Inside the Electric Circus is the third studio album by American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released in October 1986[3] through Capitol Records; a remastered edition featuring two bonus tracks was reissued in 1997 through Snapper Music.[4] The album is the band's first to feature singer and bandleader Blackie Lawless playing guitar, having switched from bass to rhythm guitar.[4] It reached No. 60 on the US Billboard 200 chart,[5] where it remained for 19 weeks.[6]
| Inside the Electric Circus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1986 | |||
| Recorded | July 1986 | |||
| Studio | Pasha Music House, North Hollywood, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:57 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Blackie Lawless | |||
| W.A.S.P. chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Inside the Electric Circus | ||||
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Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 5/10[8] |
Greg Prato at AllMusic gave Inside The Electric Circus three stars out of five, calling it "[an attempt] to grow musically with each successive release".[7] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considered the album "slightly more simplified and hard rock-based" than previous works and reminded in his review how Lawless "in retrospect considered this record a failure."[8]
Lawless himself has been critical of Inside The Electric Circus, going as far as to name it his least favorite W.A.S.P. album, calling it a "tired record done by a tired band".[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Big Welcome" | Blackie Lawless | 0:51 |
| 2. | "Inside the Electric Circus" | Lawless | 4:06 |
| 3. | "I Don't Need No Doctor" (Ray Charles cover) | Jo Armstead, Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson | 3:28 |
| 4. | "9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y." | Lawless, Chris Holmes | 4:50 |
| 5. | "Restless Gypsy" | Lawless | 5:02 |
| 6. | "Shoot from the Hip" | Lawless | 4:44 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "I'm Alive" | Lawless | 4:24 |
| 8. | "Easy Living" (Uriah Heep cover) | Ken Hensley | 3:13 |
| 9. | "Sweet Cheetah" | Lawless, Holmes | 5:18 |
| 10. | "Mantronic" | Lawless, Holmes | 4:12 |
| 11. | "King of Sodom and Gomorrah" | Lawless, Holmes | 3:52 |
| 12. | "The Rock Rolls On" | Lawless | 3:57 |
| Total length: | 47:57 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Flesh and Fire" | Lawless | 4:37 |
| 14. | "D.B. Blues" | Lawless | 3:24 |
Personnel
- W.A.S.P.
- Blackie Lawless – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, producer
- Chris Holmes – lead guitar
- Johnny Rod – bass, background vocals
- Steve Riley – drums, background vocals
- Production
- Duane Baron, Alex Woltman – engineers
- Hans Peter Huber, Kevin Lehue – additional engineering
- Michael Wagener, Garth Richardson – mixing
- George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
Charts
Album
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | "9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y." | Finnish Singles Chart[17] | 18 |
| UK Singles Chart[18] | 70 | ||
| 1987 | "I Don't Need No Doctor" | UK Singles Chart[18] | 31 |