Having sold over 12 million albums worldwide, W.A.S.P. was one of the pre-eminent major label American heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Formed in 1982 in Los Angeles California, the band built a large and dedicated global following with its eponymous debut album and subsequent releases, including The Last Command, Into The Electric Circus, The Headless Children and more.
Managed by legendary Irom Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, the band played some of the seminal concerts of the era, including multiple visits to the renowned Monsters Of Rock festival in England in 1987 and 1992 and also toured the globe with other seminal acts such as KISS, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Dokken and many more.
W.A.S.P. By Ross Halfin starts at the very beginning in Hollywood, California where photographer Ross Halfin shot the band for the first time at The Troubadour — the famous club on Santa Monica Blvd which launched the careers of many artists, including Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Rosess and Elton John, to name just a few. Ross would work with the band right the way through this period from the small clubs to headlining venues such as Long Beach Arena and Hammersmith Odeon.
This book offers a unique insight into the classic period of W.A.S.P. with an array of Ross’s fantastic dramatic live photos coupled with candid offstage reportage capturing the humor and spirit of the characters behind the instruments as well as studio sessions that would become iconic and defining for the band.
In addition to the photography, former W.A.S.P. guitarist and co-songwriter Chris Holmes provides anecdotes and memories throughout the book, sharing insights and stories for the very first time that provide a truly exceptional commentary that is an absolute must for all fans of the band. There are also forewords from the Smallwood and Halfin sharing their own perspectives and experiences with one of America’s most notorious and influential metal bands of that era.
This 300-page plus coffee-table book features a 3D lenticular cover, is bound in red recycled leather and presented in a protective slipcase. Only 300 numbered copies are available worldwide and each copy is personally signed by Holmes. The book costs £275 ($318.53 US) plus shipping worldwide.
Pre-orders start today 3 p.m. U.K. time and the book will ship at the end of November 2022. A 10% pre-order discount can be claimed with the code WASP2022 at the checkout.
A video trailer for the book can be viewed below.
2 Responses
I wonder if this photo book will include pics with Rik Fox??? If not, it should have cuz he’s a part of W.A.S.P. history.
And the 1st W.A.S.P. album was NEVER known as “The Torture Never Stops”.
Rattle,
I will fix it, but ironically that is how my iTunes has it listed.
D 🙂