Wendy O. Williams wasted no time staking out a solo career following
the Plasmatics' 1983 breakup. She found a patron in
Kiss' tongue-wagging bassist
Gene Simmons, who'd taken her old band on tour as a support act. The result led to
Simmons' first production work outside of
Kiss (while he credited his bass playing as
Reginald Van Helsing, a pseudonym that didn't fool astute fans).
Simmons felt that
Williams could succeed on her own terms, with better material and production.
Simmons was half-right: his impressive production work stacks saber-toothed guitars on lush keyboards without burying
Williams' two-fisted attitude. A solid supporting cast of former
Plasmatics guitarist
Wes Beech and drummer
T.C. Tolliver doesn't hurt. Neither do cameos by
Kiss guitarists
Paul Stanley,
Ace Frehley, and late drummer
Eric Carr.
Simmons himself co-writes five tracks (which also carry the names of
Plasmatics bassist
Junior Romanelli and lead guitarist
Richie Stotts, who aren't actually on the album).
Williams sounds sturdy and self-assured on the raunchy romps of
"I Love Sex (And Rock 'N' Roll)" and
"Bump and Grind," although the standout track is the
Simmons/
Stanley anthem
"It's My Life," a thumping
pop-metal vow to "do what I like." Another highlight is the
pop ballad "Legends Never Die," as close to a conventional vocal performance as
Williams ever managed. (The main riff went unused on
Kiss' own
Creatures in the Night album [1982], until
Simmons dusted it off for inclusion here.) In some ways,
Williams' first solo venture amounts to a watered-down echo of
the Plasmatics' own bid for mainstream success,
Coup d'Etat (1982), minus the latter record's radical political bent. That's not surprising, with the ever-career-conscious
Simmons manning the producer's chair. Despite his best efforts, however,
Williams would stay a quintessential cult artist. While not a remarkable record,
WOW offers a convincing enough glimpse of the stardom that should have been hers all along. ~ Ralph Heibutzki
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