BILLY IDOL (Buy CDs by this artist)
Don't Stop EP (Chrysalis) 1981
Billy Idol (Chrysalis) 1982
Rebel Yell (Chrysalis) 1983
Vital Idol (UK Chrysalis) 1986 (Chrysalis) 1987
Whiplash Smile (Chrysalis) 1986
Idol Songs: 11 of the Best (UK Chrysalis) 1988
Charmed Life (Chrysalis) 1990
Cyberpunk (Chrysalis) 1993 (EMI/Capitol Special Products) 1999
Greatest Hits (Capitol) 2001
VH-1 Storytellers (Capitol) 2002
The Essential (UK EMI) 2003
Devil's Playground (Sanctuary) 2005
STEVE STEVENS ATOMIC PLAYBOYS
Steve Stevens Atomic Playboys (Warner Bros.) 1989
STEVE STEVENS
Flamenco a Go-Go (Ark 21) 2000

After Generation X's demise, Billy Idol packed his bags and moved to New York, got himself a manager (former Kiss svengali Bill Aucoin) and began recording with local players and producer/drummer Keith Forsey (Giorgio Moroder's protégé). The first results of that union — a four-song EP — had only an awkward but entertaining cover of Tommy James' "Mony Mony" and a five- minute edit of Gen X's phenomenal "Dancing With Myself" to recommend it. (Interestingly, the belated CD credits the track, which had already been a single under the group's name, to "Billy Idol With Generation X.")

Billy Idol and a series of generally noxious videos made the former William Broad a huge star while providing erstwhile fans of his original band with an ideological dilemma: was he new wave's ultimate Frankenstein mutation or an arena-metal fraud trading on his now-dubious punk roots? In any case, the record — a marriage of Moroder's Midnight Express sequencer sound and a throbbing rock beat — proved to be a lode of memorable hits ("White Wedding," "Hot in the City," "Love Calling"). American guitarist Steve Stevens' caricatured Ronson/Thunders wildness noisily matches Idol's macho postures and sneering vocals; the powerfully built modern rock band has subtlety and near-metal strength. An album to despise while you hum along.

With only writing partner Stevens held over from the first record, Idol kept the same producer and formula on Rebel Yell, another collection of hits that run hot (the title track, "Blue Highway"), cool ("Eyes Without a Face," "Catch My Fall") and both ("Flesh for Fantasy"). Refined and carefully groomed for platinum success, it's an undeniably good rock'n'roll record that is also reprehensible for its phoniness and calculation.

Whiplash Smile repeats the recipe: Forsey, Stevens and a duotone program of hard/soft songs. Characteristically, the staggering guitar riffarola of "Worlds Forgotten Boy" runs directly into the engagingly modest, sweet-voiced technobilly of "To Be a Lover." The problem here is that there's no wind in Idol's sails: he takes it easy and relies too heavily on his partner's pyrotechnics. Unlike Idol's previous records, his vocals here lack the jism that made his hits soar with enthusiasm and energy. With second-rate material (the notable "To Be a Lover" is a non-original) and Idol out of contention, Stevens easily steals the spotlight; all of the record's best moments are his.

Naturally, that was a cue the partnership was over. The guitarist went off and eventually made a terrible every-style-imaginable solo album with a shrill metal singer. Except for a shallow interest in the blues, the axework on Steve Stevens Atomic Playboys reveals nothing new; a carbon-copy rendition of the Sweet's "Action" is about as clever as it gets.

The release of Charmed Life was delayed and nearly overshadowed by Idol's serious motorcycle crash in February 1990. Haunted by the ghost of Jim Morrison (a crummy version of "L.A. Woman" is only the most overt evidence of Idol's interest in the Doors), the Forsey-produced record has less blazing guitar than usual, reaching for a charged atmosphere rather than hooks and explosive rock power. But since the songs are deadly dull, the absence of instrumental diversion makes them seem endless. Even Billy's 'billy cover — Jody Reynolds 1958 "Endless Sleep" — sacrifices momentum for mood and winds up flat. The only tunes that work are an unpretentious three-chord singalong ("Love Unchained") and "Cradle of Love," a simple, restrained rock'n'roll single that seethes with echo and passion.

Available in the UK for two years before its American release, Vital Idol is a remixed greatest hits LP: extended versions of such Idolisms as "White Wedding," "Mony Mony," "Catch My Fall," "Dancing With Myself" and "Flesh for Fantasy." With a lot of material overlap, Idol Songs is simply a collection of hit singles in their original versions.

Whatever else Idol got up to in the '90s (and that list would have to include criminal charges, making like a Hollywood celebrity and reading William Gibson novels), the one thing he neglected to do was make a record anyone needed to hear. Pretentiously wired into technology and fantasy trends about which Idol appears to have only the most superficial passing knowledge, Cyberpunk is third-rate self-parody (cue the synthesizers, samplers and sequencers, tell the guitar players to come back on Thursday) that trusses him up in sci-fi lingo and futurist mumbo jumbo. (Exactly how a cover of Lou Reed's "Heroin" fits in all this is unclear.) The spoken-word segments, chanting monks, sound bites, treated voices and hypermarketing appurtenances might be forgivable if the music were any good, but songs that fixate on a single line and batter it senseless are as stimulating as a flying-toaster screen saver. "I'm out of control / I think I'm goin' crazy / I'm out of my mind / You can see it in my eyes." Sorry, Bill, that's just the reflection of boredom in your contacts.

