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
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Headless Children" is the fourth full-length studio album by US heavy metal act W.A.S.P. The album was released through Capitol Records in April 1989. It´s the successor to "Inside the Electric Circus" from November 1986 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Steve Riley has been replaced by former Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali.

"The Headless Children" marks a change in musical direction, as it features more serious lyrical content, and isn´t as focused on explicit sexual themed lyrics and lyrics about the rock´n´roll life as the lyrics on the first three albums. Political and social issues are now dealt with bringing a more mature element to W.A.S.P.´s sound. Some tracks also feature a darker and heavier songwriting approach which suits the rawness of Blackie Lawless voice well (tracks like "The Heretic (The Lost Child)" and "The Headless Children"). The construction of the songs is predominantly vers/chorus based, but W.A.S.P. have created more memorable riffs than before and the album features some pretty brilliant lead guitar work throughout. I can´t say Banali´s drumming is especially accomplished to my ears (it´s simple and doesn´t help the songs flow), but maybe it´s just his drumming style which I don´t agree with.

"The Real Me" (a cover of The Who) and the power ballad "Forever Free" are the most well known tracks from "The Headless Children", but it´s a good quality release throughout, featuring well written and memorable material.

Other than the great lead guitar playing (courtesy of Chris Holmes), the voice and vocal delivery by Lawless are the standouts of the performances on "The Headless Children". He has such a raw, intense and commanding way of singing, that it´s impossible not to feel awe when listening to him. "The Headless Children" also features a relatively well sounding production job (the drums could have prospered from less reverb effects), and upon conclusion it´s a pretty strong release from W.A.S.P. Fans of the early releases will still enjoy this but listeners who didn´t enjoy the first three albums, may actually also find that they can discover something to appreciate here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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