Still Not Black Enough

Still Not Black Enough is a work on which Blackie Lawless draws his inner anger and deep loneliness at an extremely personal temperature, with W.A.S.P.-like big riffs and theatrical singing. Pushing the introspective, narrative style of the previous The Crimson Idol in a more personal direction, it also has a side originally conceived as a solo work. Even in aggressive songs, Lawless’s own wavering personal emotion always breathes strongly at their center. From the tension of the opening title track “Still Not Black Enough” and a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” to cuts like “Black Forever” and “Scared to Death,” the songs hold deep shading and sorrow within aggression, while cuts like “Goodbye America” and “Keep Holding On” convey the work’s personal depth. Its appeal is that the playing of Bob Kulick and others gives the work sure thickness while foregrounding Lawless’s earnest voice and words. Carrying the band’s banner, it pursues dense, personal expression like a solo work. Letting you deeply savor a more introspective, personal side of W.A.S.P., it is an ambitious record — Lawless’s inner world strongly present.