Punk With Flare: Billy Idol's Rebel Yell

SCORE: 95/100

With his second effort and his rocker image in full swing, Billy Idol managed to come out swinging even harder than ever before with 'Rebel Yell', a gorgeously consistent album with some of his best material to date packaged in one delightful 38 minute set of tracks. Idol had his image down completely by this point in his career - and it shows. 


The album's title track is completely infectious, one of the absolute staple pieces in the new wave/rock scene of the early-mid 80s encapsulated with just one song, one act of rebellion that makes Idol stick out so much from the crowd of poppier 80s artists. The album flawlessly mixes synth-filled croons and ballads with heavier, more ambitious and energy-fueled tracks, and the result is an album so packed full of variety and gorgeous concepts it's near impossible to ignore. 


'Rebel Yell' does suffer from hit syndrome - with the title track and 'Eyes Without a Face' standing out much more from the rest of the album. This makes it seem as if the other tracks falter in quality; but the quality of the album stays so incredibly consistent and fresh that the whole album is more than worthwhile. It's a definite timepiece of the 80s, but it has all of the sound qualities that make the decade so renowned  and iconic for its sound decades later.  


Idol managed to make his image even more recognizable with this album, and it feels like a softer side to punk with more synth-heavy production and the gleaming elements of 80s new wave, making the sound of this album instantly recognizable and highly enjoyable throughout. Despite the clear standouts taking up most of the weight on the album, the entirety of the project is worthwhile and each song does something so different from the last it's hard to ignore.



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