Uniting
Bitch's first full-length album,
Be My Slave (1983), with songs from its 1981 EP Damnation Alley on a single CD, this reissue shows just how delightfully outrageous the L.A.-based metal band was in the beginning. With her S&M and bondage themes and frequent references to whips, chains and handcuffs, lead singer
Betsy (who sounds like
Pat Benatar's evil twin) managed to offend liberals and conservatives alike. But on blistering numbers like "Leatherbound," "Live for the Whip" and "Be My Slave,"
Betsy's portrayal of a dominatrix seems very tongue-in-cheek. With 1987's
The Bitch Is Back,
Bitch would tone down its S&M-oriented lyrics, but when the cult classics on this CD were recorded, the headbangers were still unapologetically shocking (in a very comic way). For metalheads who haven't experienced the insanely fun pleasures of
Bitch,
Be My Slave would be the best starting point. ~ Alex Henderson