• Source: Eyes Without a Face (song)

"Eyes Without a Face" is a song by the English rock musician Billy Idol, from his second studio album Rebel Yell (1983). It was released in April 1984 as the second single from the album. The song is softer and more ballad-like than most of the album's other singles. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Idol's first top-10 hit in the US. The song's title was borrowed from the 1960 horror film known in English as Eyes Without a Face.
In a retrospective review of the single, AllMusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco praised the song and wrote: "The music plays against the dark tone of the lyrics with a ballad-styled melody comprised of yearning verses that slowly build emotion and a quietly wrenching chorus that relieves the emotional tension in a cathartic manner."




Background


In his memoir, Dancing with Myself, Idol explained he had always been fascinated with old black and white horror films, including the 1960 French film Les Yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face), directed by Georges Franju. The movie concerns a plastic surgeon who vowed to restore the face of his daughter who had been disfigured in a car accident, and this quest led him to murder victims and graft their facial features onto his daughter in an attempt to restore her beauty. By the end, all that remained of her original face was her eyes, thus making her "eyes without a face". Idol saw some parallel between the movie and the moral decay he experienced living in New York in the 1980s. He said,

I started to use "Eyes Without a Face" as a possible title/lyric/chorus for the song. I began to write words that, in some disguised form, spoke about my life in New York and a relationship gone wrong, on the edge of disintegrating into madness. Perhaps I was reflecting on my own touring infidelities. In a way, those [types of relationships] can leave you feeling soulless, especially if you're already in a relationship that you value but are degrading by looking elsewhere for additional sexual kicks.
In the studio, Idol told guitarist Steve Stevens about the melody, lyrics and basic structure. Stevens fleshed it out with a revolving four-chord pattern (Emaj7–C#m–G#m–B). Stevens then came up with a hard rock guitar riff in the middle of the song. Idol said he improvised some rap verses over the riff because "rap was everywhere in New York at the time, in all the discos and clubs, so it made sense after my croon to start talking streetwise over Steve's supersonic barrage of sound."
Idol's then-girlfriend Perri Lister sings backing vocals during the chorus, repeating the French phrase "Les yeux sans visage" ("Eyes without a face"), the original title of the horror film.
Idol wanted a prominent bass guitar part reminiscent of reggae. He and Stevens had trouble with this part of the song until they met bassist Sal Cuevas, a New York musician best known for working in salsa music and Broadway bands, who performed the part to their satisfaction.




Critical reception


Cashbox said that the song is "more subdued" and "more sensitive" than Idol's previous single "Rebel Yell" and features "a silky acoustic guitar backdrop and a probing melodic bass line" by Puerto Rican New Yorker session bassist Sal Cuevas.




Music video


The video was released in June 1984 and subsequently nominated for MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Editing" and "Best Cinematography". It was shot over an exhausting three-day period on a set with fog machines, lighting, and fire sources. Immediately after the shoot, Idol flew to perform in Arizona, where he discovered that his contact lenses had fused to his eyeballs, attributing it to the harsh video shoot and dry plane air. He was taken to a hospital where the lenses were removed and his eyes bandaged for three days, until his scraped corneas grew back.




Personnel


Billy Idol – vocals
Steve Stevens – electric and acoustic guitar
Sal Cuevas – bass
Judi Dozier – synthesizers
Keith Forsey – drum machine
Perri Lister – backing vocals




Formats and track listings


UK 7" vinyl single
"Eyes Without a Face"
"The Dead Next Door"
UK 12" vinyl single
"Eyes Without a Face"
"The Dead Next Door"
"Dancing with Myself"
"Rebel Yell"




Charts






Certifications






References






External links


"Eyes Without a Face" at AllMusic
"Eyes Without a Face" at Discogs (list of releases)

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