{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox album | name = The Headless Children | type = studio | artist = W.A.S.P. | cover = The Headless Children (W.A.S.P. album - cover art).jpg | caption = Cover art by John Kosh | released = {{start date|1989|3|21}}<ref name="Release">{{cite web |title=March Record Lineup Soft On Heavy Hitters |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1989/BB-1989-03-04.pdf |publisher=Billboard |access-date=February 25, 2026 |pages=84 |date=March 4, 1989 |via=worldradiohistory.com}}</ref> | recorded = | studio = | genre = *Heavy metal | length = {{Duration|m=48|s=32}} | label = Capitol | producer = Blackie Lawless | prev_title = Live... in the Raw | prev_year = 1987 | next_title = The Crimson Idol | next_year = 1992 | misc = {{Singles | name = The Headless Children | type = studio | single1 = Mean Man | single1date = February 1989<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/885/mode/2up|title=The Great Rock Discography|year=1995|page=885 |isbn=9780862415419 |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles |publisher=Canongate Press }}</ref> | single2 = The Real Me | single2date = May 1989 | single3 = Forever Free | single3date = August 28, 1989<ref>{{cite web |title=New Singles: Week of August 28th to September 1st |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1989/MW-1989-08-26.pdf |website=Music Week |access-date=February 25, 2026 |pages=38 |date=August 26, 1989 |via=worldradiohistory.com}}</ref> }} }}
'''''The Headless Children''''' is the fourth studio album by heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released on March 21, 1989 through Capitol Records.<ref name="Release"/><ref name=waspofficial>[http://www.waspnation.com/headless.html "The Headless Children"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204054945/http://www.waspnation.com/headless.html |date=February 4, 2012 }}. waspnation.com. Retrieved February 24, 2014.</ref> The album reached No. 48 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart,<ref name="US">{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/wasp-mw0000200359/awards | title = W.A.S.P. Billboard Albums | accessdate = October 29, 2012 | work = AllMusic | publisher = Rovi Corporation| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140129044506/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/wasp-mn0000815090/awards |archivedate = January 29, 2014}}</ref> the band's highest chart position,<ref name="US"/> and remained on that chart for 13 weeks.<ref name=billboard>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=w.a.s.p.|chart=all}} "W.A.S.P. - Chart history"]. ''Billboard''. Retrieved February 24, 2014.</ref> This was the last album W.A.S.P. released before their temporary breakup in 1990,<ref name=kerrang>{{cite magazine |title=W.A.S.P.: The End? |magazine=Kerrang! |publication-date=1990 |url=http://www.waspnation.com/hardnews.html |access-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102201602/http://waspnation.com/hardnews.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> only to reunite two years later for ''The Crimson Idol'' (1992).
==Overview== {{unreferenced section|date=May 2018}} ''The Headless Children'' showcases a new level of maturity from the band compared to their previous three albums, which had stereotypically lewd "rock and roll" lyrics. Politics and social issues are now a theme throughout the album. The cover art, designed and illustrated by John Kosh, is based on "Gateway to Stalingrad", a cartoon by Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, depicts a string of historical figures including Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Benito Mussolini, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Al Capone and the Ku Klux Klan, with an image of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald shown prominently in the foreground. Later editions of the album have replaced, among others, Ayatollah Khomeini with additional KKK members.
''The Headless Children'' was the first W.A.S.P. album to feature ex-Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali and the last studio album to feature guitarist Chris Holmes for six years until he rejoined the band in late 1995 to record ''Kill Fuck Die''. This is also the band's last album to feature bassist Johnny Rod. In 1990, following departures of Holmes and Rod, W.A.S.P. decided to call it quits,<ref name="kerrang"/> but resurfaced about a year later, with only lead singer/bassist Blackie Lawless and Banali remaining;<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Welch |first=Chris |title=W.A.S.P.: A Sting in the Tale |magazine=Metal Hammer |publication-date=June 1991 |pages=20–21 |url=https://www.waspnation.com/splitup.html |access-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102201602/https://www.waspnation.com/splitup.html |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> this was because their next album, ''The Crimson Idol'', was originally intended to be a solo album by Lawless, until he agreed to release it under the W.A.S.P. name.
