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Greatest Hits Billy Idol |
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Considering how, amazingly enough, the fiery Rocker's kept such a low profile, at least on the audio-waves all these years, the release of a "Greatest Hits" package would throw the final cover on this once blazing career… But we know differently, we watch "Behind The Music." Billy's "Greatest Hits" does formally close the first chapter of a multi-platinum success, accentuating of course all of the positives by way of his string of 1980's hits-"Dancing With Myself," "Mony Mony," "White Wedding," "Rebel Yell," "To Be A Lover," and the early '90s which saw his biggest one revealed in the form of "Cradle Of Love," the "L.A. Woman" cover and the quickly evaporated and underrated "Cyberpunk" vision. Now how cool would it be to find even a couple of those little heard obscurities that truly captured the magnificence of what he was capable of-"World's Forgotten Boy," "Pumping On Steel…" But Idol's recharged and ready to give it another go it would seem, back with guitarist Steve Stevens who was at his side for the glory years and the two writing together again anticipating a comeback early next year. This remastered collection of hits appear in chronological order beginning with "Dancing With Myself" from his '83 "Don't Stop" EP (Sorry no pre-Idol Gen-X stuff) on through to "Cyberpunk," plus the additional extras of a "Rebel Yell" live acoustic recording from back in '93 and the closing cover of "Don't You Forget About Me" originally performed by Simple Minds, made instantaneously famous and instantaneously extinct by the hip Breakfast Club flick back in the day. An odd choice considering how starved we are for new material, and yet when you hear it, it's like the song was written specifically for him. In fact it almost was, but songwriter/producer Keith Forsey opted to go with the Simple Minds… until now, and Idol's version very much in the same vein, surprisingly tempered, is a little juicier but in all, not the most ambitious way to close the chapter-would've been much better off including the hyped up "Speed," originally included on the film soundtrack a few years back and given every indication a "revitalized" Idol was back on the scene. Possibly because this collection does not mark the end of a career, there's not much textual fanfare or significant "extras" included outside of a quick introduction and a few pictorial timelines; nor are there any odds, ends or B-versions to add a little kick… Billy's "Greatest Hits" does what it sets out to do, present the facts, include the tracks and close the cover on the first phase of the "vital" one as he prepares to launch phase two just when the world least expects it. Released by Capitol Records Review by Vinnie Apicella
[va85@columbia.edu] |
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"Billy Idol"
/ "Vital Idol"
Billy Idol |
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For a man who's ducked out of the public eye for nearly a decade now, Mr. Idol appears poised to return to the scene he once took by storm some twenty years earlier, with both fists in the air, and full bore Idol-ized madness shall rise again. While the 1980s are once again becoming all the rage, the "rage" for some, was never embodied more so than by Billy Idol. Amongst the few innovative forces
that grew with the MTV generation and in no small part aided the pioneering
music video channel to the mass success it was to achieve, Idol, musician,
singer, individualist and showman, created his own wave and rode it for
an The nineties weren't quite so kind to the unabashed Brit, soon becoming more noteworthy for his offstage antics if anything at all. With the interested parties again making their presence felt, Idol's coming back and in no small quantity. Fresh off the expected VH1 documentary and Storytellers performance, he's back with longtime collaborator and six-string wunderkind Steve Stevens preparing to unleash a brand new, long awaited recording which will be the first new material to speak of in the decade since the failed "Cyberpunk" experiment. In the meantime, Idol's back catalog gets a quick revision and reissuance in the form of two titles-the first being his self-titled 1982 debut which yielded mammoth highlights as "White Wedding," "Hot In The City," and the unsuspecting yet astonishing "Dancing With Myself" mainstream and club hit. Unlike many of the "groundbreakers" of his time, his early going was both unexpected and unbelievable in the wake of Disco-era dominance and post-Punk asthma. Idol's emergence combined the
free spirit and attitude of pure Punk with a streamlined Pop charm that
soon won worldwide acclaim and made him into one of the biggest Aside from the aforementioned chart-toppers, there were a few sleeper hits here that didn't receive the attention they were due, and there were also a few rightfully ignored silly sound bites for songs that were better left alone. Still in all, this turned out to be a more complete and memorable album far exceeding any of the so-called one-hit wonder varieties of the time and was to form the foundation for the many platinum smashes to follow. "Vital Idol"
was released five years and laid a different slant on his three previously
"Vital Idol's" eight
tracks spotlighted the best of his earlier going by featuring remixed
and extended versions to further his ongoing club appeal and unwittingly
glorified an The two efficiently packed reissues feature short but succinct accounts of the performer with a few brief close-ups, neither of which will benefit albums sales in the first place. You'll want to pick these up to
not only relive the excitement of that magical period of time that began
all those years ago but to also realize the true brilliance of 24-bit Released by Capitol Records Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] P.O. Box 20252
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