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W.F.O.

W.F.O. is the seventh full-length album by thrash metal band Overkill, released in September 1994 on Atlantic Records. The album contains a "hidden songs" on tracks 97 and 98, featuring the band warming up in the studio, playing "Heaven And Hell" by Black Sabbath, and "The Ripper" by Judas Priest.

Overview

Overkill's self-produced seventh album W.F.O. (which stands for "Wide Fuckin' Open", a common biker term) was released as an answer to the criticism that I Hear Black had received. The album presented a fast, heads-down, old school thrash metal style without any of the experimental elements present on the previous record. The music video for "Fast Junkie" was widely ignored by MTV, due to changing mainstream tastes and limited airplay availability for metal bands. Overkill continued to have bigger success overseas, mounting an extensive European tour in the fall of 1994, supported by Jag Panzer and Massacra.

With Grunge dominating the airwaves in the US, and many heavy metal radio stations changing formats, W.F.O. failed to find an audience, and in 1995 Overkill were dropped by Atlantic Records. Overkill were happy to be let go from the mainstream label, where they felt they received little or no attention, and signed to different record companies around the world (CMC International in the US).

This album and I Hear Black were re-released on Wounded Bird Records in 2005.

Track listing

• All songs written by Overkill

1. "Where It Hurts" – 5:33
2. "Fast Junkie" – 4:21
3. "The Wait/New High in Lows" – 5:46
4. "They Eat Their Young" – 4:57
5. "What's Your Problem?" – 5:10
6. "Under One" – 4:14
7. "Supersonic Hate" – 4:17
8. "R.I.P. (Undone)" – 1:43
9. "Up to Zero" – 4:07
10. "Bastard Nation" – 5:38
11. "Gasoline Dream" – 6:49

Hidden tracks

• Tracks 12 – 95 are all silence for 0:03-0:04
• 96 (blank) – 2:56
• 97 (blank) – 9:00
• 98 "Heaven And Hell", "The Ripper" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" in rehearsals – 3:55
• 99 (blank) – 0:04

Personnel

• D.D. Verni – Bass
• Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth – Vocals
• Merrit Gant – Guitars
• Rob Cannavino – Guitars
• Tim Mallare – Drums
• Doug Cook – Keyboards
• Recorded April – May, 1994 at Ambient Recording Co, Stamford, Connecticut, USA
• Produced by Overkill
• Engineered by Tom Bender and Doug Cook
• Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, New York City, USA

External links

• Official OVERKILL Site
• Overkill Lyrics