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Artist: W.A.S.P.

Title: The Headless Children

W.A.S.P. Homepage

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Category: Melodic Metal

Year: 1989

Label: Capitol

Catalog Number: CDP 7 48942 2

Personnel

Blackie Lawless lead vocals, guitar
Chris Holmes lead guitar
Johnny Rod bass, backing vocals
Frankie Banali drums
Ken Hensley keyboards

Tracks

1.	The Heretic (The Lost Child)	7:22
2.	The Real Me	3:20		Cover: The Who
3.	The Headless Children	5:46
4.	Thunderhead	6:49
5.	Mean Man	4:47
6.	The Neutron Bomber	4:10
7.	Mephisto Waltz	1:28
8.	Forever Free	5:08
9.	Maneater	4:46
10.	Rebel in the F.D.G.	5:08
11.	Locomotive Breath bonus track	2:59		Cover: Jethro Tull
12.	For Whom the Bell Tolls bonus track	3:47
13.	Lake of Fools bonus track	5:29
14.	War Cry bonus track	5:33
15.	L.O.V.E. Machine live bonus track	4:47
16.	Blind in Texas live bonus track	6:23
Total Running Time:		77:42

If you see any errors or omissions in the CD information shown above, either in the musician credits or song listings (cover song credits, live tracks, etc.), please post them in the corrections section of the Heavy Harmonies forum/message board.

The music discographies on this site are works in progress. If you notice that a particular W.A.S.P. CD release or compilation is missing from the list above, please submit that CD using the CD submission page. The ultimate goal is to make the discographies here at Heavy Harmonies as complete as possible. Even if it is an obscure greatest-hits or live compilation CD, we want to add it to the site. Please only submit official CD releases; no bootlegs or cassette-only or LP-only releases.

EPs and CD-singles from W.A.S.P. are also welcome to be added, as long as they are at least 4 songs in length.

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Existing comments about this CD

From: crathopper	Date: May 4, 2001 at 17:50
Never liked W.A.S.P. until I heard this disc. Absolutely kicks ass. If you don't like Mean Man or Rebel In The F.D.G. then you don't like rock n roll.

From: SIXXSWINE

Date: June 5, 2001 at 10:03

A political W.A.S.P. cd? What the hell? Don't worry, they pulled it off. They even pulled off a 'better' version of 'The Real Me'. Frankie Banali plays drums on this one & Ken Hensley of (Ex-Uriah Heep) plays keys. Alot of different things going on this one compared to the W.A.S.P. of old, but they pulled it off. This disc is highly underrated & every Hard Rock fan should have this in their collection. Even if you're NOT a W.A.S.P. fan, you'll enjoy this one. 9.5 on the SWINE SCALE!

From: T-BONE

Date: August 14, 2001 at 22:23

The keyboards can hit the road, but other than that, this cd rocks. Mean Man is great, and the ballad Forever Free is another side of Blackie you don't see that often. like SIXXSWINE said...a very political cd, but done very tastefully. I have much respect for Blackie & WASP for the way they were at the frontlines during the Tipper Gore and PMRC battles. Blackie is a Rock-n-Roll hero. On a side note...I noticed that Zena(Lucy LAWLESS!)looks like she'd be Blackie's sister. The LAWLESS Twins! LOL

From: ry	Date: November 3, 2001 at 22:54
The first icision of the pedulums blade; W.A.S.P was murder ever since. Pull out the blade and I bleed to death. Catch 22. RY

From: WidoMakr	Date: February 7, 2002 at 17:17
if there is a better band out there than W.A.S.P I havent heard it.....The headless Children is my favorite tune of all time/all bands...like anyone gives a rats ass...this band has simply made some amazing cd's.the kind of music that rips your head off and comes back for more..a must for anyone that calls themselve a metalhead...quote the WidoMakr....never more

From: Tony	Date: April 10, 2002 at 3:38
Favorite Wasp album. Love this cd and still listen to it to this day. Great guitar work on this album and the organ here actually works on this album a la Uriah Heep or Deep Purple and Blackie sings on this like he REALLY means it.

From:	Date: April 29, 2002 at 17:22
Frankie banali really added creditability to this album. The drums absolutely smoke on this cd.

From: samolice	Date: May 17, 2002 at 12:49
Wasp first album was a schock and i will never forget it. But, honestly, i think that The Headless CHildren is their best album, my favourite definitively. 11/10

From: Samolice	Date: May 31, 2002 at 13:43
Come on people come on!!!! Only 8.7/10 for this album! Is it a joke? If i need to give all day a 10 to this album i 'll did it cause it need 10/10 for sure.

From: Kevin D.	Date: June 27, 2002 at 22:55
My favorite WASP album, great tour also. I kind of lost track of them after this release.

