GWAR Albums (12)
What The Critics Say
When over-the-top theatrical metallists GWAR first appeared on the scene back in the late ‘80s, surely, many critics and detractors figured that the group would be a fast-fading fad. But as the years have accumulated, the group's massive cult following has only grown larger, with each successive new album and gore-tour. And the chaps are still at it on their eleventh studio album overall, 2009's Lust in Space (whose album cover appears to be directly modeled after Kiss' Love Gun). As you'd expect from previous GWAR albums, the blueprint remains the same on Lust (which sees the group return to their original record label, Metal Blade). In other words, gloriously stupid metal ditties such as the album-opening title track, "Metal Metal Land," and "The Price of Peace," all of which seem custom-made for the concert stage (with lots of scream-along choruses that will sound even more delightful when blasting live from a blood-soaked stage). With Lust in Space, the GWAR metal machine continues to steamroll along, leaving a path of grizzly gore. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
'Beyond Hell'
Release Date 8/29/2006
Tracks 12
Label DRT Entertainment
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Just like their 1995 album RagNaRok, GWAR's 2006 release Beyond Hell suffers because it's a concept album. Beyond Hell may be an inspired concept for a rock opera with a glorious stage set, but minus a funny line here and a grand moment of sleaze there, GWAR's journey through hell spends so much time keeping the story going, the band forgot how to have fun, and they've totally lost there already thin relationship with melody. Despite all the note-spinning and epic-for-epic's-sake writing, there are a handful of highlights. "I Love the Pigs" thrashes like the early days and includes the great line "Not all cops are pigs/Some of them are dicks." "Tormentor" chugs along like Judas Priest when they were hungry, and the cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" tacked onto the end offers sweet, hedonistic relief from all the ponderous narrative that comes before it. It's a cute idea that GWAR search out Satan just to kick his ass and prove they're the sleaziest, but that's not much to hang an album on. It's an excuse for a tour, pure and simple, and for the GWAR fanatic aching to be drenched in stage blood once again, that's a good enough excuse as any. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Live from Mt. Fuji'
Release Date 5/31/2005
Tracks 14
Label DRT Entertainment
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
As one of the most over-the-top theatrical concert presentations in all of rock, a live document from GWAR seems like a natural fit. The only problem is, what if it's a live CD with no visuals to accompany it? Therein lies the problem with their 2005 release, Live from Mt. Fuji. While die-hard GWAR fans (and there are quite a few of them roaming the earth) may get a kick out of such tracks as "Bring Back the Bomb," "Crush Kill Destroy," and "Bonesnapper," without actually seeing all the costume-wearing fun, it sounds pretty much like your run of the mill extreme metal band. Even GWAR themselves would probably agree that their stage show is their primary focus (with the music being secondary) -- as evidenced by the multitude of home videos/DVDs they've released over the years. For GWAR worshipers only. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When Gwar toured the United States in support of War Party in 2004, it was evident that thrash metal's most over-the-top parody band had no intention of becoming any less offensive; on-stage, they had a laugh at the expense of everyone from Lacey Peterson to Osama bin Laden to Ronald Reagan. Of course, anyone who actually bothers to be offended by Gwar misses the point -- they were always an exercise in satire, shock value and dark humor, and ultimately, their concerts and albums are goofy rather than genuinely disturbing. Some Gwar releases are stronger than others; at times, their studio recordings haven't been as memorable as their infamous live shows. But War Party is one of Gwar's more consistent efforts; in fact, it's almost in a class with 1990's excellent Scumdogs of the Universe. While this 2004 release doesn't break any new ground for the thrash veterans, Gwar's performances are consistently tight, focused and inspired; the songs are hooky, and the lyrics are clever (at least if you have a taste for sick, demented humor). Tunes like "Bring Back the Bomb," "You Can't Kill Terror" and "The Reaganator" are full of political references, but it would be a mistake to think of anything on this CD as serious political commentary -- Gwar's love of horror, sci-fi, gore and sleaze always keeps things tongue-in-cheek, and any references to political figures are strictly for entertainment value. Musically, Gwar hasn't become any less heavy, but for all its forcefulness, War Party is relatively melodic -- especially in comparison to all the ferocious, skull-crushing metalcore, death metal and black metal discs that came out in 2004. Longtime Gwar fans will be glad to know that while War Party doesn't reinvent the wheel, it is a respectable addition to their blood-soaked catalog. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'Violence Has Arrived'
Release Date 11/6/2001
Tracks 13
Label Metal Blade
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The mighty Gwar returns in 2001 with their eighth sonic sex-and-splatter-fest, The Violence Has Arrived. Although Gwar's albums have always served mainly as soundtracks to their comic performance-art concerts, the band does actually take their music seriously enough to make well-executed records. The Violence Has Arrived predictably doesn't reveal any new shades or dimensions to Gwar, but dependably continues the band's tradition of self-parodic, '80s-style heavy metal, lyrically wallowing in ridiculously over-the-top gore, sexual perversions, and other tastelessness. Sample lyric: "Your beauty makes me sick/I'd rather f*ck a troll/Kick you in the head/Vomit in the hole." Needless to say, not for the squeamish. ~ Andy Hinds, All Music Guide
'We Kill Everything'
Release Date 4/6/1999
Tracks 17
Label Metal Blade
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
GWAR continues to prove that no subject is too crude, no form of typified rape too base to relate in their relentless jaunt to use dramatic excess and heavy metal riffs for global domination. While We Kill Everything is not up to their earlier titles, especially Hell-O, Scumdogs of the Universe, and America Must Be Destroyed, it's still a fine continuation of a Spinal Tap-like heavy metal joke but with the added bonus of cooler costumes and monsters from outer space. ~ Tom Schulte, All Music Guide
'Carnival of Chaos'
Release Date 3/25/1997
Tracks 18
Label Metal Blade
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Chock-full of random derision, expansive snarkiness, and low-down garage sensibilities, Carnival of Chaos is Gwar at its best. The snapshots of a cartoon apocalypse and over-the-top deviance of this 1997 Metal Blade release are in strict keeping with the group's foul vision. The punk-inflected chugging and whining guitar lines make this one of Gwar's most sylized and, well, listenable releases to date. But the bizarre and frequently self-effacing lyrics are what make Carnival of Chaos one of Gwar's best offerings. "Penguin Attack" is an absolute hoot, with some of metal's all-time funniest lyrics: "They are on a rampage/They were first to fight/They would write a new page/If they could only write." Other choice cuts include the hardcore-esque "If I Could Be That" and the '80s pop of "I Suck on My Thumb." Stripped down and full of goofy but vibrant anxiety, Carnival of Chaos is a must for the thinking Gwar fan (if such a creature exists). ~ Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On their fourth release, This Toilet Earth, Gwar managed to create a song so heinous ("B.D.F.") that it was removed from the disc post-release, just as the band was removed from their new label, Priority Records. Happily, the lords of gross-out metal were welcomed back to their old home, Metal Blade Records, with open arms and the group hardly missed a beat. On this 1994 offering, the mothers of scatological invention add a smidgen of stop-and-go faux funk to their assault. Faith No More and Zappa-like soundscapes advance tracks like "Pepperoni" beyond Gwar's traditional realm of bad metal. Vocalist Oderous Urungus' delivery sounds more confident than earlier efforts -- due undoubtedly to the years of touring and recording -- and his bandmates perform up to their own low standards. None of this is really meant to be taken seriously, and critical listeners need not consider This Toilet Earth or any other release from the world's most disgusting joke band. But there is some charm to Gwar. In the cynical American tradition of dualistic "free" speech, they are performance artists lampooning everything that's wrong with the marketing of teenage male entertainment, which -- not so ironically -- is everything that they enjoy. ~ Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While Gwar is really more of a sight gag, its music has always held up its end of the band's bit, riffing on heavy metal clichés while using those same elements to create serviceable headbanging music. Musically, the papier-mâché pranksters' 1988 debut falls somewhere between Black Sabbath and Anthrax; lyrically, it's like Ween trapped inside the brain of a 14-year-old kid. Fart jokes, snickering song titles (the winner: "I'm In Love (With a Dead Dog)"), plenty of bizarre and/or gory references to sexual perversion, and references to anal caves -- it's all in a day's work for Gwar. Standouts include "Americanized," which adds a bit of Crass-style street punk into the band's sound, the joke-establishing "Gwar Theme" ("We are Gwar/We'll go far/We've got guitars/We'll eat your car") and "Techno's Song," which introduces Techno Destructo, a Gwar-hating alien who lives "way past Uranus." The death ray sound effect cutting through "World O Filth"'s hardcore thrash is also spectacular. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
