Inside The Electric Circus

W.A.S.P.’s third album came with another membership change: guitarist Randy Piper was out, replaced by the porntastically named Johnny Rod. And though a carnival-barker intro and the opening title track promised a concept album of sorts, bassist/singer/bandleader Blackie Lawless felt the need to pad the record with covers of Humble Pie’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and Uriah Heep’s “Easy Living.” Fortunately, both are quite good and reveal W.A.S.P.’s roots in ’70s hard rock, which explains why they were so often so much heavier than their Sunset Strip peers. Indeed, they try on various styles here — “I’m Alive” recalls Heart, “Shoot From the Hip” Ted Nugent, “9.5-N.A.S.T.Y” AC/DC — but it all winds up sounding like W.A.S.P.