Английская Википедия:Eyes Without a Face (song)

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"Eyes Without a Face" is a song by English rock musician Billy Idol, from his second album Rebel Yell (1983). It was released in June 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 recording features the voice of Perri Lister—she appeared in the banned video for "Hot in the City"—who sings "Les yeux sans visage" (French for "Eyes without a face") as a background chorus. The title of the song refers to the English title of French director Georges Franju's 1960 film Les yeux sans visage.

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 Шаблон:Sic 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 the titles of horror films, including the 1960 French movie Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face). 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,

In the studio, Idol told guitarist Steve Stevens about the tune he had, and 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."

Critical reception

Cash Box 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 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 – lead and acoustic guitar
• Sal Cuevas – bass guitar
• Judi Dozier – keyboards
• Thommy Price – drums
• Perri Lister – backing vocals

Formats and track listings

• UK 7" vinyl single

1. "Eyes Without a Face"
2. "The Dead Next Door"

• UK 12" vinyl single

1. "Eyes Without a Face"
2. "The Dead Next Door"
3. "Dancing With Myself"
4. "Rebel Yell"

Charts

Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Eyes Without a Face"

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	12
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)	38
Italy (Musica e Dischi)	18
US Cash Box	4

Year-end charts

1984 year-end chart performance for "Eyes Without a Face"

Chart (1984)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	86
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	45
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	49
US Billboard Hot 100	37
US Cash Box	25
West Germany (Official German Charts)	60

External links

• Шаблон:AllMusic