Customer Reviews

Charmed Life

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Charmed Life" was recorded during a bad motorcycle accident that Billy had, hence as I recall, the title.

By 1990, Billy Idol had matured into a rock artist and this album is miles away from the youth appeal of "Rebel Yell." It shows the former Gen-X punk wanting to grow his music and it works.

From a kickass version of "The Right Way" and "Prodigal Blues" (the originals) to "LA Woman" to "Endless Sleep" (the covers) - this album is well produced, well-written and will grow on you. There really isn't a bad track on this.

Steve Stevens had left the fold to pursue a solo career at this stage and Mark Younger Smith shows his guitar chops. The change of style is refreshing.

As a songwriter, Billy peaked with this one. I didn't much get into "Heroin" - his next album. This and "Rebel Yell" remain indispensable parts of Billy's collection so get it if you can.

Great CD from Billy Idol. If you are a Billy Idol fan, then this is definitely a title that you will want to add to your collection. This CD has all the heart and snarls of the previous CDs. Great job Billy! Keep on rockin'!

I love this CD! I bought it for "LA Woman" and "Cradle of Love", and I absolutely love all the songs. "Pumping on Steel" is a total rocker and I think that it should have been a hit. "The Loveless" is also rockin'. A message to all Billy Idol fans that don't have this recording - buy it today!

After Billy Idol's near brush with death in a motorcycle accident (just months before it's release) the aptly titled: "Charmed Life" has but a few gems to offer.

The rockin single "Cradle Of Love" is a shoe-in for both Idol and non-Idol fans alike. Personally I liked "Pumping On Steel" and "The Loveless" as well. "L.A. Woman" is just OK (something of a strange choice for a cover song written by The Doors) "Prodigal Blues" is something of a psyudo-confessional for his sins.

However Billy has always had this problem with being a little too oversexed. In the 80's I bought all his albums and he always had about 2-3 real gems on each one, but man this guy needs some new material to sing about!!

Billy has always been a little too obsessed with: "The Girl Next Door" (I'm sure he is quite the ladies man). But that theme gets old fast, and Mr. William Broad could use some maturity. We (who were his 80's fans) are mostly married with kids, and aren't part of that booze and babes party train anymore.

Anyway "Charmed Life" follows suit with other Idol albums you can certainly find 2-3 "charmed" songs on this album. Just don't go looking for anything too deep in meaning behind these songs. After all we are talking about Billy Idol here...

Upon hearing he was touring again, I felt the sudden need to listen to one of his albums, but all I could conjure up was the beaten on copy of "Charmed Life". It's a very good mix of ballad and fiercely pumping arm tunes.
While listening to this disc, I was flashng back to "rebel Yell", and "whiplash smile", and the Billy Idol I saw live in concert about five times. Even into the 90's, Billy was still pumping out some great tunes. His cover of "LA Woman", paid homage to Jim Morrison, and he added his own flavor to it. "Cradle of Love" is the first single, and I remember quite vividly that around the time of this album's original release, Billy Idol had a major accident on his motorcycle and with his broken leg, he made the video for "Cradle of Love".
I still love his music now, after all these years. "Charmed Life" is a slightly more mature Billy Idol, who is still pumping that fist furiously.

This is on of Billy's best albums, in my opinion. There are only 4 tracks on here I don't really like as much as the others, but they are still good. Tracks #1-6 and 11 are the best. I love the soothing sexy vocals of Pumping on Steel and Trouble with the Sweet Stuff. Prodigal Blues is one of his best songs. I don't know why it's not one of his greatest hits. Buy this- you won't be disappointed.

Other than "Cradle Of Love", this album doesn't seem to get much mention from anyone, but I love it. In fact, front to back it's my favorite of his. "Loveless" and "Pumping On Steel" are both good rockers, and I really like "Trouble With The Sweet Stuff". He does a good job on The Doors cover too. "Prodigal Blues" and "Endless Sleep" are nice mellow touches also. It's a great mix of the older and newer Billy Idol. And best of all, this is DIRT CHEAP! One of few albums I own on cassette, CD and vinyl.

rock the cradle of love and l.a. woman - that's about it for this cd.

This album by Billy Idol was released in 1990. The great "Cradle of Love" was one of his biggest hits, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100. A pretty good cover version of the Doors "L.A. Woman" was also released as a single, peaking at #52. Other than those two songs, the album is pretty forgettable. Not bad, just not especially memorable.

this cd is very good. i personally think whiplash smile is his best album all around, but charmed life comes very close. about 8 of the 11 tracks are excellent to listen to. the thing that gets me is that steve stevens wasnt with him on this album. other than that, i love it.