|
Rating:
8.6 |
W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children
15 April 1989
01. Heretic (The Lost Child)
02. The Real Me [The Who cover]
03. The Headless Children
04. Thunderhead
05. Mean Man
06. Neutron Bomber
07. Mephisto Waltz
08. Forever Free
09. Maneater
10. Rebel In The F.D.G.
Reissue bonus tracks:
11. Locomotive Breath [Jethro Tull cover]
12. For Whom The Bell Tolls
13. Lake Of Fools
14. War Cry
15. L.O.V.E. Machine [Live at Hammersmith 1989]
16. Blind In Texas [Live at Hammersmith 1989]
After "Inside The Electric Circus" was dismissed as "7th grader rock" by critics it forced Blackie Lawless to take some time off to rethink the direction of the band; out came a less raunchy, less vulgar and more thought provoking W.A.S.P.
The change the band made to this point was unbelievable; the partying and sexually explicit lyrics that what made people associate them with the glam metal scene of the 80's Sunset Strip were now gone, replaced with deeper, heavier and altogether more thoughtful lyrics. The lyrics were not the only aspect of the band that got heavier and deeper - the music itself got a lot more dynamic. The use of keyboards that were first used on one song on "Inside the Electric Circus" now found their way onto almost every song on this album in some form or another giving the music a jump start that pushed W.A.S.P. into full-blown metal. The guitar work itself doesn't get any more skillful but the compositions become really well put together. Blackie's voice reaches an intensity that had yet to be seen on any W.A.S.P. album to date, especially on songs like "Thunderhead" and "Rebel In the F.D.G." As previously stated, this pushes W.A.S.P. off the rock/metal fence into metal; the guitar riffs are a lot heavier, even the drums become more prominent, absolutely thundering in songs like "Mean Man" and "Neutron Bomber" (which almost has a power metal feel to it).
The few problems with this album are simply the problems that you'll find in almost every album: filler tracks. Luckily the filler tracks on this album are few and are all put closer to the end of the album, so by the time you hit them you won't care because the album to this point has been fully enjoyable. My final problem with this album is almost the same reason I love it: the extreme change. Though the album changes are great, they've left behind pretty much any traces of what the band used to be, which is a little depressing if you're used to albums like "The Last Command" and the self titled debut.
For those of you who dislike W.A.S.P. simply because they're associated with hair metal this might be the album to check out; for the fans of the old W.A.S.P. you'll probably enjoy this but do not expect the same fun-loving W.A.S.P. you're used to, this is the beginning of the highly political W.A.S.P. that exists to this day.
|
Performance:
|
8 |
|
Songwriting:
|
9 |
|
Originality:
|
8 |
|
Production:
|
9 |
written by Doc Godin | 11.05.2007 |
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
|
| Comments: |
9
|
|
|
Users visited:
|
50 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| I love this album. Headless Children and Last Command are essential WASP records. Inside the Glam metal circus almost ruined the band imo. Good thing they changed it up on Headless. |
|
|
amerislave - 14.12.2008 at 10:04
|
|
|
| This album is loaded with great songs. by far their best in my opinion. |
|
|
|
| Lawless really had it figured out for two albums. Easily their best 80s album, second to or perhaps even en par with the Idol. |
|
|
|
| This is for me WASP best ever album by far. Easily beating Crimson Idol which comes in second, but laggin behind quite a long way. |
|
|
|
When I'm Driving down to the states to race my dirtbike i listen to seriuos satalite radio and they often play W.A.S.P but I don't pay attention much should I?????  |
|
|
|
Written by BoxCar Willy on 27.11.2009 at 20:20
When I'm Driving down to the states to race my dirtbike i listen to seriuos satalite radio and they often play W.A.S.P but I don't pay attention much should I?????
 yeah ALOT specially if they play tracks off this album, or just something to make you wanna drink, 
Heavy, melodic, raunchy shit  |
|
|
|
Alrighty then I gonna listen next time!!!  |
|
|
|
| For once I agree with you |
|
|
|
| In my opinion The Headless Children is one of the best metal albums to be released. This albub rock big time from start to finish and frankly I really liked W.A.S.P. before with the first 3 release but, when Headless came out I fell in love with them. Its the best sounding album and to me their best album Blackie and the boys have put out. There some other good ones that have come out but, Headless is in a class of its own. |
|
Advertise on Metal Storm |
Similar topics
Hits total: 4028 | This month: 24 |
