Whiplash Smile

Billy Idol | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B001DC25T8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #454,761 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Idol, August 10, 2006

By 

Andres Cordoba (Madrid, España) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whiplash Smile (Audio CD)

This is by far the best album from Billy Idol. Much more mature in musical terms than before. With a brilliant Steve Stevens, this disc puts Billy into my preferred musicians. Listen for example the "Man for all seasons" guitar solo, it's a jazz solo in a rock song, I never heard something similar so well done. Powerful and poetical, his chemical formula is present in their maximum expression.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rock And Roll is Here To Stay, October 23, 2002

By 

Greekfreak (Pusan Korea (South)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whiplash Smile (Audio CD)

It took repeated listens, but I eventually decided that 'Whiplash Smile' was indeed (and remains) the best album Billy ever put out.

It takes place approximately 3 years after the big boom of 'Rebel Yell', which was a monster album. Billy had a lot to live up to, and although he'd subsequently trash this album in interviews due to 'being on heroin during the making of it', his and Steve Stevens conviction is the big selling point.

It rocks, it rolls, it slinks, it roars, it growls, it whispers... everything that a BI album is supposed to deliver and more. "Sweet Sixteen", "To Be a Lover", and "Don't Need A Gun" might have been the singles, but this is Billy's most cohesive album yet. "World's Forgotten Boy" and "Man For All Seasons" boast Steve's best riffs on vinyl, and Billy sings like his life depends on it. "All Summer Single" is the hit that never was, with haunting almost-out-of-earshot fadeout riffs, and "Fatal Charm" anchors the faithful, who decided not to buy as many copies of this album as they should have.

Incidentally, '86 is also the year Steve would go on to win the Academy Award for Harold Faltermeyer's "Top Gun" theme, and a year later, Michael Jackson recruited him for solos on his 'Bad' album. Listen to this stuff, and then discover why.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drum Machines and Synth Bass Bite the Big One, August 12, 2004

By 

silverapples "silverapples" (Santa Cruz, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whiplash Smile (Audio CD)

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.