Adam In Chains (song)

"Adam In Chains" is a song performed by Billy Idol. It serves as the sixth track on Billy's fifth album, Cyberpunk. It was released on September, 1993, as the third official single of the album.
==Background==
Aside from the song's music video, Idol also performed the song live on The Arsenio Hall Show in July 23, 1993, along with the Cyberpunk track "Wasteland".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdR6F8nlPowhttp://www.tv.com/shows/the-arsenio-hall-show/july-23-1993-1880837/ The track failed to chart in the UK, however it did chart in France at No. 5 and Poland at No. 35.
A music video for "Adam In Chains" was directed by Julien Temple. It depicted Billy Idol bound in a chair with a chip inserted into his neck as he is monitored by scientists. He struggles before being hypnotized, and is then inserted into a virtual reality simulator. There he is treated to an ethereal water fantasy. Idol eventually rejects the fantasy, which is consumed in flames as, in the real world, his body violently convulses. The scientists end the experiment and Idol is brought back into reality, only to fall unconscious. There was also a shorter version of the video featuring an edited intro and female backing vocals, using different shots than the full-length video.
==Music and composition==
Within the biography section of the custom floppy disk included with the press pack edition of the Cyberpunk album, the song was described by Mark Frauenfelder:"Here's a prayer for the tomorrow people and power junkies. Can we find the door to our inner self and challenge our spiritual demons? Can new technologies, such as VR and brainwave entertainment devices become new channels for self-realization?"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHM4KmDstMIn a 1993 interview, Mark Younger-Smith, who played keyboards and guitar on the Cyberpunk album, commented on the song's origins: "The more techno-y and intense songs like "Heroin," "Adam In Chains," and "Venus," started out as a sequenced track laden with keyboards. First we'd set a mood, then Billy would create a lyric."https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ4JAQAAMAAJ
==Critical reception==
Musician, in a 1993 issue, described the song as "New Age lull".https://books.google.com/books?id=d90aAQAAMAAJ Robert Christgau, in his review of Cyberpunk, commented: "So "Adam in Chains," which after a long spoken intro devolves into what a vulgarian might take for his latest love-gone-bad rant, is in fact "a prayer for the tomorrow people and power junkies.""https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Billy+Idol AXS.com later featured the song as one of Idol's "five most underrated songs" in a retrospective look back over Idol's recording career. Writer Kareem Gantt felt the song was a "gem" from a "subpar" album and commented: "It's a weird song, for sure, but it's a single that you won't be able to pull from once you hear it."https://www.axs.com/uk/billy-idol-s-five-most-underrated-songs-67911
==Lyrics==
==Official versions==
* Album version — 06:24
* Adam In Chains (Radio Edit) — 03:46
* Adam In Chains (Music Video II) — 03:45
==Music video==
Music Video 	Music Video	Music Video 	Music Video	Music Video
Visual 	Information	Information 	 	
Billy Idol - Adam In Chains (Official Music Video)	Released 	September, 1993 	 	
Billy Idol - Adam In Chains (Official Music Video)	Lenght 	03:45 	 	
Billy Idol - Adam In Chains (Official Music Video)	Director 	Julien Temple 	 	
Billy Idol - Adam In Chains (Official Music Video)	Producer 	Julien Temple 	 	
Billy Idol - Adam In Chains (Official Music Video)	Filmed 	1993 	 	
Billy Idol - Adam In Chains (Official Music Video)	Location 	Los Angeles, United States	 	
==Audio==
===Spotify===
<spotify uri="spotify:track:6eq56UwpgqBU95GGS82vjj"></spotify>
===YouTube===
Billy Idol - Wasteland + Adam In Chains (Live at The Arsenio Hall Show)
==Credits==
Personnel
* Billy Idol — songwriting, vocals, keyboards, programming, arranger
* Mark Younger-Smith — guitars, keyboards, programming, arranger
* Robin Hancock — producer, arrangement, mixing, engineer, programming, keyboards
* Doug Wimbish — bass 
* Tal Bergman — drums 
* Robert Farago — spoken vocals 
* Jo Henwood — backing vocals 
* Ross Donaldson — additional engineering 
* Ed Korengo, Mike Baumgartner — assistant mixers
* Stephen Marcussen — mastering engineering
Technical
* Billy's Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA, United States
==References==
==Navigation==
Category:Songs
Category:Released songs
Category:Singles
Category:Music videos
Category:Cyberpunk songs
Category:Cyberpunk singles
Category:Cyberpunk music videos