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 Vanity
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
Vanity 6 (1982) ''Wild Animal'' (1984) Skin on Skin (1986)
Singles from Wild Animal
"Pretty Mess" Released: September 7, 1984 "Mechanical Emotion" Released: November 26, 1984

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, cum-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]

Side 1

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

Side 2

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]
1984-1985	"Mechanical Emotion"	107[9]	23	—

References

1. Christgau, Robert (November 27, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
2. Henderson, Alex. "Wild Animal". AllMusic. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
3. 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.
4. Vanity Billboard Chart history. Retrieved January 5, 2015
5. "Wild Animal". Allmusic. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
6. "Vanity Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
7. Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (10th ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 739. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
8. ((( Vanity > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles ))). allmusic (1959-01-04). Retrieved on 2010-08-18.
9. 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.