Released in 1989, The Headless Children was WASP.'s fourth album and a quantum leap in their career. Very few bands in metal history have leaped forward as much as WASP did here. Previously known for raucous, raw tunes dealing with sex, drugs and debauchery, The Headless Children dived into social issues, politics and the horror of drug addiction. Although a lot of their former style remained, the material on this album was altogether more epic, melodic and even progressive in places. It was a reinvention of WASP and saw them at their creative peak.

No less than Uriah Heep's Ken Hensley added a huge keyboard sound to the music. The album also marked the first appearance of former Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali as a member while bassist Johnny Rod bowed out after this effort. From this point forward, WASP would alternate between the huger, more epic style of Headless Children and their more straight forward hell-raising metal tunes. The Headless Children became WASP's highest charting album and my personal favorite out of all their work.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2023  Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2023.

Yes, this is a cover of the classic Who song and kind of an unusual choice for second track on the album. Yet WASP make it their own and Lawless' voice adapts magnificently to it.  In another styltistic change that would have been unthinkable on earlier albums, a brass section adds power to the soaring chorus. It's one of the best metal covers of a classic rock song out there.

Ominous, scary chanting opens the title track and gives a doom-like atmosphere to the song.  It gives way to lumbering riffs and a barrage of guitar noise and evil laughter. Then we hear some more of Hensley's great Hammond B-3 organ before power-packed mid-paced riffs cut in. In many ways, this is a true doom metal song, both in sound and lyrics, which bemoan mankind's headlong rush to destruction. It's obvious that the human race are the "headless children." The atmosphere on this track is so thick you can cut it with a knife...it shows that the epic tendencies on "The Heretic" were not a one time thing. Like that song, there's another cool transition about half way through to a faster, hard-driving sound laced with cranking guitar solos. The climax of the number is crushing.

Most ballads on metal albums bore me, but this is a good one. It starts in an acoustic fashion which is quite wistful. Eventually heavier guitar powers in, but this never really loses its highly melodic touch. The chorus is quite beautiful, but there's a turn to a slightly darker sound and jamming guitar solo. The song fades out on a repetition of that great chorus, with added layers of organ and guitar to give it a kind of soaring sound.

This isn't a million miles away from the last track. It grinds away in classic WASP fashion with just a killer hook and chorus. It does sound like a lot of other songs here and on previous albums, but in this case, the quality is so strong, that's not a big issue. This isn't epic or progressive...it's just blazing heavy rock n roll and caps off an awesome album.