Don't believe I once bought this now - but I did

Back in the 1990s I aimed to collect all the chart hits from the 1980s. In those days I felt that all music called "alternative" was just violent amplified noise and shouting tuneless vocals that I could never differentiate between, and the loud techno I found equally horrible.

Despite this aversion to hard rock and alternative, I really did buy this Billy Idol best-of.

At the time I though "Sweet Sixteen" was kind of beautiful and "Hot In The City" really, really haunting. However, the reality of this album, as I have found out long ago, is quite different and nasty.

For the most part, Keith Forsey's production creates a wall of noise - worst on the dreadful "White Wedding" that overshadows anything Idol and guitar partner Steve Stevens can produce. On "Eyes Without A Face" the production turns a psychedelic effect into meandering, yet tuneless metal guitar. Moreover, the ballads "To Be A Lover" and "Sweet Sixteen" for which I bought the album really sound just so soppy now. "Dancing With Myself" could really best be described as amplified disco, whilst "Rebel Yell" combined the worst of heavy metal and punk with a tuneless proto-techno beat. Even the fairly pleasant "Catch My Fall" (with Mars Williams on saxophone) clearly gave little evidence of real feeling in its chorus.

Nevertheless, worst of all was the unbelievably dreadful "Don't Need A Gun", which could well be the worst song I have ever heard. So tuneless that the parts of the song do not even fit together, it is rounded off by Idol's atrocious voice, which has so little feeling in it that when he tries to roar it felt and always was as blunt as a spoon. On other songs he verges upon talking in such a way that one thing he never cared at all about what he was doing.

Even before I tried to seriously listen to music, "Idol Songs" became an embarrassing purchase. Not recommended.

post punk pop-rock at it's peak

billy,we love you. ofcourse, some of us couldn't get over seeing you in the adam sandler vehicle so this could be why your greatest hits compilation was so inevitablY POPULAR. i mean, who could resist the angelic and literally sexy eyes without a face? and who doesn't find themselves tapping their feet to the sound of an unforgettable mony mony time and time again? it's almost as if the eighties have stood still and we never made out way into the nineties post grunge scene when we hear the immortal idol himself. there are other treats on this album for all idol fans which are sure to please and even tracks asssociated with those less associated with mr. idol's work. there is no cyber punk music which disappointed me a little but i'm not mad at you billy. this is the you we all remember best and probability suggests we will be playing this for some time to come.

With a Rebel Yell - more, more, more...

Billy was an old-skool punk who sang in the group Generation X with Tony James (Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Sisters Of Mercy). Billy went off to the US to seek fame and fortune and met both Steve Stevens and Keith Forsey along the way. This combination fairly quickly led to Billy being one of the faces of the 80's and certainly of the US MTV age. This collection showcases the hits up to the Whiplash Smile album and contains some real corkers. The highlight of Billys career so far is the Rebel Yell album and this is well represented with the classics that were, and are, Rebel Yell, Eyes Without A Face, Catch My Fall and my favourite Flesh For Fantasy. The weak spots are mostly the songs from the first album where the trio had not yet got the sound right, White Wedding apart. The sound evolved to a nice hard blend of synth and guitar, but with a definite punk/rock look. Later songs To Be A Lover and Don't Need A Gun were perfect for the 80's video age. Billy has never recovered from the mistake of parting company with Steve Stevens, he never sounded as good and his career has not yet recovered. Idol made a guest-starring role in the film The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler doing a parody of himself. Whilst that was pretty enjoyable, let's hope this is not what he is reduced to. A return to form along the lines of this collection would do nicely thank-you.