Rebel Yell (album)

Rebel Yell
Studio album by Billy Idol
Publication (s)	November 10, 1983
Label (s)	Chrysalis Records
Format (s)	LP , MC (1983), CD (1984)
Genre (s)	Hard rock , punk rock , new wave
Title (number)	9
running time	39:51
occupation	Vocals , guitar: Billy Idol Guitar : Steve Stevens Bass : Steve Webster Drums : Thommy Price
production	Keith Forsey
Studio (s)	Electric Lady Studios , New York City (NYC), RPM Studios (NYC), Mediasound (NYC)
chronology Billy Idol 1982 Rebel Yell Whiplash Smile (1986)

Rebel Yell is the title of the second album by British singer Billy Idol , released in November 1983 .

background

Billy Idol reached number 45 on the US album charts in 1982 with his self-titled debut album and also had chart successes in the USA and Great Britain with the single Hot In the City . The second single, White Wedding , also hit the music charts in the US , but did not hit the UK until 1985.

Emergence

Roland TR-808 drum machine

When the band started recording the next album, they started with (Do Not) Stand in the Shadows. But working with the originally committed for the recordings drummer were difficult, so producer Keith Forsey a Linn LM-1 - drum machines began, he added with a Roland TR 808th A drummer was not involved until the end of the recordings.

The song Flesh for Fantasy was based on a song idea whose title Idol was inspired by the 1943 film Flesh and Fantasy (German title: The second face ) with Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson . When Idol and Stevens wrote it, it was still a fast-paced rock and roll song. The musicians tried a different, slower, syncopated groove , which did not yet fit, and stopped working on the song because they were also working on several other ideas at the same time. The song was also changed and completed during the recording.

→ Main article : Flesh for Fantasy

Album title inspiration: Rebel Yell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

The album title goes to the same song back, was inspired to write the idol when he attended an event at which he likewise present Rolling Stones -members Mick Jagger , Keith Richards and Ron Wood while watching her Bourbon brand Rebel Yell soak. The brand was unknown to him, but he liked the name.

“I asked. "Do you think you'd ever use that as a song title?" I tried to convince them it wasn't as iconic for them as Jumping Jack Flash or Gimme Shelter, and they shook their heads and said they wouldn't use it . "Great," I said. "Because I might use it as a song title, and maybe even call my next album that." I'm sure, they couldn't have cared the slightest (...) "

"I asked. "Do you think you would ever use this as a song title?" I tried to convince them that it wasn't as iconic to them as Jumping Jack Flash or Gimme Shelter, and they shook their heads and said they didn't use it would. "Great," I said. "Because I'll probably use it as a song title, I might even call my next album that." I'm sure that nothing would have bothered you less (...). "

- Billy Idol : Dancing With Myself

Idol wrote the song a short time later, in subsequent rehearsals the song was largely completed. Stevens wrote a 16-bar introduction to his solo, but Idol suggested using it as an intro for the song.

→ Main article : Rebel Yell (song)

For Eyes Without a Face the musicians had a “deep, heavy bass sound” in mind, but it was difficult to find a bass player who could meet the requirement. The band eventually hired the Cuban Sal Cuevas, who worked on the Broadway production of the musical Dreamgirls . He delivers what Idol was looking for.

→ Main article : Eyes Without a Face

Because there was still room for more songs, Idol recorded Catch My Fall , for which Mars Williams contributed a saxophone solo. The last song recorded for the album was Crank Call .

Thommy Price replaced the drum machines

At the end of the recordings, the drummer Thommy Price was hired, who replaced all drum tracks recorded with drum computers with his natural drumming. Price had previously worked with Joan Jett and Patty Smyth . After completing the recording, he became a member of the band and played on the tour.

Singles

The song Rebel Yell was released as the first single on October 24, 1983. He was followed in April 1984 by Eyes Without a Face . With the second single, Idol no longer only charted in Great Britain and the USA, but also in Switzerland and Germany . The same was true for Flesh for Fantasy (August 1984) and Catch My Fall (October 1984). From Flesh for Fantasy of was Gary Langan a Below the Belt Mix -called Remix created and as a maxi-single released. On the B-side was the album version of the song as well as the song Blue Highway .

The album was released on November 10, 1983, first on record and music cassette , followed by CD release in 1984 .

Rebel Yell was remastered in 1999 and re-released with some bonus tracks . The release included a cover version of the Chris Spedding song Motorbikin ' , which had been a hit in the UK and Germany in 1975.

Track list

Rebel Yell
No.	title	Songwriter	Guest musician	length
1.	Rebel Yell	Billy Idol , Steve Stevens		4:45
2.	Daytime drama	Idol, Stevens		4:58
3.	Eyes Without a Face	Idol, Stevens	Sal Cuevas ( bass ), Perri Lister ( backing vocal )	5:05
4th	Blue Highway	Idol, Stevens		4:37
5.	Flesh for Fantasy	Idol, Stevens		3:57
6th	Catch My Fall	idol	Mars Williams ( saxophone )	3:56
7th	Crank call	Idol, Stevens		3:19
8th.	(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows	Idol, Stevens	Jack Waldman (keyboards)	3:45
9.	The Dead Next Door	Idol, Stevens		5:20
Overall length:				39:51