"The Real Me" is one of two songs the band covered and released as part of the ''Headless Children'' release, (the other being "Locomotive Breath", by Jethro Tull, which was the b-side of the single "Mean Man"). "The Real Me" however was the only song of the two to make the album. The song was written by Pete Townshend of The Who's and is from their classic rock opera album, ''Quadrophenia''.
"Mean Man", written by Lawless, is about guitarist Chris Holmes' wild lifestyle and is dedicated to him.
Lawless stated in an interview shortly after the release of the album, that "The Neutron Bomber", is about Ronald Reagan and the power he and America had over the world, with such a large nuclear arsenal. The song despite most likely being written during his presidency, was however released a few months after his retirement and the election of George H. W. Bush. Alternatively, in an interview entitled [https://www.waspnation.com/headhunt.html "Headhunter"] published in the May/June 1989 edition of Metal Forces magazine, Lawless said the song "is about a guy named Ronny who I grew up with over in Staten Island who was the biggest mass fire starter in the history of the Northeast! And Ronny is somewhere right now where he's never ever gonna start fires again. Concrete and steel don't burn. Heh heh. He's in for triple life, you know?"
"Forever Free" is a power ballad typical of the time in the hard rock/heavy metal genre, which is supposedly a homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".
According to the liner notes, the "F.D.G." in "Rebel in the F.D.G." stands for "Fucking Decadent Generation".
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-headless-children-mw0000653234 |title=W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children review |last=Prato |first=Greg |work=AllMusic |publisher=All Media Network |accessdate=October 19, 2019 }}</ref> | rev2 = ''CD Review'' | rev2score = 6/10 & 6/10<ref name="CDReview">{{cite news|last=Santelli|first=Robert|authorlink=|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_cd-review_1989-09_6_1/page/n91/mode/2up|title=Review: W.A.S.P. – The Headless Children|work=CD Review|type=magazine|date=September 1989|access-date=September 25, 2021|volume=6|issue=1|pages=84–85|location=Hancock|publisher=WGE Publishing, Inc.|via=Internet Archive|issn=1044-1700}}</ref> | rev3 =''Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal'' | rev3Score = 7/10<ref name="martin" >{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | authorlink1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties | publisher = Collector's Guide Publishing | date = November 1, 2005 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada | isbn = 978-1-894959-31-5| page=407}}</ref> | rev4 = ''Rock Hard'' | rev4score = 7.0/10<ref name="rockhard">{{cite magazine|last=Kupfer|first=Thomas |title=Review Album : W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children|url=https://www.rockhard.de/reviews/w.a.s.p.-the-headless-children_221661.html|issue=32|year = 1989| magazine = Rock Hard |accessdate=October 19, 2019 | language=German}}</ref> }} In a contemporary review for the German magazine ''Rock Hard'', Thomas Kupfer considered ''The Headless Children'' second only to W.A.S.P. "brilliant debut album" and remarked how the song structures were simpler and the music more melodic than in previous works, but Lawless' voice had "lost nothing of its charisma".<ref name="rockhard"/>
More recently, Greg Prato at AllMusic called ''The Headless Children'' W.A.S.P.'s "most accomplished work" and their "best constructed album". He also noted "The Real Me", "Mean Man", "The Heretic", "Forever Free" and the title track as highlights.<ref name="allmusic"/> Canadian journalist Martin Popoff described the album as "the W.A.S.P. record for those who don't like W.A.S.P., hollow, damp and alone, integrity discovered, humanity revealed."<ref name="martin"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = Blackie Lawless, except where noted | title1 = The Heretic (The Lost Child) {{Ref|1|†}} | note1 = Lawless, Chris Holmes | length1 = 7:16 | title2 = The Real Me | note2 = Pete Townshend; The Who cover | length2 = 3:21 | title3 = The Headless Children | length3 = 5:47 | title4 = Thunderhead | note4 = Lawless, Holmes | length4 = 6:45 | title5 = Mean Man | length5 = 4:50 | title6 = The Neutron Bomber | length6 = 4:03 | title7 = Mephisto Waltz | length7 = 1:27 | title8 = Forever Free | length8 = 5:09 | title9 = Maneater | length9 = 4:46 | title10 = Rebel in the F.D.G. | length10 = 5:08 | total_length = 48:32 }} {{Track listing | headline = 1998 remastered edition bonus tracks | title11 = Locomotive Breath | note11 = Ian Anderson; Jethro Tull cover | length11 = 2:59 | title12 = For Whom the Bell Tolls | length12 = 3:47 | title13 = Lake of Fools | length13 = 5:29 | title14 = War Cry | length14 = 5:33 | title15 = L.O.V.E. Machine | note15 = live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, 1989 | length15 = 4:47 | title16 = Blind in Texas | note16 = live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, 1989 | length16 = 6:23 }}
:{{Note|1|†}} – On the 1998 reissue, "The Heretic (The Lost Child)" has been edited to remove a small portion of a guitar riff in order to fit all the bonus material on the same CD.
