W.A.S.P. — The Headless Children (review)

W.A.S.P. — The Headless Children album cover Album · 1989 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Unitron
The Headless Children is the fourth studio album from heavy metal band W.A.S.P.

W.A.S.P. are one of those bands that was stuck in between glam and traditional metal at the beginning of their career. They had the image and lyrics of glam, but certainly were a metal band. You could say they were similar to Motley Crue in that sense, being both glam and metal. While their early stuff is good enough, they really made a huge leap for the better with The Headless Children.

Gone is the shock-rock image, gone are the sex-obsessed lyrics, and enter a mix of energetic heavy metal tracks and bleak emotionally-charged songs. Songs like the cover of The Who's "The Real Me", "Mean Man", and the darker-sounding "Maneater" are just pure heavy metal, while songs like "The Heretic (The Lost Child)", "The Neutron Bomber", and the title cut showcase a much more depressive, somber, and beautiful sound. These songs are my favorites; Blackie Lawless's amazing emotional vocal performance and bleak atmosphere making them absolutely spine-chilling.

Blackie Lawless's vocals on this album really are amazing, having one of the most emotive voices in metal. His vocals feel a lot more passionate than they did on the band's glam albums. The instrumentation is just as amazing, with some killer guitar licks, ripping solos, and powerful drums. The bonus tracks are great, including an excellent cover of the Jethro Tull classic "Locomotive Breath", the cold "Lake of Fools", "War Cry", and the song "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Not to be confused with the Metallica song.)

If W.A.S.P.'s old image puts you off, give this album a listen. This album is all raw power and emotion, and one of the greatest albums I've ever heard. A true classic metal album. Hope you found this review helpful.

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Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Yeah, the first two are pretty good, never heard the third album though. Forever Free and Rebel in the F.D.G. are the only songs that sound kind of glam to me.
Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
It's an album of two halves this one. Side one (I bought it on cassette!) is brilliant, but side two is cliched glam.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I love this one and The Crimson Idol too. Actually the first two albums are pretty good as well :)

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