surprises me a little, I recalled this song having more going on musically.  The solo’s not bad, but even it feels like it’s sluggish and honestly slightly buried in the mix.   It’s also the second longest song on the album at 5:12 – it feels like some of this could be trimmed a bit.   I think after listening again, what works most for me is the chorus over anything else.

Lyrics seem to dance around taking some guy’s girlfriend perhaps?  In these days I never paid much attention to detail of WASP lyrics, as let’s face it – it’s mostly about sex anyway.

Ballcrusher – This starts off instantly with a more interesting to me riff than the “big single” had.  It’s got that kind of crunchy guitar sound I like.  It’s a catchy riff, and an even catchier chorus (bye by bye ball crusher bye bye bye).   The second that started I remembered the song right away.  It’s one of my favorite kinds of things – a three and a half minute fast paced song.  Love the guitar riff, love the chorus as it’s really catchy and singable.   Guitar solo is way more interesting than Wild Child.  I would have picked THIS as a single for the album.  As I’m sitting here listening, I can hear myself singing silently in my head.   WASP isn’t my wife’s favorite stuff, so I have headphones on for this listen.  The danger there is I end up signing the chorus out loud – which gets me a text message telling me to stop singing.  This may or may not have happened here.  I’ll leave it to you the reader to decide.  :)

Fistful of Diamonds – This song starts off with a recorded bit talking about banks and money.  Something that wouldn’t be out of bounds for Pink Floyd or Queensryche.  It’s a slightly slower paced song than the first two.   Lyrically it’s a somewhat “young man desires” – only this time about money, not women.

“I want a fistful, fistful of diamonds
I live for the glory and fame
I want a fistful, fistful of diamonds
The millions are calling my name”

As a piece of musical construction, it feels more like Wild Child than Ballcrusher.  There’s some more of the recorded text in the middle of the song as well.   I like the experimentation with spoken words in the song – that comes up far stronger on the Headless Children album, but this song as a piece of music is mostly forgettable.  Feels a bit like a middle of side two kind of track.

Jack Action – This starts off with a cowbell sound.  It kind of reminds me of a slower version of Mountain’s Mississippi Queen’s intro.  Which is amusing as a cover of the Mountain song is on this album in deluxe/extended/digital formats (was originally a B side to Wild Child).  Another straight forward song that has a simple riff that runs through the whole thing – either out in front on its own, or behind the vocals in the verses.   Overall this song doesn’t do a ton for me, although I did like the guitar solo.  That wasn’t bad.  Lyrics repeat “I’m looking for Jack Action” rather a lot.  Yeah, this song doesn’t do it for me at all.  The band has two guitarists in it.  It doesn’t sound like they had one fully engaged.

Widowmaker – The longest song on the album at 5:18 – it really has echoes of what is to come on the Headless Children & Crimson Idol albums.  It’s got a more interesting song construction vs just “I’m 20 – here’s some guitar – fuck you”.  There’s some decent lyrics too.  It stands out during this listen as something better than all the songs that have come before it.  I wonder why I didn’t remember it – this was QUITE good.  It’s got a good driving beat, the guitar doesn’t get in its own way – perfectly melded in with the rest of the song.  It does get a little repeat-y towards the end, but overall, well put together.  It’s not fast paced at all, a slower driving song, which I have on some albums said can bore me, but not here.  It ends side 1 of the album quite well – in fact it could have been the overall album closer, too.

As I listen, it really feels like it’s part of something larger.  I almost wish there was an entire album based around this song, I quite liked it.

Blind in Texas – Side 2 starts off with easily my favorite song on the album – “Blind in Texas”.  As I said earlier, it’s top 10 WASP for me.  The guitar that goes through this works great – sounds well layered.  Props to Proffer for producing this sound.  Even the verses, where I can sometimes get lost on songs works here.  Fun as hell chorus.  When this song came out I was living in Pennsylvania, and I thought it was cool that they listed all of the towns all over Texas.   I don’t know why – but that’s a huge draw for me with the song.  The chorus is SUPER sing-able, and definitely crowd friendly.   To this day, I still sing this chorus when I’m listening to it.  It really REALLY works for me.

This is also one of those songs that for me it’s mixed with the music video.  I cannot hear the song without seeing the music video in my mind as well.  It’s a story of Blackie living out the lyrics in a bar in Texas.  It’s set with an old western motif that’s super fun.  WASP themselves are the “house band” in this bar (which also seems like a brothel).  There’s goofiness all over the place – Love the people in the crowd shooting their six shooters off into the air (inside the building) in time with the chorus.

