Billy Idol - Rebel Yell

More! More! More! An absolute "must-have" of the '80s, this 1983 album reached No. 6 and stayed on the charts for over a year and a half! "Eyes Without a Face," "Flesh for Fantasy," "Rebel Yell," "Catch My Fall," and more.

There's a cool aggression to 1983's Rebel Yell, Billy Idol's second album that is equal parts new-wave, metal, punk and pop. Although his debut was a hit and remains a classic, it was Rebel Yell that is his masterpiece. The album reunited Billy with the hit-making team of producer, Keith Forsey and the atmospheric guitar work of Stevie Stevens that can only be called rock and roll nirvana.

With a permanently snarled upper lip and the perfect matinee-idol blond hair, Billy Idol made punk rock palatable for MTV and the masses. He did so by watering down punk's aggressive attack with dance grooves and stretches of keyboards where no self-respecting punk would've dared.

Essentially, he made pop music with a spare razor blade tossed in for fun. When it clicked, as it does on the anthemic title track of this, his career highlight, well, only an anarchist could complain. "Eyes Without a Face" and "Flesh for Fantasy" are two other early '80s radio stapes found here and they went further to establish Idol as a potential Vegas balladeer.

 

1. Rebel Yell

2. Daytime Drama

3. Eyes Without A Face

4. Blue Highway

5. Flesh For Fantasy

6. Catch My Fall

7. Crank Call

8. (Do Not) Stand In The Shadows

9. The Dead Next Door

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