Customer Reviews

Kommander of Chaos

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

And when I say this, I am talking about the album being so hot you can't even touch it without burning yourself. After teaming up with the members of Kiss for the slick, commercially friendly "WOW" as her first solo record (which I like the least, actually), she and Rod Swenson went back to basics by creating a record with drums and guitars so loud and fast that they resemble a towering inferno of fireworks, barely contained in the casing. Wendy growls and screams more than ever here, and there are also back-up vocals by the male band members. "1986's Kommander of Kaos," in fact, is meant to be a solo record with tracks similar to the Plasmatics' speed metal songs, but definitely not the same as the predecessors. It, in a way, marks what was to come the following year, when the band reunited to record the now famous Maggots album. I think the tracks I like the most on "Kommander" are "Pedal to the Metal," "Goin Wild," and "Fight for the Right," a pretty cool metal anthem if I ever heard one. What I don't like, though, is the sonic power of the band drowns out most of WOW's voice, so I have a hard time trying to understand what she's saying. It's not the best album in her career, but come on!! It deserves a lot more than 2 STARS! :P

This is a burning high-speed masterpiece that like so many of the other products put out on her or the plasmatics name is a historical and musical benchmark (for those who haven't figured this out yet, the bands were comprised of the same changing musicians...getting better and better as the albums went on and the name change, namely, Wendy's name vs. the Plasmatics name was done to get around possible legal restrictions with record companies). After the mid-tempo WOW album produced by Gene Simmons of KISS which got Wendy a grammy nomination, and where the tempo was slowed down to give Wendy's vocals space, this album returns to the breakneck (in those days) speed of earlier Plasmatics records and then some. Produced by Rod Swenson with veteran Wes Beech as associate producer the album is different than any other Wendy O. record for one other reason. It is the only time she made an album and did a tour (except for the very early days of the band) with a 3 piece band. Wes had needed to take a sabbatical for a tour and since the musicianship was so good it was decided to do this one tour as a 3 piece a challenge they'd wanted to take on anyway. The power and musicianship here is truly astonishing, and Wendy's vocals are utterly awesome. With the production dedicated to bringing back the speed but with a new kind of metalic edge and with guitarist Michael Ray doing lead, the result just soars. The songs are killers too, with F that Booty, Goin Wild and others making this a non-stop thrill ride. As an aside, more on the story of this recording (and the others) are on the new A+ DVD Wendy O. Williams and The Plasmatics: The DVD - Ten Years of Revolutionary Rock and Roll that has recently come out. This album is one of my all time favs. KAOS IS A MUST HAVE KOLLECTORS KLASSIC!!!

The ABSOLOUTE BEST Heavy Metal/Punk EVER! A MUST. AN ABSOLOUTE MUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wendy is in her finest hour singing the autobiographical Bad Girl and Hoy Hey Live TO Rock. Never Aprreciated for the raw realness this album reeked! GET IT!!!!

This newly remastered release of this classic Wendy O.album is even better than the original. The sound on the original was so huge (recorded in an "airplane hangar") that sometimes Wendy's vocals, which are absolutely some of her best ever were fighting with the mix. Here the new mastering let's you hear more of her power without losing the hugeness of the whole sound. Play this one loud; it's immense. The musicianship is extraordinary. What is particulalry unique about this album which seems to have been missed by some people is that this is the only time, except at the very, very beginning of her career that Wendy performed with a 3 piece band. The Plasmatics after their initial outings were always a 4 piece. In the ealry days the musicianship wasn't good enough to pull this off. The group always need the stalwart Wes Beech to keep the thing together. But now Wendy had the musical talent behind her and when Wes needed to take a sabbatical they decided to go out as three piece...pure and VERY powerful. Wes co-produced the album with Rod Swenson but didn't play on it. The songs are lightning fast, and amazing. This is as fast or faster than any of the earlier Plasmatics records but the music is way more complex, making it a real listening orgy of intricate screaming sound. Highlights are certianly 'Goin ' Wild', 'Party', and "F&&k That Booty". This one rocks! In Gleen O'Brian's review in Interview Mag at the time he said this record totall "blows Motely Crew and all the rest away!" and it certainly does.

This album has nothing to do with the one that Gene Simmons produced for Wendy.This is fast and raw,in yer face,dirty sounding,high octane punkcore/heavy metal with Wendy at her shouting best !!!! The drumming is astonishing,it will floor you guaranteed !!!Features the mandatory Motorhead cover JAILBAIT (way better than the original version) and live track (of much better sound quality) which Wendy starts out with a speech on ¨straight people¨that'll make you laugh your head off.More like early Plasmatics than anything else,but I had to take a star off the 5 it would deserve if the sound were as good as that on the Plasmatics records.It has little treble and suffers from dinamic compression,guitar is low in the mix and has a muddy,kinda muffled sound.Bottom end,on the other hand is BIG.This is one hell of a raw record anyway.

After a somewhat fullfilling Rerelease of Coup D'Etat with an extra unreleased track one must wonder why bring this half-hearted attempted CD to the masses. A whole slew of tracks (there's five of 'em folks) including one live track! The live track is lacking in the engineering department and live never really sounds all that great on a CD anyway. If you missed a live show while Wendy O. was around then the live track is a, albiet poor, substitute. Save you cash and buy Coup D'Etat or better even still one of the old LPs.

This record features Wendy in good form but alas, the songwriting and production are really sub par. Very plain, even boring metal songs, silly male backing vocals. The big exception is Goin' Wild, which is a fantastic, raw, energetic anthem, probably the best song ever released by WOW during her solo years. The Motorhead cover is OK, and so is the live version of Ain't None of Your Business. Decide for yourself if this is worth the price of the album.

If you like Wendy O' Williams doing metal, better buy the Plasmatics' Coup d'Etat CD. If you like Wendy O'Williams doing punk, better buy the Plasmatics' New Hope for the Wretched CD, one of the best hardcore punk records of all time.