Overkill "W.F.O."

W.F.O. (Wide Fucking Open) is the seventh full-length album by thrash metal band Overkill, released in July 15, 1994 on Atlantic Records. The album contains "hidden songs" on tracks 97 and 98, featuring the band warming up in the studio, playing "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath, "The Ripper" by Judas Priest and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix. The instrumental song "R.I.P. (Undone)" was written as a tribute to Criss Oliva, co-founder of the band Savatage, who died nine months before the release of the album.

W.F.O. is the last Overkill album released by Atlantic Records, who released their previous five albums, and their last album with guitarists Rob Cannavino and Merritt Gant. W.F.O. and I Hear Black were re-released on Wounded Bird Records in 2005.

W.F.O. was the first album Overkill produced themselves. On the making of the album, frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth explained to Gavin Report:

“ We did it ourselves. We used Terry Date back in 1991, but he's almost unreachable now. Between the success of the Horrorscope album and the Pantera and Soundgarden albums, he's really off the map. We know our area and we just try to expand on it. We've never been one for tasting the flavor of the day. I think our longevity is due to the fact that we're not really followers. We enjoy our area and explore within it. A lot of people might say that it's not really artistic to say that you can't expand, but we just know where we're most potent. We just turned up the intensity with each record, as compared to exploring what people are calling alternative, grunge or industrial. The songs are born in a rehearsal room where everyone says 'we're there.' We put on a few finishing touches and then record it. We did this whole thing from soup to nuts this time and it was important that we saw that vision all the way through to the end. We had an option to take a producer but I've co-produced seven records with D.D., Rob is fantastic behind the board and Merritt has great ears. We just decided to go in an do it and not let anyone fuck with our vision. ”

AllMusic's Jason Anderson gave the album a positive review, awarding it four stars out of five and stating, "W.F.O. probably represents the formal beginnings of a '90s commercial swoon for the thrash metal band." Anderson then added, "By the time of this 1994 release, the group's popularity might have been waning a little due to rock fashion trends leaning heavily away from thrash or anything that reminded listeners of the '80s. That's not to say that W.F.O. isn't a fine recording. It is probably one of the band's best, and last, thrash juggernauts."

W.F.O. reached number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in 1994, making it Overkill's third-highest chart position (after I Hear Black and Ironbound, which peaked at number three and number four respectively). Unlike many of their previous albums, it did not chart on the Billboard 200.

Track listing
All songs written by Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and D.D. Verni.
"Where It Hurts" 5:33
"Fast Junkie" 4:21
"The Wait/New High in Lows" 5:46
"They Eat Their Young" 4:57
"What's Your Problem" 5:10
"Under One" 4:14
"Supersonic Hate" 4:17
"R.I.P. (Undone)" 1:43
"Up to Zero" 4:07
"Bastard Nation" 5:38
"Gasoline Dream" 6:49

Total length: 57:38

Trivia:

-The CD has 99 tracks of which 12-97 and 99 are blank. Track 98 consists of ten minutes of silence after which a jam session consisting of snippets of Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell," Judas Priest's "The Ripper," and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" can be heard.

- The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

-The total running time is 71:00.

-The intro to "The Wait / New High in Lows" is an excerpt from Carlito's Way (1993).

-"R.I.P. (Undone)" is dedicated to the memory of Criss Oliva.

-"Bastard Nation" was dedicated to the band's European fanbase.

Music videos:
-Fast Junkie
-Bastard Nation

Recording information:
Produced by Overkill.
Recorded and mixed at Ambient Recording Co., Stamford CT, April - May 1994.