ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION - High Priest of Love .12" Vinyl LP Album

- Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction's outrageous 1986 glam-metal sermon, forged in leather and distortion

"Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction: High Priest of Love" unleashes its sonic rituals on the 12" LP Vinyl, standing as the band's second full-length album. This release showcases the distinctive style of Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction, known for their blend of hard rock and glam influences. Each track on "High Priest of Love" immerses listeners in the band's theatrical and energetic sound, solidifying their reputation as purveyors of unapologetic rock 'n' roll with this impactful second album.

ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION – High Priest of Love: A Blast of Sleaze, Swagger & Salvation Album Description:

Let’s not beat around the bush: High Priest of Love is what happens when you spike T. Rex with testosterone, feed Motörhead through a glam filter, and let it all ferment in a filthy London basement circa 1986. Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction weren’t here to finesse chords or win Mercury Prizes—they were here to worship at the altar of over-the-top rock 'n' roll excess, all leather, sex, sweat, and zero apologies.

London Calling (the Loony Bin Version): Historical Context

By 1986, punk had either curled into new wave ennui or fossilized into crust. Hair metal was flirting with mainstream success on the other side of the Atlantic, but Britain wanted something weirder. Enter Zodiac Mindwarp—real name Mark Manning—who didn’t so much form a band as he did assemble a comic-book version of rock's most outrageous caricatures. This wasn’t rebellion with a conscience; this was rebellion for the sheer, glorious hell of it.

From the Gutter to Olympus: Musical Direction

Musically, High Priest of Love is a jet-fueled collision of glam rock's preening drama and hard rock's blunt force trauma. The title track stomps in with a riff that could've been stolen from Gene Simmons’ back pocket, while "Kick Start Me for Love" screeches like a hell-bound motorcycle gang tearing up a desert highway. The guitars—courtesy of Cobalt Stargazer—don't so much play as they strut. This record doesn't walk; it sashays with a switchblade.

The Genre No One Asked For: Sex-Metal

Critics at the time didn’t know what to make of it. Was it parody? Sincerity? Both? Zodiac himself dubbed it sex-metal, and that’s probably as close as anyone got to categorizing it. The music gropes at heavy metal’s speed and volume but reaches for the velvet-stitched ridiculousness of glam. Think Alice Cooper’s sleazier little cousin fronting Judas Priest after a bender.

WARP I and TimTom: Production & Sound

The album was released on WARP I—a short-lived imprint with an affinity for the absurd—and mastered by none other than TimTom, the legendary UK cutting engineer who left his etching on Side A like a blessing from the vinyl gods. The sound is raw, but not careless; chaotic, but strangely tight. It was recorded in London, though the exact studio remains more myth than fact—fitting, really, for a band that blurred reality and cartoon in every note.

Controversy? Of Course.

The band’s leather-clad, hypersexualized imagery made them tabloid bait, often more discussed than their actual music. Zodiac's vocals weren’t sung so much as proclaimed, half preacher, half porn star. Critics sneered. Parents panicked. But fans? Fans knew this was theater with distortion pedals. This wasn’t misogyny—it was mythology.

Vinyl Variants and Other Creatures

While the core tracklisting remained intact, some editions featured subtly different sleeve designs or label colors. The German and Dutch pressings differed slightly in contrast and typography. But it’s the UK version—bearing the WARP I logo and TimTom’s hand—that remains the true spiritual vessel of this outrageous sermon.

The Final Benediction

High Priest of Love isn’t just an album—it’s a manifesto scrawled in lipstick and motor oil. It's ridiculous. It's brilliant. It's a relic from a time when rock still had the balls to be dangerous, even if it was just pretending. Long live the High Priest. And pass the eyeliner.

Production & Recording Information:

Music Genre:

Hard Rock

Label & Catalognr:

WARP I

Media Format:

12" LP Vinyl Stereo Gramophone Record
Total Album (Cover+Record) weight: 230 gram

Year & Country:

1986

Mastering Engineer & Location:
  • TimTom – Mastering (etched into runout matrix)

Complete Track-listing:

Tracklisting Side One:
  1. High Priest Of Love
  2. Hymn Of The Speed Kings
  3. High Heel Heaven
Tracklisting Side Two:
  1. Dangerous
  2. Kick Start Me For Love
  3. Wild Child (Second Attempt)
Album Front Cover Photo
Psychedelic front cover of Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction's 12-inch LP 'High Priest of Love' featuring a distorted neon-like thermal image of a man in rock gear, with vivid green, red, pink, and purple hues. A yellow snake graphic winds across the image under glowing band text.