From: AndreTekken

Date: August 13, 2002 at 13:38

In my onest opinion their best by far release ever!Very hard driven riffs added with the best powerhouse drumms Frankie Banalie EVER delivered!Same happened to me(Kevin).Their next efforts never matched this one,so I unffortunely almost forgot this band.This is a heavier,darker and more concearned encarnation of WASP!Very classy quite pomp attitude in this record!Interesting is how even the heavier songs have such a damm good rock'n roll felling!this is a 10/10 record!Best WASP ever!!!!!!

From: Baris	Date: September 8, 2002 at 12:27
One of the best W.A.S.P. albums. Super intro with 'The Heretic'. A Blackfoot original 'The Real Me' is inredible with Frankie Banali drums. 'Mean Man' is insane. The lyrics deserve special attention. Political elements give a deeper nature to the tracks. Blackie walks on the climax. This album is enough W.I.L.D. namely enough W.A.S.P.! Jump into it!

From: Baris	Date: September 10, 2002 at 1:03
ah, also take attention to part of the album where Blackie is judged by his Master...It's so good...

From: vics	Date: January 11, 2003 at 9:19
tracks which give me an absolute high--> the headless children, forever free, rebel in the fdg,the real me! the second metal band i first heard after i.maiden! never could figure out what something like 'mephisto waltz' 's doin on this-here-album

From: steve	Date: May 9, 2003 at 13:09
my secound favorite W.A.S.P. album

From: Metalhead	Date: May 13, 2003 at 4:59
Mean Man is 'THE' song! I already have 2 copies of this.

From:	Date: January 18, 2004 at 3:51
I remember when this first came out on CD. I liked it but I thought the production was really bad. It sounded like when it was mixed, it was lacking bottom end. I had to crank the bass and turn the treble waaaay down on my stereo to make it sound half decent. Cool album though.

From: Rockhead	Date: March 18, 2004 at 13:20
A truly great, ball bustin, ass kickin cd for sure. The expanded edition features the B-sides of the singles released from this album.Check it out. Lake of Fools and the cover of Jethro Tull's cover of Locomotive Breath are superb-as good as the album itself.

From: pozermaniac	Date: May 4, 2004 at 6:29
Ken Hensley dont wanna hear a word about Blackie and about this album anymore!Why?Maybe cause hes more YANKEE than ever!Anyway this one is BRILLIANT!A scream of anger!A political tornado!An ass kickin answer to all the mother fuckers that manipulate the people!Great vocals, Great guitar work!Buy it!

From: razor2467	Date: May 7, 2004 at 10:40
YEEEAAAHHH!!! This is one real MOTHERF**KER of a cd!!! STILL one of my favorite albums!! Their cover of 'The Real Me' absolutly SMOKES!! This is definitely where it came together for Blackie Lawless & Co. If you dont have this one, GET IT!!!!

From: jack

Date: May 14, 2004 at 4:37

Man,this album totally kick ass,especially maneater and thunderhead! i wonder why doesn't get the same recognition like,say poison do?(ANYONE PLEASSEE!! HELP ME WITH THIS QUESTION).i mean,W.a.s.p never disappoint me..all their album really kickass and in L.o.V.E machine and wild child,they have two songs which 'could' be the best 80's metal song. Why?poison and bon jovi get all the glory while w.a.s.p? why?

From: Big Papa K	Date: June 30, 2004 at 16:50
W.A.S.P. turn the corner here by becoming more of a serious band, and in turn produce their best studio album of their career. There is some much needed variety here in the tunes. I would have to rank 'Forever Free', 'The Real Me', and 'Mean Man' among their best. 8/10

From: Rocker76

Date: July 13, 2004 at 9:17

This album is a good representation of what W.A.S.P. were all about. From the monstrous intro to 'The Heretic' to the grace of the power ballad 'Forever Free', Blackie & the boys achieve a personal milestone by delivering a dynamite straight up metal album. The addition of Banali on drums made perfect sense and he was a nice fit for the band. Highlights abound here (no fillers) but the title track, 'Mean Man', 'Forever Free', 'Thunderhead' and 'Maneater' are 80s metal at its primal best! 9.5/10

From: Uusiolli	Date: August 5, 2004 at 20:33
I find out this one a bit boring comparing their previous records. Some nice songs, but also some not so good ones. 7/10

From: christo	Date: January 12, 2005 at 9:01
Worth it alone for the kick ass cover of the Who's The Real me.

From: Metalhead66	Date: January 12, 2005 at 10:08
The best W.A.S.P,outside of the Debut Release!! They grew a little.. Gone are the Sex/Party Lyrics....More Mature in Content...9/10!!!

From: eddie	Date: March 29, 2005 at 16:37
I love all of their albums, but this is their best!!!!!!!!! buy it right now!!!!!!

