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
4.5/5 ·
Warthur
Blackie Lawless and crew had been responsible for some of the most deliciously sleazy albums of the 1980s metal scene, successfully latching onto the dirtiest, filthiest side of the glam metal aesthetic whilst keeping a more purist heavy metal sound than most of their glam contemporaries. By the end of the decade, though, glam's shiny lyrca star was fading, and to their credit the group manage to pull off an extremely successful stylistic and aesthetic pivot with The Headless Children.

It's not that it's a radical departure from what has gone before musically - it's still WASP's style of heavy metal, with perhaps less emphasis than ever before on including a catchy number here and there. But lyrically, suddenly things have become surprisingly serious, Blackie Lawless revealing a thoughtful side to his writing that must have been incredibly surprising at the time.

In retrospect, of course, we've had a bunch of more serious-minded WASP releases like The Crimson Idol, so listeners coming to The Headless Children from that direction may find it seems like a solid, entertaining example of business as usual. But compared to the material preceding it, it's a radical shift in perspective that is elegantly executed. It must surely have seen like a massive artistic risk at the time, but not only is it a great album in its own right, but it also paves the way for WASP's future career.
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Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I love this album, W.A.S.P.'s best and Blackie Lawless's vocals are phenomenal on this album.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I actually like this one. Not as much as Crimson Idol but Wasp was pretty consisten i thought
Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
This was half a serious album, half a throwback to the old days. Turning the tape over was always a bit of a disappointment. The Neutron Bomber and Forever Free were good on side 2, but the rest was...not.

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