''Vital Idol'' is a

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007 ...

by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

singer

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

, released in June 1985 by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

. It contains remixed songs from his first two albums and the '' Don't Stop'' EP. The album was reissued in the United States with one extra track in September 1987, peaking at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The US release was supported by a non-album live single version of "

Mony Mony "Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by American pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 in the U.S. Written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry and Tommy James, the song has appeared in ...

". The original release, sporting a photo from the "

Dancing with Myself "Dancing with Myself" is a song by the punk rock band Gen X, first commercially released in the United Kingdom in October 1980, where it reached number 62 on the singles chart. It was remixed and re-released by the band's singer/frontman Bi ...

" video, was first issued in Europe in 1985. It peaked at number seven on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, outperforming Idol's previous studio albums. The US release was expanded to feature the "Mother of Mercy Mix" of "

To Be a Lover "To Be a Lover" is a song written by William Bell and Booker T. Jones originally as "I Forgot to Be Your Lover", but best known as a cover by Billy Idol on his 1986 album ''Whiplash Smile''. As the album's lead single, it became Idol's second to ...

" and reissued in 1987 with different cover art, featuring a photo still from the live video for "Mony Mony" on CD. The 1987 issue was 24-bit digitally

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

and released globally in 2002. The album has been certified platinum by both the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) and

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Background

Most of the tracks are the original 12″ extended versions, except "

Catch My Fall "Catch My Fall" is a song by Billy Idol from his 1983 studio album ''Rebel Yell''. It became the album's fourth and final single (released in 1984). It was written by Idol and produced by Keith Forsey. Critical reception ''Billboard'' said that ...

", which features a new remix with some re-recorded instruments. "What we would always do is we knew we had certain songs where we wanted to have some space to do remixes," guitarist

Steve Stevens Steve Stevens (born Steven Bruce Schneider; May 5, 1959) is an American guitarist. He is best known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the theme to ''Top Gun'' – "Top Gun Anthem" – for w ...

said in 2014. "So we'd leave 16 bars or 32 bars in the middle of the song no matter what the song was and then do an edit on it later and that left us room to experiment for a dance remix." The album's title was inspired by a 1974 single by

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

artist

Horace Andy Horace Andy (born Horace Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass" and "Five Man Army" with English tri ...

titled "Ital Vital".

Critical reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Steve Huey wrote: "It doesn't really work as a hits collection, since it's missing key songs like '

Rebel Yell The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers used the yell when charging to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had many other uses. No audio ...

' and ' Eyes Without a Face,' and most of the dance remixes are repetitious and uninteresting compared to the originals." In ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'', Mark Coleman called the album "both a cynical recycling ploy and the essential Billy Idol album".

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. *

Keith Forsey Keith Forsey (born 2 January 1948) is an English pop musician and record producer. Early life Forsey began his career as a percussionist in the mid-late 1960s as the drummer for The SpectrumCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons - The Vault - Chris ...

– producer, remixing *

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...

– remixing ("Flesh for Fantasy", "To Be a Lover") *

– remixing ("Catch My Fall") *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– remixing ("Mony Mony" (Hung Like a Pony Mix), "Mony Mony" (Live), "Shakin' All Over")

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

''Vital Idol: Revitalized''

''Vital Idol: Revitalized'' is a remix album by English rock singer

, released on 28 September 2018. The album has been described as a "modern-day upgrade" of ''Vital Idol''. The digital version features four additional remixes, including a new Billy Idol and Steve Stevens remix of "Mony Mony" and "Save Me Now" (Lost Dog Remix), reworked by Idol's son, Willem Wolfe with Brandon Rauch and Ed Bedrosian.

Track listing

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1985 remix albums Albums produced by Keith Forsey Billy Idol albums Chrysalis Records remix albums