This front cover of High Priest of Love by Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction is a striking psychedelic artwork that visually embodies the band’s loud, theatrical persona. The image appears to be a thermal scan or false-color photo of a man—presumably Zodiac Mindwarp himself—wearing a brimmed hat, sunglasses, and a heavy leather jacket adorned with patches and chains. His hand is raised in a rock salute, obscuring part of his face in a stylized gesture.

The entire image is rendered in a palette of intense electric colors—fluorescent greens, magentas, purples, blues, and yellows—which gives it a chaotic, otherworldly quality, as if broadcast from a neon-drenched future or alien dimension. At the top center, the album title "HIGH PRIEST OF LOVE" appears in white above the yellow logo of a serpent and the band’s name in pink and white: ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION.

A stylized yellow snake slithers across the bottom half of the cover, ending in a retro sci-fi hand icon pointing to a block of cryptic prose printed in all caps. This text speaks of mythical origins and cosmic rebellion: “STARS BLAZING BEHIND MAD EYES… WE DESCENDED TO EARTH…”—a fitting prelude to the band’s theatrical, myth-driven rock aesthetic.

The design is not just eye-catching—it is an extension of the band’s concept, mythology, and genre-defying sound. It invites the viewer into a hyper-colorized vision of rock 'n' roll debauchery and fantasy.

Album Back Cover Photo
Back cover of Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction's 'High Priest of Love' 12-inch LP featuring a color-inverted, neon-styled thermal band photo with surreal typography, serpents, and credits block. A red star, 'VENUS DRUG SPASM' text, and cosmic motifs frame the image.

The back cover of High Priest of Love by Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction features a stylized, heatmap-like photograph of the full band in theatrical leather-and-studs attire. Each member appears bathed in surreal red, green, and yellow outlines, reminiscent of infrared or psychedelic thermal imaging. They stand against a pitch-black void, creating a cosmic, hallucinatory effect.

At the upper corners, two comic-styled snakes—one blue, one green—slither across the edges, while at the bottom right a yellow serpent curls under the bright word SPARK. The lower left includes the phrases VENUS DRUG SPASM in acid-type font, flanked by a red starburst and a glowing green skull emblem.

A lengthy, surreal credits paragraph in white type runs vertically on the right side. It attributes songwriting to "Delinquent Genius Zodiac," praises Cobalt Stargazer's guitar chaos, and name-drops support figures such as Slam Thunderhide and Kid Chaos. The text’s wild tone matches the band’s absurdist, sci-fi rock mythology—declaring the record was made “in heaven for his invisible shyness & George Sky.”

This artwork encapsulates the band's absurd glam-metal identity—comic-book chaos, nuclear color saturation, and rebellious poetry infused with sleaze, space, and spectacle.

Close up of Side One record’s label
Side One vinyl label of Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction's High Priest of Love showing red serpent artwork, tracklist for Side 1, WARP I catalog, and copyright info for Food Ltd 1986. All songs written by Z. Mindwarp and published by Zoo/Warner Bros Music.

This is a close-up of the Side One vinyl label from Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction’s High Priest of Love 12" LP. The matte-black label is centered by a white spindle hole surrounded by bold white serif text. A vivid red graphic of a serpent's head and coiled body—matching the band’s recurring visual motif—curls across the top. Opposite it, on the right-hand side, is a red phoenix-like emblem with a lightning bolt carved through its skull, reinforcing the album’s explosive and theatrical aesthetic.

Printed below the title HIGH PRIEST OF LOVE are the three tracks for Side One:

  • 1. High Priest of Love
  • 2. Hymn of the Speed Kings
  • 3. High Heel Heaven

All songs are credited to Z. Mindwarp and published by Zoo/Warner Bros Music. The label also includes catalog information: WARP 1 at 45 RPM speed. At the bottom edge, it reads © Food Ltd 1986 twice, indicating the record label and production year. Legal warnings about unauthorized reproduction, performance, and broadcasting encircle the outer rim.

This label’s minimalist layout contrasts with its bold iconography, capturing the band’s gritty glam-metal identity with punk-like visual punch.

Index of ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION Album Cover Gallery & 12" Vinyl LP Discography Information

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