==Personnel== ;W.A.S.P. *Blackie Lawless – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, production *Chris Holmes – lead guitar, acoustic guitar *Johnny Rod – bass guitar, backing vocals
;Additional musicians *Frankie Banali – drums, percussion *Ken Hensley – keyboards *Diana Fennell, Lita Ford, Mark Humphreys, Jimi Image, Minka Kelly, Thomas Nellen, Cathi Paige, Mike Solan, Kevin Wallace, Melba Wallace, Ron Wallace – backing vocals on "Thunderhead"
;Production *Mikey Davis – engineer, mixing *Tom Nellen – assistant engineer *Rhonda Schoen – editing engineer *Andy Taylor – manager *Rod Smallwood – manager *John Kosh – art direction *Steve Hall – mastering at Future Disc *George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
==Charts== ===Album=== {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" ! scope="col"| Chart (1989) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- ! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name=AUS>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref> | align="center"| 55 |- {{album chart|Austria|19|artist=W.A.S.P.|album= The Headless Children |rowheader=true|access-date=April 2, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Canada|76|chartid=6337|artist=W.A.S.P.|album= The Headless Children |rowheader=true|access-date=April 2, 2019}} |- ! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)<ref name=FINI>{{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5 | page= 166 | language= fi}}</ref> | align="center"| 18 |- {{album chart|Germany|22|id=867|artist=W.A.S.P.|album= The Headless Children |rowheader=true|access-date=April 2, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Norway|13|artist=W.A.S.P.|album= The Headless Children |rowheader=true|access-date=April 2, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Switzerland|19|artist=W.A.S.P.|album= The Headless Children |rowheader=true|access-date=April 2, 2019}} |- {{album chart|UK2|8|date=19890409|refname=UKal|rowheader=true|accessdate=April 22, 2018}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|48|artist=W.A.S.P.|rowheader=true|access-date=April 2, 2019}} |} {{col-break}}
===Singles=== {|class="wikitable" |- !Year !Single !Chart !Position |- |align="center" rowspan="4"|1989 |align="center" rowspan="2"|"Mean Man" |align="center"|Finnish Singles Chart<ref name ="FIN">{{cite web| url= http://suomenlistalevyt.blogspot.com/2015/08/w-wes.html| title= Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961: W > W.A.S.P.| publisher= Sisältää hitin / Timo Pennanen| accessdate=October 16, 2019}}</ref> |align="center"|11 |- |align="center"|UK Singles Chart<ref name="GB" >{{cite web |url= https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/21721/w-a-s-p/ |title=W.A.S.P. Official Charts |publisher=Official Charts Company |accessdate=October 16, 2019 }}</ref> |align="center"|21 |- |align="center"|"The Real Me" |align="center"|UK Singles Chart<ref name="GB" /> |align="center"|23 |- |align="center"|"Forever Free" |align="center"|UK Singles Chart<ref name="GB" /> |align="center"|25 |} {{col-end}}
==Certifications== {{certification Table Top}} {{certification Table Entry|title=The Headless Children|artist=W.A.S.P.|relyear=1989|certyear=1989|type=album|region=United Kingdom|award=Gold|certref=<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/wasp-the-headless-children-bpi-uk-gold-record-award/|title = WASP The Headless Children BPI UK Gold Record Award }}</ref>}} {{certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Discogs master|type=album|61063}}
{{W.A.S.P.}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Headless Children, The}} Category:W.A.S.P. albums Category:1989 albums Category:Capitol Records albums Category:Albums produced by Blackie Lawless