Dead Boys - We Have Come For Your Children

Coming off one of punk rock's early classic albums, 1977's raw and rough Young Loud & Snotty, you'd think the Dead Boys would have followed the same winning formula on their sophomore release. But as We Have Come for Your Children proves, the album didn't come close to matching the fury of their debut. The reasons for this fumble can be attributed to a few things, but chiefly, it was a poor producer choice (ex-Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi, who really had no business producing a punk band, and obviously wanted to tame the group). That said, Children isn't a complete atrocity, however; much of the material is strong, and it would have benefited greatly from a grittier production (there was talk of having ex-Stooges guitarist James Williamson produce the album at the time, which would have probably improved the end result). Still, this is the Dead Boys album that contains one of their greatest all-time tracks, "Ain't It Fun," a "live fast, die young" tale that is quite eerie coming from now-deceased singer Stiv Bators (and was later covered by Guns N' Roses). Elsewhere, you can't help but wonder how much better such promising tracks as "(I Don't Wanna Be No) Catholic Boy" and "Flame Thrower Love" would have turned out in the hands of another producer. Since the Dead Boys' discography is short, fans should definitely try to hunt down a copy of We Have Come for Your Children; just don't expect the same knockout punch that Young Loud & Snotty generates.

We Have Come for Your Children stands as one of the most tragic "what-ifs" of the first-wave American punk scene. Released in 1978, the Dead Boys’ sophomore effort was strangled at birth by a record label desperate to convert the band's raw, CBGB-bred chaos into radio-friendly commercial rock. By forcing the legendary but mismatched blues-rock producer Felix Pappalardi into the studio, Sire Records effectively neutralized the band’s primary weapon: their unhinged, dangerous sonic friction. The resulting production acts like a heavy blanket over a wildfire, muting the rhythm section and polishing the guitars into a radio-ready sheen that the band themselves openly despised.

Yet, beneath this controversial sonic varnish lies a collection of songwriting that frequently matches, and occasionally surpasses, their landmark debut. Frontman Stiv Bators anchors the record with his signature snarl, trade-marking a uniquely snotty vocal performance that refuses to be completely tamed by the studio mixing board. Tracks like "3rd Generation Nation" and "Flame Thrower Love" showcase a band that had matured into tighter, more focused songwriters without sacrificing their core nihilism. The melodic hooks are sharper and the arrangements are more deliberate, proving that the Dead Boys were far more than just a novelty act relying on shock value and feedback.

The album also serves as a fascinating showcase for the band's curated influences through its select covers and standout original pieces. Their rendition of The Rolling Stones’ "Tell Me" transforms a 1960s pop-rock ballad into a gritty punk anthem, bridging the gap between garage rock history and the late-70s underground explosion. Meanwhile, the band addresses contemporary true-crime dread on "Son of Sam," capturing the paranoid, gritty atmosphere of New York City during that era. These tracks demonstrate an awareness of their musical landscape, balancing historical reverence with immediate, urban anxieties.

The record's true masterpiece, however, is the haunting closer "Ain't It Fun." Written by guitarist Cheetah Chrome and the late Peter Laughner, this dark, mid-tempo suicide note acts as the definitive epitaph for the first generation of punk rock. Bators delivers the cynical lyrics with a chilling, prophetic sincerity that hits even harder in retrospect given his own untimely death a decade later. While the production clashes ultimately tore the band apart shortly after the album's release, this closing track ensures that We Have Come for Your Children remains an essential, albeit flawed, monument to punk's self-destructive peak.

Ripped from a CD, probably remastered, possibly Japanese to MP3 @ 320kbps

Dead Boys; We Have Come For Your Children

1.      3^rd Generation Nation

2.      I Won’t Look Back

3.      (I Don’t Wanna Be No) Catholic Boy

4.      Flame Thrower Love

5.      Son Of Sam

6.      Tell Me

7.      Big City

8.      Calling On You

9.      Dead And Alive

10.   Ain’t It Fun

 Young, Loud and Snotty still available here