I heard Rebel Yell again on VH1 a couple of weeks back and that prompted me to re-invest in the remastered version of this classic 80s album in the hope that the power and action of the original recording had been enhanced further. In nearly every case where i've bought a remastered version of an existing CD I have heard at least some sonic improvement. Not in this case. This must be the absolute worst example of remastering that i've ever heard. The original actually sounds better. Capitol Records should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this bass heavy, treble-free recording to ever make it to the pressing plant. The original was never that good and suffered from a poor mix but this new one has only enhanced the muffled and muddy sound even further. To say it's 24 bit is amazing as i've compared it to other modern remasterings and it doesn't even come close to the clarity and high resolution we expect from CDs these days.

It's a shame because it's a brilliant album, even now . If the music here doesn't get your adrenaline flowing then nothing will. What an album for turning the worst mood into a good one. The ultimate cheer-up CD. Sadly, now unlistenable thanks to so-called modern technology. Five stars for the music and minus 100 stars for the quality.

With Rebel Yell, Billy Idol released what's arguably the best of his so far five solo albums. Keith Forsey was still at the producer's helm, and Steve Stevens was doing his fiery guitar theatrics, but here, the songwriting, ferocity and singleworthiness of songs, and tight arrangements were among their best. The album itself reached #6 on the album charts.

The anthemic title track is another example of an Idol classic failing chart-wise, like "White Wedding." It stalled at #46 on the charts, though it did respectfully well on the album rock charts, peaking at #9. But this turned out to be another frantic mixture of new wave synths, punk rhythms, hard rock, and techno beats. "In the midnight, she cried more, more, more!" roars Idol in the chorus, creating another memorable lyric. This song was also reinforced by the energetic concert performance clip on MTV, where viewers got to see Stevens perform some squealing and laser-beam sounding space age theatrics with his guitar. The session take has some "tonight" instead of "last night" in "last night a little dancer came knocking at my door," as well as some rough instrumentation and different lyrics.

Until reaching #1 with "Mony Mony," "Eyes Without A Face" became Idol's highest charting song, reaching #4 on the pop charts and #5 on the album rock charts. The slow airy synths and pulsing bass, claps in this ballad, backup vocals by Idol's girlfriend, Perri Lister, who also did the makeup on Idol's first album, and Stevens grinding guitar during the sudden ferocious rock section midsong provided yet another hit for Idol. The album closer "The Dead Next Door," has a quieter ambient synth sound that kind of belongs with "Eyes"

"Blue Highway," also present here in a demo version, is a rocker perfect for some high speed driving down a highway. "(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows" is another uptempo rocker along the same lines. And the pulsing night-time feel of "Daytime Drama," with some keyboard theatrics before the first chorus, isn't a bad non-single bridging "Rebel Yell" with "Eyes."

There's a slight ominous and nocturnal club aura with the pulsing bass backbeat in "Flesh For Fantasy," the third single, which reached #29 on the pop charts and #8 on the album rock charts. The carnal hunger is felt during the chorus-"you see and feel my sex attack"-when things rise in pitch, evidenced by Idol's lusty vocals and Stevens' guitars. The session take has a slightly slower tempo in the verses, but with a quicker-paced and different sounding chorus.

The next single was the #50 pop/#24 album rock-charting "Catch My Fall," a pulsing dance tune with a sax nonetheless. Yet there are some signs of the fiercely individualism wanting some sort of support after a lifetime of experience: "I've traveled and unwound my own truth yeah/I've laid my head on the rock of youth yeah/I've trusted and then broken my own word/Just to keep me free in this mad, mad word." The demo version is more stripped down and restrained, but not bad.

A cover of Chris Spedding's "Motorbikin'" is the only new track on this expanded edition bar the demo versions and session takes. Used as a warmup track during the album sessions, this is a real showcase for Stevens' guitar and something Gen X might have done.

After releasing this classic, Billy Idol would turn that sneer of his into a whiplash smile.

First of all - I need to make something clear. I own dozens of DCC & AF remastered CDs (the same company, basically) and I think most of them are superb, far better than their original counterparts. Examples? Elton John Greatest Hits, Hotel California, The Cars, The Original Soundtrack; I love them all.

Lately, though, the company has been producing pretty bad products. From the terrible sounding "The Pretenders", to the gaps that never existed on "Heartbeat City" (and the defective HDCD encoding, too!), to the defective Doors CDs - Audio Fidelity is not what it used to be at all. Plus, the fact that they don't even use master tapes anymore (they had to remove the slogan "From the original master tapes" after it was demonstrated they weren't using them, anyway) while the big labels use them all the time, and competition from the original producer of 24K CDs, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, has made AF irrelevant nowadays.

Nevertheless, I gave Rebel Yell a try, since I only own the older "24 bit" remaster, which sounds pretty dull and no-noised. Surprise, surprise. The AF Rebel Yell sounds as dull as the remaster, and it definitely has exaggerated, muddy bass. Which is interesting, since the head engineer for DCC always accuses other labels in his forum of using a "Smiley face" EQ - I guess he uses a Sylvester Stallone sneer on his products nowadays.

No detail whatsoever - to use "audiophile" terms, there's no "air", no "sparkle" on the recording. It's dull and lifeless, and the bass makes you think you are listening to a boombox (and yes, my equipment is "resolving" enough, although I'm not listing it here! Trust me on this one). The only thing that sounds just about right is the midrange, but who cares when there are no highs to speak of, and the bass takes your attention away from anything else, anyway? Any compilation CD with Idol's songs sounds better than this CD.

I know that an "audiophile rock recording" is an oxymoron, but there was a time when you could expect any DCC / AF CD to sound better than its original counterpart. Not anymore. I guess someone's hearing has gone to the toilet, because things aren't what they used to be. Definitely not recommended.

"Rebel Yell" is one of the best albums released in the 80's. I am very happy to got the remastered version - not for the remodelled sound but for the very cool and funny demo-tracks. It shows that Idol himself doesn't take too seriously. However, the "remastered" tracks seem produced a little careless compared to the original recording. At least in the copy I got there are two rumbles in "Eyes Without A Face" - it sounds like somebody touched the vinyl-player during transmitting to cd. That's why I only give 4 stars for this special release. The music itself is worth more than five.

I have two audio cassettes of the original version of this I purchased in thrift stores. I wanted to see what the deal about Billy Idol was. I learned to like him.

I'd have to dig out a tape to be sure- but I don't remember the reverb/echo being so strong. I could run the original thru my old stereo guitar effect unit and give it this sound. Or my TV surround stereo could do the same.

Re-equalizing (tone) and gratuatis reverb DOES NOT a good remix make.....

All could have been well, but cheaply applied effects (REVERB)...

Do NOT a good remix make.

Get the original.