Billy Idol
No.	title	Songwriter	Guest musician	length
1.	Rebel Yell	Billy Idol , Steve Stevens		4:45
2.	Daytime drama	Idol, Stevens		4:58
3.	Eyes Without a Face	Idol, Stevens	Sal Cuevas ( bass ), Perri Lister ( backing vocal )	5:05
4th	Blue Highway	Idol, Stevens		4:37
5.	Flesh for Fantasy	Idol, Stevens		3:57
6th	Catch My Fall	idol	Mars Williams ( saxophone )	3:56
7th	Crank call	Idol, Stevens		3:19
8th.	(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows	Idol, Stevens	Jack Waldman (keyboards)	3:45
9.	The Dead Next Door	Idol, Stevens		5:20
10.	Rebel Yell (Session Take)	Idol, Stevens		5:27
11.	Motorbikin ' (Session Take)	Chris Spedding		4:16
12.	Catch My Fall (Original Demo)	Idol, Stevens		4:11
13.	Flesh for Fantasy (Session Take)	Idol, Stevens		5:09
14th	Blue Highway (Original Demo)	Idol, Stevens		4:58

reception

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Rebel Yell   US 6th 07/14/1984 (82 weeks)   UK 36 09/28/1985 (11 weeks)   DE 2 08/06/1984 (48 weeks)

Singles

Rebel Yell   UK 62 03/10/1984 (4 weeks)   UK 6th 09/14/1985 (14 weeks)   US 46 March 24, 1984 (14 weeks)   DE 10 07/30/1984 (18 weeks) Eyes Without a Face   UK 58 09/11/1984 (4 weeks)   US 4th 07/14/1984 (22 weeks)   DE 10 07/30/1984 (18 weeks) Flesh for Fantasy   US 29 10/06/1984 (12 weeks)   UK 54 09/29/1984 (3 weeks)   DE 11 10/22/1984 (19 weeks) Catch My Fall   US 50 December 8, 1984 (11 weeks)   UK 63 08/13/1988 (3 weeks)   DE 11 January 21, 1985 (13 weeks)

The album was successful in the music charts of the then important music markets : In the USA and Germany it was in the top ten , in Great Britain at least 36th. The first single, the title song Rebel Yell, only reached number in the British charts 62, but was published there again in 1985 and then reached number six. The same was true for Catch My Fall : The song did not reach the UK charts until 1988.

Rebel Yell was awarded a gold record on April 6, 1984 , and a first platinum record on June 20, 1984. In January 1985, Idol received double platinum for the album. In 1985 , Rebel Yell received a gold record in Germany.

In a contemporary review in Musikexpress , Harald Inhülsen wrote that Billy Idol was “for power pop what Michael Jackson means for trendy disco music”: handsome young men who “went with fashion” “and their anger under the cloak of Noble princes ”. As a result, Rebel Yell was "a completely punk / playful punk company", of "the same style" as Jackson's thriller was "a punk, disco-oriented funk work". The songwriting with Steve Stevens made the songs "hard-rocking and interesting". The title track ties in with Idol's "proven style" as known from rockers like White Wedding and Dancing With Myself . Flesh for Fantasy is a “voluminous full moon ballad”, Blue Highway begins with a “Jimi Hendrix attempt by the guitarist before the song takes off into the pop world”. Inhülsen's conclusion: Rebel Yell is “commercial American pop rock, not as exciting as Alan Vegas Saturn Strip , but just as attractive as the cars ”.

In 2010 Good Times judged in retrospect that the “energy of punk” ( Blue Highway ) and “a feeling for catchy melodies” ( Eyes Without a Face ) characterized the album, which was “steered in the direction of New Wave especially by Steve Stevens' guitar playing” without "appearing cold or gloomy".

In laut.de Dani Fromm wrote, Idol had "brought the rock and roll from the sixties, from the seventies that theatrical rock combination" electric guitar before heavy drums "and the groove of Disco". The recently started decade (the 1980s) was "still contributing a lot of new wave and synths". In "many ways" it was with Rebel Yell a "continuation of the self-titled debut", it apparently wanted and should be "nothing else". The numbering of the plate sides with "3" and "4" would speak "a clear language in this regard". At Catch My Fall, Idol “let the inner Elvis off the leash”. Underneath, "a cool bass" patters, and a saxophone solo also fits in. (Do Not) Stand In The Shadows is an “up-tempo dance number”, Crank Call is nothing but hard rock. In its entirety, Rebel Yell is probably "something like the Archeopteryx, an evolutionary intermediate stage, the missing link" (to punk): the "pop-punk of punk rock that has become album". About "not looking like cheap Jakob", who sells "his subculture in the vendor's tray", was "perhaps Billy Idol's most admirable" achievement.

Ox , a fanzine for punk rock , hardcore punk , rock 'n' roll and other alternative music, said in 2018 that it was "not about a late awakening experience in matters of 77 punk, but about the telegenic punk revolt from the school desk" that didn't hurt anyone and was "never controversial".

Web links

• Rebel Yell at Discogs
• Rebel Yell on YouTube , accessed July 8, 2020.
• Eyes Without a Face on YouTube , accessed July 8, 2020.
• Flesh for Fantasy on YouTube , accessed July 8, 2020.
• Catch My Fall on YouTube , accessed July 8, 2020.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Charts US UK Charts
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself ; Autobiography, Simon & Schuster 2014, ISBN 978-1-4516-2850-0 , pages 180-188
3. ↑ Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself ; Autobiography, Simon & Schuster 2014, ISBN 978-1-4516-2850-0 , page 181
4. ↑ Charts UK Charts US Charts DE
5. ^ RIAA awards database , accessed July 8, 2020
6. ↑ Awards database of the Bunderverband der Musikindustrie , accessed on July 8, 2020
7. ↑ Harald Inhülsen in: Musikexpress, issue 3.1984, page 78
8. ↑ Good Times, Issue 10/11/2010
9. ↑ Dani Fromm on laut.de , accessed on July 10, 2020
10. ↑ Ox-Fanzine , from issue 140, October / November 2018