fuck yeah! i love this album

CAUSE I'M A MEAN MUDAFING MAN !!!!!!!!! great album.

Glad thete are some other W.A.S.P fans in the house

This album is when they became a true band imo. Very political/social album & all of the work since thenhas been very political.

I find it cool how they had these political songs & also big balls to the wall rockers like Mean Man.

Great interview from this era!

Huh, I didn't get into W.A.S.P. until maybe 1994/1995 with the First Blood...Last Cuts compilation and "socially conscious" Blackie is kind of new to me. I guess lyrically he did make quite a change with The Headless Children and The Crimson Idol but musically and visually things didn't really change much. Or maybe I just haven't been paying attention.

I wouldn't say that I am a huge fan but there are a handful of Uriah Heep albums that I really love and I think that Ken Hensley's work on The Headless Children really added an interesting dimension to the music.

[Edited 12/21/12 2:15am]

rialb said:

Huh, I didn't get into W.A.S.P. until maybe 1994/1995 with the First Blood...Last Cuts compilation and "socially conscious" Blackie is kind of new to me. I guess lyrically he did make quite a change with The Headless Children and The Crimson Idol but musically and visually things didn't really change much. Or maybe I just haven't been paying attention.

I wouldn't say that I am a huge fan but there are a handful of Uriah Heep albums that I really love and I think that Ken Hensley's work on The Headless Children really added an interesting dimension to the music.

[Edited 12/21/12 2:15am]

Oh man i forgot about Uriah Heep! Demons & Wizards rocks!

Early W.A.S.P is cheesy... i mean good but but cheesy hair metal.

Blackie basically amited the image was... so they could eat he is a very politically conscious guy & every W.A.S.P album since Headless(Minus that awful Helldorado) Are very political albums.

K.F.D is kind of so-so on that. K.F.D does rock though

Gunsnhalen said:

rialb said:

Huh, I didn't get into W.A.S.P. until maybe 1994/1995 with the First Blood...Last Cuts compilation and "socially conscious" Blackie is kind of new to me. I guess lyrically he did make quite a change with The Headless Children and The Crimson Idol but musically and visually things didn't really change much. Or maybe I just haven't been paying attention.

I wouldn't say that I am a huge fan but there are a handful of Uriah Heep albums that I really love and I think that Ken Hensley's work on The Headless Children really added an interesting dimension to the music.

[Edited 12/21/12 2:15am]

Oh man i forgot about Uriah Heep! Demons & Wizards rocks!

Early W.A.S.P is cheesy... i mean good but but cheesy hair metal.

Blackie basically amited the image was... so they could eat he is a very politically conscious guy & every W.A.S.P album since Headless(Minus that awful Helldorado) Are very political albums.

K.F.D is kind of so-so on that. K.F.D does rock though

Yup. I remember back in 1994 picking up Demons and Wizards and The Magician's Birthday on cd for five bucks each which to a thirteen year old was very cheap indeed. I put the two albums on a cassette and over the next few years it was in heavy rotation. In a weird way it kind of made me feel "cool" to be listening to Uriah Heep when all of my peers were listening to Pantera and Metallica. Man, the other kids at Trenton Junior High were L-A-M-E!

rialb said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Oh man i forgot about Uriah Heep! Demons & Wizards rocks!

Early W.A.S.P is cheesy... i mean good but but cheesy hair metal.

Blackie basically amited the image was... so they could eat he is a very politically conscious guy & every W.A.S.P album since Headless(Minus that awful Helldorado) Are very political albums.

K.F.D is kind of so-so on that. K.F.D does rock though

Yup. I remember back in 1994 picking up Demons and Wizards and The Magician's Birthday on cd for five bucks each which to a thirteen year old was very cheap indeed. I put the two albums on a cassette and over the next few years it was in heavy rotation. In a weird way it kind of made me feel "cool" to be listening to Uriah Heep when all of my peers were listening to Pantera and Metallica. Man, the other kids at Trenton Junior High were L-A-M-E!

What happened to Uriah?

Gunsnhalen said:

rialb said:

Yup. I remember back in 1994 picking up Demons and Wizards and The Magician's Birthday on cd for five bucks each which to a thirteen year old was very cheap indeed. I put the two albums on a cassette and over the next few years it was in heavy rotation. In a weird way it kind of made me feel "cool" to be listening to Uriah Heep when all of my peers were listening to Pantera and Metallica. Man, the other kids at Trenton Junior High were L-A-M-E!

What happened to Uriah?

I guess they were torn apart by the usual reasons (drug/alcohol abuse/conflicts over money/fights over songwriting credits/disagreements about whose songs to record/conflicts with management/constant personnel changes). The "classic" lineup only lasted from 1972-1975. For me that was when they peaked and they recorded their two best albums but after The Magician's Birthday it was clear that things were starting to go gunnysack. Sweet Freedom was an okay album but it was clearly less focused than the two that immediately preceded it and Wonderworld was even worse. After that album bassist Gary Thain was sacked due to his worsening drug problem (he died within the year) and things just kept going south after that. A year later singer David Byron was fired due to worsening alcoholism/personality conflicts (he died about ten years later) and after that fans rapidly started losing interest in them. Ken Hensley quit in 1980 and that was pretty much the end for them (although they did record one more worthwhile album in 1982 [Abominog]). They are still active today although guitarist Mick Box is the only member left from their glory years.

For me the "classic" lineup just had a great chemistry that they were never able to recreate. Ken Hensley was the dominant songwriter but the other guys in the band made key contributions and once drummer Lee Kerslake and bassist Gary Thain joined they really gelled into a great band. It's kind of too bad that they didn't split in 1976 after David Byron was fired, if they had they might be much more fondly remembered today.