Wild Animal is the 1984 debut studio album by Canadian singer Vanity. Released by Motown Records in November 1984, the album yielded two hit singles on the US R&B Songs chart, with "Pretty Mess" and "Mechanical Emotion". The album's third single, "Samuelle" scored minor radio play but failed to chart on either Hot 100 or R&B singles.

Wild Animal
Studio album by Vanity
Released	November 10, 1984 (1984-11-10)
Recorded	January–February, 1984
Studio	Allen Zentz Recording (Hollywood, California)
Genre	R&B Pop Rock Electronic
Length	32:49
Label	Motown
Producer	Bill Wolfer[1] Vanity
Vanity chronology
Wild Animal (1984) Skin on Skin (1986)
Singles from Wild Animal
"Pretty Mess" Released: September 7, 1984 "Mechanical Emotion" Released: November 26, 1984 "Samuelle" Released: February 12, 1985

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Village Voice	C [3]

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.[3] 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] The 4th track "Strap On Robbie Baby" was notable for being on Filthy Fifteen List from the PRMC, for songs Tipper Gore found offensive , and used in the USA to start the Parental Advisory warning labels on music.

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).[4]

Personnel

• Vanity – lead vocals, backing vocals, vocal arrangements
• Bill Wolfer – keyboards, drum programming, synthesizers
• David Williams – rhythm guitar on "Wild Animal"
• Ed Sanders – recording, mixing, additional vocals on "Flippin' Out"
• Robbie Bruce – male vocals on "Strap On 'Robbie Baby'"
• Julian Jackson – male vocals on "Crazy Maybe"
• Morris Day – male vocals on "Mechanical Emotion"

Technical

• Allen Zentz – mastering
• Daniel Poulin – photography
• The Buck – executive producer
• Bill Wolfer – producer, arranger

Charts

Weekly charts

• "Wild Animal" spent 25 weeks on the R&B Albums chart.[7]

Singles

References