Although released more than two decades after Idol's heyday, Devil's Playground makes like it's 1983 all over again. The front cover displays the leather-clad singer's cartoon sneer and platinum spikes; the back cover captures his trademark fists-in-the-air pose. Classic. Forsey is back as producer, Stevens is on hand and Billy has conveniently forgotten all about William Gibson. The album starts strong, with the Gen X verses and Cheap Trick chorus of "Sonic Overdrive." The fast and friendly "World Comin' Down" follows in a similar "Dancing With Myself (Again)" vein. "Sherri" could be a lost track from the Valley Girl soundtrack, and the baffling "Yellin' at the Xmas Tree" is a straight-up new wave novelty. Also reeking of novelty pretense but fun all the same is the boom-chicka-boom gallop of "Lady Do or Die," in which Idol pulls out his Rawhide-ready Johnny Cash impersonation, with preposterous lyrics like "Tumbleweed passing by / Train whistle start to cry." The fantastically plastic "Cherie," which appropriates both its name and spirit from the Neil Diamond hit, is enjoyable as well. The rest is essentially '80s pop-metal masquerading as 21st-century alt-rock, with tired Judas Priest moves, Cult culminations and Ozzy retreads. (And why he chose to cover the old folk rib-tickler "Plastic Jesus" as a power ballad is a mystery.) The most telling example of the album's artificiality is the liner-note credit given to Idol as "stylist." Then again, his hair does look perfect.

Stevens' 2000 release, Flamenco a Go-Go, is a dull instrumental affair with Middle Eastern themes and delicate fretwork. This isn't your father's heavy metal; in fact, it's not metal at all. A new age wander up Windham Hill. Yawn.

[Ira Robbins / Floyd Eberhard]


http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=billy_idol

+++++



GENERATION X (Buy CDs by this artist)
Generation X (Chrysalis) 1978
Valley of the Dolls (Chrysalis) 1979
Dancing with Myself EP (Chrysalis) 1981
Kiss Me Deadly (Chrysalis) 1981
The Best of Generation X (Chrysalis) 1985
EMPIRE
Empire (UK Dinosaur) 1981

Appearing on the London punk scene shortly after the Sex Pistols, Generation X was an extraordinary but ill-fated outfit that issued five tremendous singles, one classic album and some real dross. It also launched the mega-career of Billy Idol and the ditzy Sigue Sigue Sputnik, developments one must weigh when considering the band's historical significance.

With Idol as the band's voice and image and guitarist Bob "Derwood" Andrews providing its rock power, Generation X broke a lot of punk conventions, and were ultimately ostracized by their peers for refusing to be (or even feign being, as many others did) anti-commercial. Their breakup can be viewed as a parallel to the dispersal of the original punk spirit, although Billy Idol's phoenix-like ascent to world chart domination is equally indicative of the subsequent salability of that ethos.

Following a string of tremendous 45s ("Your Generation," "Wild Youth," "Ready Steady Go" — all included on the US version of the first LP) that crossbred punk insolence with kitschy '60s pop culture to produce catchy, roaring anthems for disaffected youth, Generation X's debut album bore out their promise — not a bum track in the bunch. A commercial streak didn't preclude a punky outlook or closeness to their audience; while the songs don't threaten the established order, they do retain a cocky irreverence that made Generation X more than a latter-day Mott the Hoople. Generation X, regardless of the reputational damage Billy Idol may have subsequently caused, is a classic record. The superior US version deletes "Listen," "The Invisible Man" and "Too Personal" — all fairly unessential — and adds the two single sides ("Wild Youth" and "Your Generation") omitted from the UK album, a definitive John Lennon cover ("Gimme Some Truth") and the amazing pioneering reggae-mix of "Wild Dub."

Valley of the Dolls, produced by Ian Hunter, pales in comparison. Two or three numbers (e.g., "Running with the Boss Sound," "King Rocker") recall the sonic magnificence of the early singles, but the surrounding tracks leave much to be desired. A typical sophomore-record material shortage.

Kiss Me Deadly, recorded after Idol and bassist Tony James (co-writer with Idol of the band's songs) had sacked Andrews and drummer Mark Laff, is a shoddy affair, containing only the wonderful "Dancing with Myself" (the same recording was later issued under Idol's name) to recommend it. Their moniker truncated to Gen X, Idol and James employed once and future Clash drummer Terry Chimes and a trio of guitar stars — Steve Jones, John McGeoch and Chelsea's James Stevenson — but the spirit was gone from the music, and the LP is merely a pale shadow of the band's early glories. Indeed, by the time of its release, Idol — under the tutelage of ex-Kiss manager Bill Aucoin — had already declared himself a solo act.

In recapitulating all three records, The Best Of catches just about everything worth saving off the second and third albums ("Valley of the Dolls," "Running with the Boss Sound," "King Rocker," "Dancing with Myself") but omits a couple of early masterpieces. For the best of Generation X, you could still do worse than the American Generation X.

During their tenure in Generation X, Andrews and Laff were accused of being heavy metal musicians in disguise. On their own in Empire, they do indeed play with a metallic lack of subtlety, but the results aren't nearly as explosive as you might expect. In their version of pop music, Andrews and Laff slow down the tempo to a pace that renders Empire labored and drab.

[Ira Robbins]

http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=generation_x