Still Not Black Enough

Still Not Black Enough
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1995 (UK and Japan)[1]
October 5, 1995 (Europe)
August 1996 (US)
GenreHeavy metal
Length38:30
LabelVictor (Japan)
Raw Power/Castle
ProducerBlackie Lawless
W.A.S.P. chronology
First Blood Last Cuts
(1993)
Still Not Black Enough
(1995)
Kill Fuck Die
(1997)
Singles from Still Not Black Enough
  1. "Black Forever" / "Goodbye America"
    Released: June 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[3]
Rock Hard8.5/10[4]

Still Not Black Enough is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., first released in June 1995 in Japan and the UK. It was not released in the U.S. until August 1996 through Castle Records.

Still Not Black Enough was originally slated for release as a Blackie Lawless solo album, but due to the heavy content, Lawless changed his mind and decided to release it as a W.A.S.P. album. This had also been the case for the previous album, The Crimson Idol. Still Not Black Enough is considered somewhat a successor to The Crimson Idol, bearing a strong resemblance with its lyrical themes. However, instead of telling the story of the fictional character Jonathan, this album is mostly a collection of personal songs from Blackie Lawless, including issues involving the death of his mother and personal crises just after the world tour for The Crimson Idol.

Track listings

All songs written by Blackie Lawless, unless otherwise indicated.

Original 1995 Japan pressing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Still Not Black Enough" 4:02
2."Somebody to Love" (Original by the Great Society, popularized by Jefferson Airplane)Darby Slick2:50
3."Black Forever" 3:17
4."Scared to Death" 5:02
5."Goodbye America" 4:46
6."Tie Your Mother Down" (Queen cover)Brian May3:39
7."Keep Holding On" 4:04
8."Rock and Roll to Death" 3:44
9."Breathe" 3:44
10."I Can't" 3:07
11."No Way Out of Here" 3:39
  • The European and 2001 remastered versions have the same track listing, without the Queen cover.
American version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Still Not Black Enough" 4:02
2."Skinwalker" 3:59
3."Black Forever" 3:17
4."Scared to Death" 5:03
5."Goodbye America" 4:47
6."Somebody to Love" (Original by the Great Society, popularized by Jefferson Airplane)Darby Slick2:50
7."Keep Holding On" 4:04
8."Rock and Roll to Death" 3:45
9."I Can't" 3:07
10."No Way Out of Here" 3:39
11."One Tribe" 4:59
12."Tie Your Mother Down" (Queen cover)Brian May3:39
13."Whole Lotta Rosie" (AC/DC cover)Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott3:59
  • The American version has the same track listing without "Breathe", but with bonus tracks "Skinwalker", "One Tribe", and "Whole Lotta Rosie". Additionally, there was a 15-track pirated version containing all of the above tracks, plus "Breathe" and a cover of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)". These last 2 tracks could also be found on some singles.[citation needed]

Personnel

Musicians
  • Blackie Lawless – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass, electric sitar, producer
  • Bob Kulick – lead guitar
  • John Shadowinds – lead guitar (guest appearance)
  • Frankie Banali – drums
  • Mark Josephson – electric violin
  • Stet Howland – additional percussion (on "Scared to Death" and "One Tribe")
  • Tracey Whitney, K.C. Calloway – background vocals
Production
  • Mikey Davis – engineer, mixing
  • Chris Ashem, Mark Humphries – assistant engineers
  • Andy Van Dette – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
  • Kosh – album design

Charts

Album

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 885. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ O'Neill, Brian. "W.A.S.P. - Still Not Black Enough review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 497. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  4. ^ Breusch, Matthias (1996). "Review Album: W.A.S.P. - Still Not Black Enough". Rock Hard (in German). No. 97. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  5. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – W.A.S.P. – Still Not Black Enough". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  8. ^ "W.A.S.P. Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 16, 2019.