From: Darren D	Date: April 24, 2005 at 1:42
Their best and it will never be beaten. Not 1 crap song. Blackie sounds the best he ever has. I agree that this cd should be in EVERYONE's hard rock collection, whether you like them or not. 9/10

From: WidoMakr	Date: June 4, 2005 at 20:01
For those in the New York area...July 16th is a special day...The Civic center in Poughkeepsie NY is having an amazing show...Twisted Sister...Mr Pearcy of Ratt and no other than W.A.S.P. although any tune from WASP would be great to hear live...hears hoping that the play list includes The Headless Children...should be an amazing show...Quote the WidoMakr...Never More

From: poproxx2007	Date: December 22, 2005 at 23:57
Another great WASP CD! 9/10 One of the best from 1989....

From: Aussie Dave	Date: December 26, 2006 at 18:58
Quite possibly WASP's best album! Every song's a winner with classics such as 'The Headless Children', 'Mean Man' the great cover of 'The Real Me' and the classy ballad 'Forever Free'. Go out and get the re-issue as well, which has an extra 4 songs plus 2 live songs from around this time. Blackie and the boys were at their best here. 9/10.....

From: dave	Date: June 8, 2008 at 13:27
The Best W.A.S.P Album, Frankie Banali it's a terrific drumer his job in this album is amaizing, and mean mean it's a killer track 10/10

From: pie75	Date: August 22, 2010 at 6:25
a very political and none of the dirty songs i'm used to with wasp but they pulled this off brilliantly evry song from start to finnish is top shelf blackie your a mean m-mutha fuckin' man! buy this people you will love it

From: onemorecast	Date: September 23, 2010 at 23:30
Loved this when it came out. Blackie went a little political on it, but that was okay. there were still true wasp songs on it. Mean Man especially. Banali and hensley were terrific. this was Banali finest work. He and johnny rod were awesome on the real me. even had a great ballad.

From: hair metal again	Date: July 24, 2011 at 4:13
another great one by WASP. excellent heavy rock ,with howling vocals ,screaming guitars and many good songs like "mean man","rebel in the fdg","forever free" and "the real me".you can t go wrong with those giants of US metal

From: rick kerch vzla	Date: May 23, 2012 at 18:43
Killer album!!!...i had the chance to see Wasp live on this tour in England!!!...it was bloody great show indeed!!!..."Mean Man","The Neutron Bomber","Forever's Free"(nice solid good rocking track!),"Maneater" & "Rebel In The F.D.G." are my faves...tracks 1 & 3 are also goodies plus the bunch of live songs as bonuses that brings the re-edition of this treasured album...recommended...95/100

From: Doghouse Reilly

Date: September 21, 2017 at 20:30

Looking back at early W.A.S.P., it's often difficult to see what the fuss was about. Had it not been for Blackie's instantly recognizable voice, a lot of their songs were pretty standard fare for the day, and could have appeared on a Quiet Riot album. But you know, blood, raw meat, topless women tied to a rack--it all helped to distract from the blandness (and even stupidity) of some of their early material. The Headless Children is where Blackie began to get serious, as he looked around and decided to chronicle the ills of society, substance abuse chief among them (you can see a clip of him saying as much on Headbanger's Ball). The newfound seriousness is an immediate improvement over past albums, fun as they might have been, and while "Wild Child" is still my favorite W.A.S.P. song, The Headless Children is my favorite album by them. Blackie's no dummy, he just pretended to be one early on. Songs like "The Heretic" and the title track are almost progressive, in a W.A.S.P. way, while

From: Doghouse Reilly

Date: September 21, 2017 at 20:40

"Mean Man" and "Maneater" just flat-out burn! (How come nobody ever talks about what a badass song "Maneater" is?) There's a pretty good Who cover, and "Forever Free" is a beautiful ballad with stirring, wordless harmonies at the end. "Thunderhead" goes on a little too long, and "Rebel In The F.D.G." is kinda dumb, but other than that, , no faults. Blackie quit being such a buffoon, but as yet, his ambitions hadn't run away from him.

From: dany69	Date: September 23, 2017 at 20:03
One of the best heavy metal albums in history. Great lyrics too. I fucking love this masterpiece. Hoped in a better mix though. Crimson was wicker but had a little bit better sound imo. How that album would be if it had crimson's sound, I wonder some times. Anyway, as I said, I fucking love Headless. It's huge!

From: DethOfDragnz

Date: January 5, 2024 at 14:51

When I talk to people about WASP that are new to the band I tell them there is the pre Headless Children and the post Headless Children WASP. The early albums are still good but this is the album where Blackie really showed what he was capable of. Better composition in their songs like the long 7 min plus opener, with progressive elements, melody and harmony changes. Deeper lyrics about war, politics, social disorder. This is when WASP got really good from here on IMO. I think Crimson Idol and this album are WASPs best.

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