There’s a plot that runs through the video with Blackie trying to hook up with a girl who is interested in him named “Rose”.  Towards the end when he’s trying to find her in a panic, he runs down a street past three guys, and it’s the three guys from ZZ Top who do their famous “hand gesture” from ZZ Top videos.  I’ve included a shot of that on my blog.  Funny as hell moment.

When I saw them live back in 1986 on this tour, this was the first song they did for an encore.  When they came out on stage, Chris Holmes had a full Dallas Cowboys helmet on.  Played the entire song with that on, head banging and everything.  Was funny as hell – a great live memory – a band with a sense of humor playing around with one of their songs.  Loved that.

The video uses the “single edit” of the song.  There’s a whole sequence where BLackie (in character) talks about not wanting to go home from the bar.  “What I am I supposed to do get on a horse and ride back to LA?” is in there – that’s something that always made me laugh – more of the sense of humor.  That sequence was cut from the video’s song.

The video aside, I really do love this song, easily my favorite track off the first three albums – it wasn’t until Headless Children would a song be put out under the WASP name that bests this one for me.

After I moved to Texas I remember thinking “Oh cool, I’m in one of the towns in this song”.  So I had to do this one line of lyric once..  “I drank Dallas whiskey and lost my mind”.  :)

Cries in the Night – From a piece of musical song construction, this reminds me a bit of Widowmaker, but this has louder guitar – on the former it was restrained and well merged.  This one seems to go for that slightly slower song speed, but when it’s time for the guitar, they step out front far more than the former.  It’s a fairly inoffensive piece of music, but nothing really grabs me on this one.  I wouldn’t skip it, but I wouldn’t run out going “Gotta hear that first”.

The Last Command – A slightly different guitar sound starts off this song.  Definitely still WASP, but it’s not the typical WASP sound of this era.  Looking at the lyrics of the song as I listen, and I’m not quite sure what the point of them are.  There’s some very enjoyable (to my ears) riffing in this one.  It also has a catchy vocal hook to the chorus.  The line “Stand up for the first time and cry out woah-oh”.  The woah-oh part is stylized much in the same way that the vocals in the chorus of Ballcrusher were.  Some of the vocals also remind me sonically of what Blackie does in Wild Child as well.

This is a song I’ve totally forgotten about.  I didn’t remember ANY of this, which is odd as I enjoyed it now.  Usually when I like something now from the past, I liked it then too – but I must not have as I’ve forgotten about it totally.  At 4:11, it’s a good length.  Not too short, and doesn’t overstay its welcome.   Good track, and definitely the best surprise I’ve had on this re-listen.

Running Wild in the Streets – OK, this is the song with the two guys from Quiet Riot singing background vocals.  I knew that when I started listening.  As it was another one I didn’t remember, I wasn’t sure where it was coming in.  I’m fairly sure those two are singing the words “All the Way” in the chorus (which repeat a few times).   They sound a tad like Quiet Riot background vocals, so I’m confident that’s where they pop up.   This is another of one of those songs that is just “there” for me.  It just feels like something we would have gotten from bands around this era like Britny Fox, Firehouse, or something along those lines.   Yeah, this does nothing for me.

Sex Drive – Just the title of this makes me fear the song.  I’ve long ago grown past this as a subject matter for hard rock tunes.  I mean come on Blackie..  Lyrics like “you been tinking pink, and you’re losing sleep”….  “I need to get close inside”…. ”  Very stupid lyrics, but then I expected that based on the song title alone. On the positive side, there’s some good guitar work during the solo, and I did notice some of the drum fills for the first time, so that part was good, but yeah – this song almost feels like an attempt to do a more clean version of Animal that wouldn’t get totally banned from the get go.

Shame the album closed out with a couple of duds to me.

Overall, this album was a bit of a mixed bag for me.  The two songs I recalled were what I remembered.  One really good one, and one that was OK if not great.  I discovered two songs on here that I liked – one of them I liked A LOT, and quite a few that didn’t go anywhere for me.  It’s not like it’s an awful album or anything just not one of WASP’s best.  I’ve already written about their best album in this vinyl series already (as well as the one most people think is the best).

So it’s just “ok”.   That’s about all I can think of to write in this summary.  I thought I’d have more here, but other than just talking about Blind in Texas again, I can’t think of much more to add to this one.