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‘Why Play Around?’ 33 1/3 Vinyl
Profile/Rock Hotel Records
Review by Shane
I originally purchased this now classic album on cassette back the late 80’s. I had never heard of the band, but the cover was cool, and I loved the title…and I needed some new METAL. It instantly became a fav of mine but I never learned much about the band back then. I didn’t find much coverage in the ‘zines I was reading and the internet was still many years away in as much as a common tool for the public. The inlay card in the cassette was blank on the inside, nothing. Of course as the 90’s rolled around I learned more about this Boston thrash band (Bob Mayo - bass/vocals, Rich Spillberg - guitar, Barry Spillberg - drums)…
Here is the early history of Wargasm via the official bio: “WARGASM was first formed in 1982 under the name OVERKILL. OVERKILL was a four piece band featuring Rich Spillberg on guitar, Barry Spillberg on drums, Peter Schiffer on bass and Bob Mayo on guitar. In 1985, OVERKILL changed their name to MANIAC. Bob switched from guitar to bass and they became a three piece band. In 1985, MANIAC released a demo, called “Rainbows, Kittens, Flowers and Puppies”. This was five song demo. MANIAC played several shows throughout New England. By 1986, they had again changed their name to WARGASM. Under this new name they recorded another demo called, “Satan Stole my Lunch Money”. This demo landed them their first record deal. Then soon followed the album, “Why Play Around” on PROFILE records in 1988. Due to personnel changes within their labels management, the album never got the promotion it deserved. The album with no label support hit Number 4 on the CMJ Charts along with heavyweights like METALLICA, ANTHRAX and OZZY.”
I always felt like this band fell through the cracks and could have been quite a huge force in the Metal scene…the songs on ‘Why Play Around?” are just too good and stand up strong against ANYTHING released around that time. Neverending label/management problems spelled doom for this band in 90’s, but they did manage to release soom good fucking music during that time, most notably the ‘Ugly’ album in 1993. For me though, ‘Why Play Around?’ is the must have pinnacle release, and one of the most underrated Heavy Metal albums of all time. I found this vinyl on ebay a few years ago and paid quite a bit to get it but it was well worth it.
Wasteland
Revenge
Bullets & Blades
Undead
Merritt’s Girlfriend
Sudden Death
Wargasm
Le Coucou
Humanoid
The tracks above (minus the spooky joke track ‘Merrits Girlfriend’ and the odd, yet charming instrumental ‘Le Coucou’) contain insanely catchy riffs combined with simple, yet near perfect, vocal verses and choruses. It was all about the song back then (not a patchwork of riffs slammed together and called a “song” as so many Metal bands are guilty of these days) and these guys had it down fucking A! You can hear an influence of early traditional Metal in the music along side the manic riffing and galloping thrash drumming that was common in the late 80’s. The verses, choruses, the bridges, the solos….ic…a forgotten art in Metal, and on display in fine form on this slab of vinyl.
The inner sleeve contains lyrics, a thanks list and pic of the band (all absent on the cassette). The cover displays the artwork the way it was meant to be seen… Most notable about the vinyl though is that it sounds better! The highs scream louder, and the lows punch much better…Barry’s bass drums sound much better on the black circle! If yer lucky enough to find the vinyl of this album snag it, but any format is a must have in my opinion if you like classic thrash Metal…although I haven’t heard this on CD.
The bands official website is Wargasm.org….although the band is no longer officially together, a DVD is in the works containing alot of classic material as well as a reunion show the guys did a couple years ago…check the site for the latest news.
Read all of Shane’s Music Reviews in our Music section.
