Wild Animal
Wild Animal is the debut solo studio album by Canadian singer Vanity. It was released by Motown Records on November 10, 1984.
| Wild Animal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 10, 1984 | |||
| Recorded | January–February, 1984 | |||
| Studio | Allen Zentz Recording in Hollywood | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 32:49 | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Producer | Bill Wolfer, Vanity | |||
| Vanity chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Wild Animal | ||||
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Critical reception
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Wild Animal a "C–" and compared the record to Vanity 6: "Where formerly she talked her way through bright, crisp, rocking high-end arrangements and kept the smut simple, here she "sings" verbose, amelodic fantasies rendered even duller by a dim, bassy mix. And anyone who dreamed that she'd liberated herself from pornographic role-playing should get a load of the electric dildos, come-stained frocks, and psychedelic sex slavery she flaunts as she strikes out on her own."[1] AllMusic editor Alex Henderson was somewhat more enthusiastic in a retrospective review, giving the album three out of five stars while writing, "Wild Animal is essentially an R&B album, but Vanity laces her R&B with big doses of rock and pop. Despite her obvious limitations as a vocalist, Wild Animal is a respectable solo debut. But the public refused to take Vanity seriously as a solo artist, and this album's unimpressive sales reflected that."[2]
Track listing
All songs published by Jobete Music Co., Inc. & Wolftoons Music (ASCAP). All lyrics and melodies composed by Vanity. All music composed, performed, and arranged by Bill Wolfer, except † lyrics composed by Robert Bruce McCan (Vanity's former boyfriend at that time).[3]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flippin' Out" | 5:00 | |
| 2. | "Pretty Mess" | 3:44 | |
| 3. | "Samuelle" | 4:14 | |
| 4. | "Strap On 'Robbie Baby'" | Robbie Bruce† | 4:12 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Wild Animal" | 4:39 | |
| 6. | "Mechanical Emotion" (featuring Morris Day) | 5:05 | |
| 7. | "Crazy Maybe" | Vanity, Bill Wolfer† | 5:00 |
Personnel
- Vanity - lead vocals, background vocals, songwriting, production
- Bill Wolfer - keyboards, drum programming, synthesizers, songwriting, production
- David Williams - rhythm guitar on "Wild Animal"
- Ed Sanders - recording, mixing, additional vocals on "Flippin' Out"
- Robbie Bruce - writing, male vocals on "Strap On 'Robbie Baby'"
- Julian Jackson - male vocals on "Crazy Maybe"
- Morris Day - male vocals on Mechanical Emotion
- Allen Zentz - mastering
- Daniel Poulin - photography
Charts
Album
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200[4] | 62 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Albums[5] | 14 |
- "Wild Animal" spent 25 weeks on the R&B Albums chart.[6]
Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. Pop | U.S. R&B | U.S. Dance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | "Pretty Mess" | 75[7] | 15 | 13[8] |
| 1985 | "Mechanical Emotion" | 107[9] | 23 | — |
References
- Christgau, Robert (November 27, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
- Henderson, Alex. "Wild Animal". AllMusic. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
- Buchalter, Gail (1984-10-15). "Her Romance with Prince Hit the Rocks, but Vanity's Singing Career Is Going Grrr-Eat". People.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
- Vanity Billboard Chart history. Retrieved January 5, 2015
- "Wild Animal". Allmusic. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- "Vanity Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
- Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (10th ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 739. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
- ((( Vanity > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles ))). allmusic (1959-01-04). Retrieved on 2010-08-18.
- Whitburn, Joel (2005). Bubbling Under The Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004 (2nd ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 277. ISBN 0-89820-162-4.