Whiplash Smile (Remastered) Billy Idol

• 1 Worlds Forgotten Boy 05:43
• 2 To Be A Lover 03:53
• 3 Soul Standing By 04:36
• 4 Sweet Sixteen 04:16
• 5 Man For All Seasons 04:38
• 6 Don't Need A Gun 06:17
• 7 Beyond Belief 04:02
• 8 Fatal Charm 03:43
• 9 All Summer Single 04:36
• 10 One Night, One Chance 04:01
• Total Runtime 45:45

Info for Whiplash Smile (Remastered)

HighRes-Remaster Reissue of this 1986 album, the follow-up to his worldwide smash hit album Rebel Yell. 10 tracks including 'Don't Need A Gun', 'To Be A Lover', 'Sweet Sixteen' and more.

„Although it was ultimately an unsatisfying album, failing to live up to the promise of its fabulous single, "To Be a Lover," Whiplash Smile still burned clean with an immediately recognizable 1980s energy. Like Billy Idol himself, who affected the punk archetype but cut it with a two-dimensional, cartoonish plasticity perfect for the decade, Whiplash Smile expands on the sound of the 1983 breakthrough Rebel Yell while cleverly leaving its key elements unchanged. Idol's inherent Jim Morrison-ness was fleshed out, and Steve Stevens' already atmospheric guitar work was blended even more seamlessly with a percolating pot of shifting styles, new wave dance beats, and synth-heavy production. "Soul Standing By" and "Man for All Seasons certainly rocked -- Stevens' guitar work crackles with inventiveness, even augmented as it is with multiple overdubs. But like most of Whiplash, the songs seemed to exist in a phantom zone akin to the prismatic holding cell of General Zod and his cohorts in Superman II. The plodding "Beyond Belief" and the weird, Marty Robbins-meets-Del Shannon-in-space vibe of "Sweet Sixteen" are similarly opaque. There's plenty to listen for on Whiplash Smile, and Idol's attempt to expand his palette is admirable. Unfortunately, there's nary a memorable hook here outside of the single and whatever mileage can be gained from his trademark sneer. In that sense, Whiplash Smile is similar to so much music of the decade, which got by with rayon flash and giddy video posturing but little in the way of reality. But that means that Whiplash Smile is also disappointing: Idol's best work was equally as era-defining, but it lived on to be just as memorable after the calendar flipped on the Me Decade.“ (Johnny Loftus, AMG)

Billy Idol, vocals, guitar, bass
Steve Stevens, guitar, bass, keyboards, programming
Marcus Miller, bass
John Regan, bass
Phillip Ashley, keyboards
Harold Faltermeyer, keyboards
David Frank, keyboards
Richard Tee, keyboards
Thommy Price, drums, percussion
Jocelyn Brown, background vocals
Connie Harvey, background vocals
Janet Wright, background vocals

Recorded 1985–86 at Right Track Studios, New York City, New York
Engineered by Dave Concors, Debi Cornish, Neil Dorfsman, Moira Marquis, Bill Miranda, Steve Tjaden, Dave Wittman
Produced by Keith Forsey

Digitally remastered

Billy Idol
remains crucial to rock ‘n’ roll. His style, charm, charisma and bravado transcend trends and time. Where would rock music be without him? Would it look the same? Would it sound the same? Who hasn’t chanted along to “Rebel Yell,” “Mony Mony” or “White Wedding”?

IDOL’s influence is inescapable and still inspiring to this day. In the summer of 2010, BILLY will give fans worldwide the chance to chant along with him when he launches another epic tour. In tow for the tour, he’s got longtime partner and guitar great Steve Stevens, bassist Stephen McGrath, keyboardist, Derek Sherinian as well as Billy Morrison on rhythm guitar and Jeremy Colson behind the kit. The summer jaunt begins with two shows in Russia, and IDOL’s road winds onward with performances at the Malmo Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival and multiple dates in Germany, Switzerland, Serbia, Czech Republic and more. Plus, he’s got a whole slew of U.S. dates on the horizon following the European trek. Fans everywhere can expect to hear a myriad of classic Idol tunes live and loud.

Part of the infamous Bromley Contingent and a fan of the Sex Pistols, BILLY IDOL was inspired to front the popular British punk band Generation X from 1976 until the band’s break-up in 1981. From there, he decided to try his luck in America. “I definitely took punk with me wherever I’ve gone,” IDOL says. “That was the whole idea really. I wanted to transform my music, but I didn’t want to ever lose sight of that punk rock attitude. Whether we turned to hard rock or disco or whatever the hell else we did over the years, that helped give the music a spirit it would not have had if I hadn’t come out of the punk movement.”

At this point, IDOL hooked up with guitar genius Steve Stevens and a crucial musical partnership was forged. Idol’s first solo album was released by Chrysalis in 1982, but it didn’t hit its chart peak in the UK until 1985 when the self-titled album’s “White Wedding” was a major club hit and hit No.6 in the UK, fueled by heavy video play on MTV. “White Wedding” also crossed over to the Top 5 of the Mainstream US Rock chart, while “Hot In the City” made the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, and Billy Idol was certified gold with U.S. sales totaling more than 500,000 units.

Previously however, Idol really smashed through with singles from his follow-up 1984 double platinum album, Rebel Yell, which included the exhilarating rock title track “Rebel Yell’,” the gorgeous lushly-produced ballad “Eyes Without a Face” and the pulsing slow sleaze-rock of “Flesh For Fantasy.”

1987’s platinum-selling Vital Idol collection presented his hits in brilliantly executed expanded remixes and was the UK’s highest charting album at No. 7, staying in the charts for 34 weeks and including the Top 10 cover version “Mony, Mony.” That following year, Idol released a new album, the platinum Top 10 Whiplash Smile, with its standout singles “To Be A Lover” and “Don’t Need A Gun.” The platinum-certified Charmed Life album followed in 1990 with “Cradle Of Love” and “L.A. Woman.” 1993’s Cyberpunk proved that BILLY’s fans were still going strong in the UK, hitting No. 20. A platinum-selling Greatest Hits collection, released in 2000, re-charged IDOL’s catalog, and 12 years after his last new album release, he returned with Devil’s Playground in 2005 (Sanctuary). The album’s “World Comin’ Down” was included in the new collection’s tracks. 2008’s career-spanning collection The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself followed. When asked about the title, IDOL says with a laugh, “But everyone should idolize themselves, shouldn’t they?”

The niche that BILLY IDOL has created over these past few decades is impressive. IDOL is respected as the original punk rocker who long ago found a way to take that sneering punk attitude into the pop and rock mainstream, carving out songs that have lasted a lifetime. His immortal “Rebel Yell” was also featured on 2008’s Guitar Hero® World Tour game. In 2009, Eagle Rock Entertainment released IDOL’s first in-concert DVD “In Super Overdrive Live” (filmed at the Congress Theatre in Chicago).

It’ll all hold up on stage better than ever, once BILLY IDOL hits the road again in the summer of 2010.

This album contains no booklet.