Billy Idol - Whiplash Smile

Love it! Sexy.. one of those rare CD's that you can listen to from beginning to end and have no desire to skip a track.. it flows and moves you along with it..great for driving cross country,packing your suitcase or for a romantic night.....

Drum Machines and Synth Bass Bite the Big One

OK, First off let me say that I am a huge Idol fan. The problem with this album isn't the songwriting (Top!) or any of the performances (some of Billy's finest, most frighteningly powerful vocals ever committed to tape, and inventive guitar pyrotechnics from Stevens), it's those blasted 80's gimmicks known as the "Linn Drum"( the state of the art drum machine of the time), and synth bass. Yeah, they sounded cute on Madonna and Dead or Alive records,....I guess. What was Idol thinkin'?! So, what's missing from this album that its stellar predecessor (REBEL YELL) had folks?? A killer HUMAN rhythm section. A living, breathing DRUMMER and BASSIST. This album needed the benefit of an interactive band to truly shine. You'd be amazed at the difference in the feel , power and warmth the whole deal would've oozed had this been so. This should've been Idol's masterpiece. All in all a good record- nonetheless. Still, to hell with phony rhythm sections! I give it a 5 for talent and a 3 for production. Result = 4 stars.

Idol Reaches Back to the Past to go in New Directions

When I listened to Billy Idol's first two albums, the immediate word that came to my mind was intensity. I know when I put a Billy Idol album on, I would be prepared for a hard-rocking intense experience. Billy Idol's first two albums, the self-titled "Billy Idol" and "Rebel Yell" yielded its share of both commercial and cult-fan hits. These hits included: "White Wedding", "Dancing With Myself", "Hot in the City", "Rebel Yell", "Eyes Without a Face", and "Flesh for Fantasy". By 1986, Idol was ready to release what was his third solo album - "Whiplash Smile". This album didn't quite continue the string of commercial hits, but it does do it share to contribute on the cult-fan end. Billy Idol continues to maintain the level of intensity I would come to expect - and at the same time going in some new directions.



While Billy Idol is a true talent, his collaboration with guitarist Steve Stevens has really gone a long way to enhance this talent. In a lot of ways, one can almost consider "Whiplash Smile" a duet album between Idol and Stevens. Stevens collaborates with Idol on 4 songs and contributes Guitar, Bass, and Keyboard work throughout the album. Combine Stevens' Bass and Guitar with Idol's Bass and Guitar, you can a very loud and intense sound that permeates much of this collection. It is also worth noting that Harold Faltermeyer (most famous for his "Axel F" song from the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack) also contributes Keyboards. While intense Guitar work has always been a staple of Billy Idol, Keyboards are going to play a key role on this collection. This collection is also helped by superstar producer Keith Forsey.



Idol has become somewhat famous for doing covers of songs. On "Whiplash Smile", Idol covers William Bell's "I Forgot to be a Lover" which Idol retitles "To Be a Lover". If you haven't heard it, William Bell's version is a very soulful rendition. Bell provides some outstanding crooning for his mellow version of the song. As you can expect, Idol brings his level of intensity to the song. Idol's version is highlighted by some outstanding Keyboard and Bass work. Idol also employs female background vocalists to give his a music a new spin. However Idol himself does something very interesting on the song. He employs some "crooning" of his own. In fact, there are parts of the song where he croons in a very similar style to Elvis Presley. Overall, I think "To Be a Lover" is often an underrated song.



Billy Idol also employs some Elvis-like crooning in his closing song "One Night, One Chance". Overall, I don't think this is one of Idol's better songs - but I do think its interesting how he uses some Elvis-like crooning. This song will also be highlighted by some mean guitar rifts.



The name Elvis actually surfaces in one of Idol's songs on the collection - "Don't Need a Gun". This song has all of the elements of a classic Billy Idol. It has the trademark intensity one would expect. This song features some incredible Guitar and Keyboard work. Idol pays some homage to the 1950s with the lyrics "wu bop a lu bop" and "Elvis a fight the dying light". Make no mistake about it, that is about the only thing in common this song will have with the 1950s. This song, simply put - "Rocks". This song slowly grows on you - after I heard this song a few times, it has become one of my favorite songs of the collection. The title of this album comes from a line in this song, "You can drive me, through that red stop light, with a Whiplash Smile".



Idol also plays homage to the past in the song "All Summer Single". This song has touches of a late 1960s psychodelic sound. It also makes use of a famous song title when Idol sings "I got the Summertime Blues".



A song that also has a high level of the trademark Billy Idol intensity is the opening track, "World's Forgotten Boy". Like "Don't Need a Gun", this song will rock with intensity - that comes from a powerful combination of Guitar and Keyboard work. While "Don't Need a Gun" took a bit to grow on me, "World's Forgotten Boy" immediately got my attention. The part of this song that really catches me in the high energy chorus that goes "Sound towers will crumble down, Well everything be broken down, See his heart is breaking, Recorded in Sound, We need a miracle Joy, We need a rock 'n' roll boy..."



While not quite up there with "To Be a Lover", "Don't Need a Gun", or "World's Forgotten Boy", you will also hear some trademark intensity from "Man For All Seasons". This still is a good song. This is another case where the chorus will be pretty catchy. When Idol sings "I'm a man for the season", listen to the instrumentation - this will really grab you. "Man For All Seasons" also shows that Idol hasn't totally abandoned his Punk Rock roots.



There are other songs that continue to have high energy Rock. You will hear the high energy in the songs "Soul Standing By" and "Fatal Charm". Another song that is interesting is "Sweet Sixteen". This song starts out with a "Western" like sound. Idol does some more Elvis like crooning to start this song.

My version of this collection has some pretty thin liner notes. There are no lyrics included in my version. Mine does contain the production and musician credits. On the back of the liner notes, there is a short saying: "This ain't no 'White Wedding'; This ain't no 'Rebel Yell'; This ain't no 'Midnight Hell', This is a 'Whiplash Smile!". While not all of the songs are going to be songs you play over and over again, this collection still is very good because of some of the new directions Idol takes.