We continue the journey through the legacy of Billy Idol with his 1983 sophomore album, Rebel Yell. The record would solidify Idol's status in America as a star, aided once again through repeated appearances and airplay on MTV.
However, it wouldn't be Billy Idol without some kind of drama, and drama there was. Specifically, with his record label. One of the stories surrounding its release was that Billy wasn't happy with the photograph chosen by Chrysalis, and insisted it be changed. The label initially refused, prompting the singer to steel the master tapes, and give them to his drug dealer. The plan was to blackmail the label, informing them that his dealer would have bootlegs on the street in days if they didn't acquiesce to his request.
The problem was that Billy actually stole the wrong tapes, and producer Keith Forsey, had them safely in his hands. Forsey would later recount in interviews, "I let him think he had the masters ... He did whatever he had to do with the label. Everything was squared away, and then he came back and I said, 'By the way, Bill, I've got the real masters.'"
The album title was derived from the recording sessions where Billy noted, "people were drinking Rebel Yell bourbon whiskey and he thought that would be a great title for an album." This was followed by the song itself, which was recorded in three days.
Upon its release, Rebel Yell was a commercial success, spawning multiple hits, and being critically praised for its material. Despite this, only Eyes Without A Face would crack the billboard top ten, peeking at number 4. Rebel Yell, the song, would peek at 46, Flesh For Fantasy at 29, and Catch My Fall at 50. Despite these numbers, the album would ultimately become Idol's best selling album of all time, going 5X platinum.
Having high expectations from his prior album, and EP before that, I dove straight in, being greeted by the title track. This set the bar high, and I'm glad to say that the end result wasn't disappointing.
What I will note is that, in general, Rebel Yell, the album, felt longer. Which is odd, because time wise, it's actually a couple minutes shorter than his debut. I don't know what it was. The songs themselves just felt longer. Mind you, that's not a bad thing, rather, just an observation.
Overall, I enjoyed my listening session. There were of course the hits, but then hidden treasures like Daytime Drama, and Blue Highway. Everything else was just okay, but not what I would call bad. It was worth hearing, but not necessarily memorable from front to back in the long run. I mean, it's no Purple Rain or Hysteria, but it was good.
I'm still excited to continue my journey through Billy Idol. No fatigue just yet. As such, I'm diving headlong into 1986's Whiplash Smile. However, as I've said time and time again, that's a post for tomorrow.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 14, 1980 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 14, 1986 |
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