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Rebel Yell
Home > Complete List of "i-j" Artists > Billy Idol > Item 26
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Rebel Yell
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by Billy Idol
Sales Rank: 573151
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$1.29
At Amazon
on 12-8-2008.
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With Rebel Yell, Billy Idol released what's arguably the best of his so far five solo albums. Keith Forsey was still at the producer's helm, and Steve Stevens was doing his fiery guitar theatrics, but here, the songwriting, ferocity and singleworthiness of songs, and tight arrangements were among their best. The album itself reached #6 on the album charts. The anthemic title track is another example of an Idol classic failing chart-wise, like "White Wedding." It stalled at #46 on the charts, though it did respectfully well on the album rock charts, peaking at #9. But this turned out to be another frantic mixture of new wave synths, punk rhythms, hard rock, and techno beats. "In the midnight, she cried more, more, more!" roars Idol in the chorus, creating another memorable lyric. This song was also reinforced by the energetic concert performance clip on MTV, where viewers got to see Stevens perform some squealing and laser-beam sounding space age theatrics with his guitar. The session take has some "tonight" instead of "last night" in "last night a little dancer came knocking at my door," as well as some rough instrumentation and different lyrics. Until reaching #1 with "Mony Mony," "Eyes Without A Face" became Idol's highest charting song, reaching #4 on the pop charts and #5 on the album rock charts. The slow airy synths and pulsing bass, claps in this ballad, backup vocals by Idol's girlfriend, Perri Lister, who also did the makeup on Idol's first album, and Stevens grinding guitar during the sudden ferocious rock section midsong provided yet another hit for Idol. The album closer "The Dead Next Door," has a quieter ambient synth sound that kind of belongs with "Eyes" "Blue Highway," also present here in a demo version, is a rocker perfect for some high speed driving down a highway. "(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows" is another uptempo rocker along the same lines. And the pulsing night-time feel of "Daytime Drama," with some keyboard theatrics before the first chorus, isn't a bad non-single bridging "Rebel Yell" with "Eyes." There's a slight ominous and nocturnal club aura with the pulsing bass backbeat in "Flesh For Fantasy," the third single, which reached #29 on the pop charts and #8 on the album rock charts. The carnal hunger is felt during the chorus-"you see and feel my sex attack"-when things rise in pitch, evidenced by Idol's lusty vocals and Stevens' guitars. The session take has a slightly slower tempo in the verses, but with a quicker-paced and different sounding chorus. The next single was the #50 pop/#24 album rock-charting "Catch My Fall," a pulsing dance tune with a sax nonetheless. Yet there are some signs of the fiercely individualism wanting some sort of support after a lifetime of experience: "I've traveled and unwound my own truth yeah/I've laid my head on the rock of youth yeah/I've trusted and then broken my own word/Just to keep me free in this mad, mad word." The demo version is more stripped down and restrained, but not bad. A cover of Chris Spedding's "Motorbikin'" is the only new track on this expanded edition bar the demo versions and session takes. Used as a warmup track during the album sessions, this is a real showcase for Stevens' guitar and something Gen X might have done. After releasing this classic, Billy Idol would turn that sneer of his into a whiplash smile.
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Rebel Yell
Available from Amazon
Price: $1.29
Updated on 12-8-2008.
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