''America Must Be Destroyed'' is American heavy metal band

Gwar Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists, and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. Since ...

’s third album, released in 1992 as their second album on

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

. The album’s lyrical content was inspired by controversy over

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

charges against the band and an incident in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, in which frontman

Dave Brockie David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician. He was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus, and he was a bassist and lead singer in the bands ...

’s prosthetic penile attachment, ''"The

Cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon ...

"'', was confiscated by

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officers.

Overview

The lyrical content in ''America Must Be Destroyed'' was greatly inspired by Dave Brockie's fight with

officers while touring in

, in 1990. The controversy revolved around Brockie's rubbery

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

adornment and ended with his arrest on charges of disseminating obscenity. Brockie was revolted by this attack on his

rights Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

so he created a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

revolving around an elite "Morality Squad" that attacked the members of Gwar and stole Oderus's penile attachment (a.k.a. Cuttlefish of Cthulu, a phallic hell beast that normally dangles from his crotch). The opening song, "Ham on the Bone" (which has a nod to

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

), explains this robbery. The story then shifts to Gwar headquarters in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, where Oderus’s slaves are ordered to shoot up a dinosaur egg with crack. The result is the mighty Gor Gor, a Tyrannosaurus Rex that wreaks havoc on America. Meanwhile, the Morality Squad has enlisted the help of Father Bohab (a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest) to crucify Gwar in the media. Other songs of interest include "Have You Seen Me?", "Poor Ole Tom", and "The Road Behind", the latter of which is a parody of

power ballads A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballad ...

. A video, '' Phallus in Wonderland'', was released as a supplement to the album's storyline. This album was followed by ''The Road Behind'', an EP that contained that single as well as a live version of "Have You Seen Me?". The single "S.F.W." (a staple of their live shows) was supposedly released on this EP as a bonus track, but this has been discounted by the band. In November 2009, a special edition of the album was released through Metal Blade, containing the CD and a bonus DVD containing ''Phallus in Wonderland'' and Tour De Scum. Gwar fans are referred to as "bohabs", named for Father Bohab ("bohab" literally means "habitually boring", which is the opposite of what Gwar and their fans are—it fits Father Bohab perfectly; Gwar speaks ill of their fans—to their delight—and they have since taken the term as a point of pride). Father Bohab was never actually on the album—he originally appeared in 1989, along with an early Cardinal Syn. On the Tour de Scum (the corresponding tour to '' Scumdogs of the Universe''), the Morality Squad story is introduced. Bohab is played by one of the slaves on tour (according to Chuck Varga’s Bohab Central forum posts, it was Bob Gorman; he also went on to say that the voice was his), but is portrayed by Brad Roberts (

Jizmak Da Gusha Jizmak Da Gusha is the drummer for the heavy metal band Gwar. Although the costume has undergone many changes since the character was introduced, Jizmak's onstage get-up somewhat resembles a monstrous dog with very large teeth. He is usually see ...

) in ''Phallus in Wonderland'' and ''It's Sleazy''. "Pussy Planet", the album's closer, was co-written by Slymenstra Hymen, and was slated to be a duet with

Beefcake the Mighty Beefcake the Mighty is the bass guitarist of the heavy metal band Gwar. The character appears as a stout humanoid (hence his name), girded in Roman-style armor. He is usually portrayed wielding either an oversized Gladius sword or a large battl ...

. Though not quite a duet, Slymenstra's voice can still be heard in the song. The song's opening bass riff is similar to the guitar riff to the

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

song "

Rape Me "Rape Me" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, '' In Utero'', released in September 1993. Often interpreted as a commenta ...

" from the 1993 album ''

In Utero The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more fertilized eggs until bir ...

'' ("Rape Me" was originally written in early 1991 pre-dating "Pussy Planet", with the demo version being released many years later on Nirvana's ''

With the Lights Out '' With the Lights Out'' is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. T ...

'' box set) but uses different chords. The song ends with the band arguing. The Canadian release of this album does not feature "Crack in the Egg", "Have You Seen Me?" and "Rock N' Roll Never Felt So Good", and instead has earlier versions of "Krak Down" and "Bad Bad Men" (both from ''

This Toilet Earth ''This Toilet Earth'' is the fourth album released by heavy metal band Gwar. Released on March 29, 1994, this album was to be one of their oddest and most bittersweet albums. It was the first Gwar album to be censored (the second was '' We Kill ...

'') and a version of "O Canada" performed with synthesized infant cries (according to Gwar, this was included as a way to ridicule Canada for not having the "guts" to include the omitted songs). Flattus Maximus does not perform on this album. Dewey Rowell left the band before recording began, and all of the lead guitars (save for two songs — "Crack in the Egg" and the title track) were recorded by Balsac the Jaws of Death. To this day, Balsac will usually play lead when performing songs from this album live. Tim Harriss (of Kepone, the band Michael Bishop left Gwar for) played lead on the album's title track; Lee Harris (from

’s old band Rosebud) played lead on "Crack in the Egg". Because of the absence of Flattus, the tour cycle surrounding this album was quite short.

Track listing

Personnel

(Oderus Urungus) –

Lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Mike Derks (Balsac the Jaws of Death) –

Lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

, backing vocals * Michael Bishop (

) –

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals; lead vocals on "Pussy Planet" *Brad Roberts (

) –

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Danielle Stampe ( Slymenstra Hymen) – Backing vocals *Chuck Varga ( Sexecutioner) – Spoken words at the end of "Pussy Planet" * Hunter Jackson (Edna P. Granbo) – Vocals on "The Morality Squad" * Dave Musel (Müsel) – Samples on "America Must Be Destroyed"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:America Must Be Destroyed 1992 albums Gwar albums Metal Blade Records albums

Overview

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References