Album · 40 years old this year
Inside the Electric Circus
Inside the Electric Circus is the third album by American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released in October 1986 on Capitol Records. It follows their self-titled debut in 1984 and The Last Command in 1985, and it marks a change in the band's make-up: Blackie Lawless, the singer and bandleader, moves from bass to rhythm guitar for the first time.
The record reached No. 60 on the US Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks. It sits between the band's early shock rock image and the more ambitious records that came later, including The Headless Children in 1989 and The Crimson Idol in 1992. A remastered edition with two bonus tracks was reissued in 1997 through Snapper Music, which is a good place to start if you want to catch up with this stage of the band.
Inside the Electric Circus: tracklist, credits and charts
12 tracks · 48:02Tracklist
- 1The Big WelcomeBlackie Lawless0:51
- 2Inside the Electric CircusBlackie Lawless4:06
- 3I Don’t Need No DoctorArmstead, Ashford, Simpson3:28
- 49. 5.-N.A.S.T.Y.Chris Holmes and Blackie Lawless4:50
- 5Restless GypsyBlackie Lawless5:02
- 6Shoot From the HipBlackie Lawless4:45
- 7I’m AliveBlackie Lawless4:25
- 8Easy LivingKen Hensley3:14
- 9Sweet CheetahChris Holmes and Blackie Lawless5:19
- 10MantronicChris Holmes and Blackie Lawless4:12
- 11King of Sodom and GomorrahChris Holmes and Blackie Lawless3:53
- 12The Rock Rolls OnBlackie Lawless3:57
- Produced by
- Blackie Lawless
- Recorded at
- Pasha Music House (North Hollywood, Los Angeles)
- Mixed by
- Michael Wagener
- Mixed at
- Amigo Studios
- Engineered by
- Duane Baron, Alex Woltman, Hanspeter Huber
- Labels
- Capitol Records, Capitol
- Length
- 48:02
Line-up
- Chris Holmes · guitar
- Blackie Lawless · guitar, lead vocals
- Steve Riley · drums (drum set)
- Johnny Rod · bass guitar
Singles
- “9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y." / "Easy Living”
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1986 | 53 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1986 | 60 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1986 | 16 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1986 | 17 |
| Swedish Albums · 1986 | 35 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1986 | 84 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1986 | 94 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
48.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
721
ListenBrainz listeners
34k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
3.4k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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More from W.A.S.P.
Full discography →
W.A.S.P.
1984
The Last Command
1985
Animal (F**k Like A Beast) / Live... Animal
1987
Live... In the Raw
1987
The Headless Children
1989
The Crimson Idol
1992
First Blood... Last Cuts
1993
Still Not Black Enough
1995
Kill Fuck Die
1997
Double Live Assassins
1998
Helldorado
1999
The Sting: Live at the Key Club, L.A.
2000
Unholy Terror
2001
Dying for the World
2002
The Neon God, Part 1: The Rise
2004
The Neon God, Part 2: The Demise
2004
Dominator
2007
Babylon
2009
Golgotha
2015
Reidolized: The Soundtrack to The Crimson Idol
2018
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1986-10-22 vs 1986-11-21 (musicbrainz), 1986-11-08 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 21 November 1986 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 22 October 1986 | |
| Wikidata | 8 November 1986 | |
| US release | 1986 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1986 | earliest UK or European date |
16 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | US | Capitol Records | 077774634625 | other |
| 1986 | XE | Capitol Records | 5099924064811 | remaster |
| 1986 | US | Capitol Records | 077774634625 | other |
| 1986 | YU | Jugoton | other | |
| 1986 | XE | Capitol Records | other | |
| 1986 | US | — | other | |
| 21 November 1986 | JP | Capitol Records | 4988006606852 | original |
| July 1990 | GB | Capitol Records | 077774634625 | other |
| 15 December 1993 | JP | Capitol Records | 4988006692381 | other |
| 1997 | US | Original Masters | 636551550529 | remaster |
| 21 February 1998 | JP | Victor | 4988002360857 | other |
| 23 February 1998 | GB | Original Masters | 636551550529 | remaster |
| 20 October 2003 | GB | Snapper Classics | 636551612821 | other |
| 2004 | RU | Original Masters | 4601250323947 | remaster |
| 10 May 2019 | GB | Madfish Records | 636551715126 | other |
| 18 April 2026 | GB | — | deluxe |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 2014x1994 to 1994x1994
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 2014×1994 | cropped: cropped from 2014x1994 to 1994x1994 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |