Charmed Life (Billy Idol album)

Charmed Life
Studio album by Billy Idol
Released	30 April 1990 [1]
Recorded	1989–1990
Studio	Lighthouse (Los Angeles, California) Track Record (North Hollywood, California) Oasis (Canoga Park, California) Conway (Hollywood, California)
Genre	Hard rock
Length	54:20
Label	Chrysalis
Producer	Keith Forsey
Billy Idol chronology
Idol Songs: 11 of the Best (1988) Charmed Life (1990) Cyberpunk (1993)
Singles from Charmed Life
"Cradle of Love" Released: 16 April 1990 [2] "L.A. Woman" Released: 23 July 1990 "Prodigal Blues" Released: 10 December 1990 [3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Billboard	positive [5]
Cash Box	positive [6]
NME	8/10 [7]
Record Mirror	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Smash Hits	[10]

Charmed Life is the fourth studio album by English rock musician Billy Idol, released on 30 April 1990 by Chrysalis Records. Like its predecessor, Whiplash Smile (1986), the album shows a more emotional side of Idol, but with a more organic and less technologically-dependent sound. It's primarily a hard rock album, but experiments with other genres, such as jazz on “Endless Sleep” and electro-blues on “Trouble With The Sweet Stuff.” ^[11]

Background

"The album is about how great life is and how bad it is just to throw it away, which I almost did."

 —Billy Idol discussing the album's theme. ^[12]

Unlike Idol's previous three albums, Charmed Life did not feature guitarist Steve Stevens, and most of the guitar work was handled by Mark Younger-Smith instead. Idol told Sounds in 1990, "Meeting Mark Younger-Smith gave me a lynchpin, someone I could work with by forming a sound and an idea for this album." Idol finished sessions for the album on 5 February 1990. During the following morning, after picking up the final mixes from Conway Studios, he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. ^[12]

"Love Unchained" was inspired by a friend of Idol's who died in a motorcycle accident. ^[12]

Release

The lead single, "Cradle of Love", appeared on the soundtrack of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane . The song was famous for its video, which won the 1990 MTV Video Music Award for "Best video from a film". The video directed by David Fincher, involved Betsy Lynn George as a teenager who knocks at her neighbour's door and asks to play a tape, before stripping to the music. The album's second single is a cover version of "L.A. Woman" by The Doors. Its video was also directed by Fincher. The third single off the album was "Prodigal Blues".

Charmed Life was certified Platinum by the RIAA and Silver by BPI in 1990.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Loveless"	Billy Idol, Mark Younger-Smith	4:17
2.	"Pumping on Steel"	Idol, Younger-Smith	4:41
3.	"Prodigal Blues"	Idol	5:41
4.	"L.A. Woman"	John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison	5:29
5.	"Trouble With the Sweet Stuff"	Idol, Keith Forsey, Younger-Smith, Dave Concors	5:58
6.	"Cradle of Love"	David Werner, Idol	4:40
7.	"Mark of Caine"	Idol	4:31
8.	"Endless Sleep"	Dolores Nance, Jody Reynolds	3:12
9.	"Love Unchained"	Idol	4:39
10.	"The Right Way"	Idol	5:03
11.	"License to Thrill"	Idol, Forsey	6:01

Personnel

• Billy Idol – vocals, acoustic guitar (3, 7), arrangements, horn arrangements (11)
• Greg Mathieson – keyboards (1)
• John Philip Shenale – programming (2), additional bass (2)
• Arthur Barrow – keyboards (3, 4, 6–9), programming (6, 11), additional bass (6), bass (8, 11)
• Mark Younger-Smith – guitars, bass (2)
• Jimmy Johnson – bass (1)
• Phil Soussan – bass (3, 10), additional bass (11)
• Vito – bass (4, 5, 6, 9)
• Randy Jackson – bass (7)
• Keith Forsey – drums (1, 2, 3, 5–9), percussion (11), arrangements
• Mike Baird – drums (3, 4, 10, 11), programming (11), drum programming (11)
• Alex Brown – backing vocals (3, 5)
• Bunny Hull – backing vocals (3, 5)
• Stephanie Spruill – backing vocals (3, 5)
• The P.L.S. Singers – backing vocals (11)

Handclaps on "The Right Way"

• The "Rude Dudes" (John Diaz, Keith Forsey, Billy Idol, Art Natoli and Mark Younger-Smith)

Production

• Keith Forsey – producer
• Jeff Aldrich – A&R
• Brigid Waters – A&R
• Tommy Vicari – mixing, engineer (1, 6, 8, 9)
• Dave Concors – engineer (2–5, 7, 10, 11)
• Kevin Becka – assistant engineer (1)
• Bryan Carlstrom – assistant engineer (2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11)
• Ken Paulakovich – second engineer (5)
• Ian Minns – assistant engineer (6)
• Craig Porteils – mix assistant (1, 6), assistant engineer (6)
• Paul Wertheimer – mix assistant (2, 10)
• Bryant Arnett – mix assistant (3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11), assistant engineer (4, 6, 8, 9)
• Bernie Grundman – mastering (1–5, 7–11)
• George Marino – mastering (6)
• AWest – art direction, cover design, cover illustration
• Brass Ring Circus Studio – art direction
• Billy Idol – cover design
• Max Aguilera-Hellweg – photography
• Art Natoli – personal assistant
• Eric Barrett – management
• Tony Dimitriades – management

Studios

• Recorded at Lighthouse Studios (Los Angeles, California); Track Record Studios and Oasis Recording Studios (North Hollywood, California ); Conway Studios (Hollywood, California).
• Mixed at Record Plant (Los Angeles, California) and Conway Studios
• Tracks 1–5 & 7–11 mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California).
• Track 6 mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York).

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Charmed Life Chart (1990) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] 11 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] 11 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [15] 5 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16] 46 European Albums ( Music & Media ) [17] 8 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [18] 1 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [19] 5 Icelandic Albums (Tónlist) [20] 6 Italian Albums ( Musica e dischi ) [21] 17 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [22] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [23] 5 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [24] 6 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [25] 4 UK Albums (OCC) [26] 15 US Billboard 200 [27] 11 US AOR Albums ( Radio & Records ) [28] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Charmed Life Chart (1990) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) [29] 33 European Albums (Music & Media) [30] 61 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [31] 47 US Billboard 200 [32] 49

Certifications

Certifications for Charmed Life

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [33]	Gold	35,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [34]	Platinum	100,000^
Germany (BVMI) [35]	Gold	250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [36]	Silver	60,000^
United States (RIAA) [37]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of most expensive albums

References

1. "Rolling Stones, Stripped, Album". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
2. "New Singles". Music Week . 14 April 1990. p. 39.
3. "New Singles". Music Week. 8 December 1990. p. 16.
4. Loftus, Johnny. "Charmed Life - Billy Idol". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
5. "Album Reviews". Billboard. 5 May 1990. p. 74.
6. Harvey, Scott (19 May 1990). "Pop reviews". Cash Box Magazine. p. 20.
7. McCann, Ian (28 April 1990). "Long Play: Sneer Ecstasy". NME . p. 36.
8. Tilston, Lisa (5 May 1990). "Albums". Record Mirror . p. 16. ISSN   0144-5804.
9. "Album Reviews and Ratings". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
10. Cranna, Ian (16 May 1990). "Review: LPs". Smash Hits.
11. Peacock, Tim (4 September 2024). "'Charmed Life': Billy Idol's Death-Defying Fourth Album". uDiscoverMusic . Retrieved 15 March 2025.
12. Trakin, Roy (12 May 1990). "Rebel without a horse". Sounds . p. 29.
13. "Australiancharts.com – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
14. "Austriancharts.at – Billy Idol – Charmed Life" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
15. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1250". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Billy Idol – Charmed Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
17. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 7, no. 21. 26 May 1990. p. VIII. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
18. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Billy Idol – Charmed Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
20. "Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in Icelandic). 18 May 1990. p. 33. ISSN   1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
21. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2022.Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Charmed Life" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
22. "Charts.nz – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
23. "Norwegiancharts.com – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
24. "Swedishcharts.com – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
25. "Swisscharts.com – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
27. "Billy Idol Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
28. "AOR Albums" (PDF). Radio & Records . No. 844. 15 June 1990. p. 78. ISSN   0277-4860 – via World Radio History.
29. "Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM. Vol. 53, no. 6. 22 December 1990. p. 12. ISSN   0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
30. "European Top 100 Albums – 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. 22 December 1990. p. 38. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
31. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1990" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
32. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
33. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
34. "Canadian album certifications – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Music Canada . Retrieved 16 December 2019.
35. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Billy Idol; 'Charmed Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 16 December 2019.
36. "British album certifications – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 16 December 2019.
37. "American album certifications – Billy Idol – Charmed Life". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 16 December 2019.