The Neon God, Pt. 2: The Demise

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The Journey continues..., 2007-07-10
Fresh off the heels of part 1, Blackie and the boys return to conclude their 2004 opus of Jesse Slane! A bit heavier than part one, Blackie showws he is a bit more focused and ready to rock this time around! br / br /1. Never Say Die - Ah, a great motto of mine and a killer way to begin this album. Showing that after the orderals of part 1, Jesse has said he will not die! Awesome, heavy, right on! 4.5/5 br / br /2. Resurrector - This track picks right up where NSD leaves off. heavy, rocking, cohesive. Blackie seems to have finally gotten the right mix of storytelling and music. Awesome track. 4.5/5 br / br /3. The Demise - Goes wonderfully with part one's "The Rise." The tone and feel of the track is right on and done so well by the entire band. 4/5 br / br /4. Clockwork Mary - I'll be honest, this song didn't grab me the first few listens and I had a hard time figuring out how it fit. After awhile, i realized just how much of a heavy rocking song it really is. May not be their best, but does fit the album well. 4/5 br / br /5. Tear Down The Walls - Pretty cool track here, that to me sets up the listener for the following track. Not a filler, just really good storytelling by Blackie on this track. 4/5 br / br /6. Come Back To Black - My favorite off this album. Very much ties into the first part and again shows the true struggle of Jesse Slane. Awesome guitar and drum work along with a catchy chorus! 5/5 br / br /7. All My Life - The filler of the album. Though, not a bad one at that it seems to gel well and is essential to the story of the album. Don't underestimate this one. 3.5/5 br / br /8. Destinies To Come (Neon Dion) - The weakest track off the album. heavy guitar work, and a very essential part of the story; just doesn't do it for me though. 3.5/5 br / br /9. The last Redemption - The be-all-end-all of the "Neon God" series. What a rocking tune! Ties in all the elements from both part one and two and holds nothing back! Heavy rocker that is deserving of a "classic" label. 5/5 br / br /There you have it, the "Neon God" series. As I've mentioned, well worth it for W.A.S.P. fans. Not a bad concept album overall, it is a shame that it constantly gets compared to "The Crimson idol." Come on people, just enjoy it for what it is on its own!

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

neon dion, 2007-03-23
get this album and just listen the end of last 70 seconds of neon dion....this is the enough reason for get it....in this 70 seconds blackie tell the destiny with music...just listen over and over again...

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Redundant but enjoyable, 2006-10-14
First, I give this album four stars rather than three because compared to most of the mindless pap being peddled as music (a situation that is not new, by the way), this album would be worth *at least* five stars. However, compared to some of the best metal, including some of W.A.S.P.'s previous releases, it struck me as being at best a three-star album. So, splitting the difference, it gets four. br / br /Both the strongest and the weakest aspect of this and the previous W.A.S.P. release (The Neon God Part 1: The Rise) is that they aren't albums that you can just pop into the CD player while you drive across town, for two reasons. First, most of the individual tracks don't have hooks strong enough to engage your immediate head-banging response. In fact, Part 2 reuses many of the same fundamental riffs and melodies that originate in Part 1, while Blackie overlays them with different lyrics (which, themselves, feature identical phrasing in key passages). Short answer: Little on this album stands out as a great song. br / br /The second reason these albums don't reward a casual listen is that they are, as other reviews have noted, two parts of a single, depressing story. (The liner notes are essential to understanding the story, by the way, so you'd be well advised actually to buy the physical CD rather than downloading just the music from iTunes or somesuch place.) The tracks on each album tend to blend into each other, with the effect of creating not a series of songs, but one sustained *mood*. br / br /Now here's the good part: Few albums released these days can truly serve as "mood music" (unless your mood is bubble-headed stupidity). But if you've got some chores to perform around the house or the office, or if you're stuck on an airplane or in a car for an extended trip (and you're not the person driving), or even if you just feel a little discouraged or down and want to lay around for a while, these two discs provide the perfect soundtrack. br / br /Speaking just for myself, I wish that Blackie had combined these two albums into a single, slightly longer release, as I find most of the tracks on Part 2 to be essentially redundant in terms of music from Part 1, and redundant in terms of lyrics from each other. (Really, how many different ways can one say "Worship me, you mindless sheep" or "Life is difficult and miserable"?) However, I'd rather get too much music from W.A.S.P. than too little, so I shouldn't complain. br / br /Bottom line: If you like thoughtful, slightly pessimistic metal, you can't go too wrong with either half of W.A.S.P.'s The Neon God.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Never Say Die, 2005-12-28
First thing's first, if you are unaware that this is a sequel to WASP's "Neon God Part 1: The Rise," I strongly suggest you pick that one up before picking this one up as you might be a little bit lost in terms of the story. br /The Neon God series by WASP is about a boy named Jessie who is abused and orphaned by his mother. The boy eventually discovers a talent to read minds. And, as a result of that talent, he gathers an almost religious following who view him as a holy creature - a dark messiah. He is "The Neon God." br /In this record, you find out the fate of Jessie and what his power will ultimately bring him to. Since part 1 was titled "The Rise" and part 2 is titled "The Demise," you can pretty much determine what each disc is about story wise. br /There are differences between part 1 and part 2. While part 1 was very story driven and only a handful of songs stand out as exceptionally catchy or radio friendly, part 2 is entirely comprised of catchy metal songs that could be considered anthems at times. For example, track 1 off part 2 is titled "Never Say Die" and is very catchy and very easy to get caught by. And, Blackie Lawless delivers some really interesting and different screams than we're used to hearing from him. In fact, a few times towards the end of the song one might wonder if the high pitched sound is the sound of a guitar or Blackie screaming at the top of his lungs. It's really high energy rock 'n' roll. I love it! br /The final track of the opus is called "The Last Redemption" and it is nearly 14 minutes in length! This song is a epic culminating the story of Jessie with flashbacks to songs off of part 1 thrown in to make the effect that much stronger. During this marathon, Jessie battles Judah in a verbal confrontation about the so called "God of Love." It's quite deep and powerful yet melodic and musically strong. br /I fully enjoyed both albums. To be fair, I'm not sure playing them in a car with those who are not expecting this opus of a concept album might confuse the hell out of them. But, if you tell them the story to catch them up, I'm sure they will appreciate the musicianship applied to these songs and the wonderful lyrics that help tell this great story. br /Is this a "power metal" set as many concept albums are? The answer, quite frankly, is no. While power metal concepts can be very cool, WASP accomplishes the story telling in a far more straight forward and take no prisoners style. Simply put, it's great music by WASP as heard on their earlier albums with more intelligence put forward by the band than sex references. I dig both styles and simply put, I dig WASP and these records. Pick 'em up!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

A bit better., 2005-06-16
Better than "The Neon Part 1 -The Rise" but not enough to wake the neighbor. First of all Mr. Lawless should get a producer instead of him trying to control everything. I'm not sure people want conceptual album anymore! Don't try to re-do "The Crimson Idol", this isn't worth it anyway. Try something new or in the vain as "The Headless Children". Highlights: "Never Say Die", "Clockwork Mary" and .....more of the same.