It's like the old songs are new all over again!

Billy Idol is truly an enigmatic rock star. He was, arguably, the driving force behind Generation X, a late 70's punk band. He saw the wave coming (new wave) and got on it in the U.S. with his MTV good looks and bad boy style and dynamite delivery. Idol knew how to make good music, but he was an even better at marketing himself. He made sure he surrounded himself with excellent people (Steve Stevens). He kept up his style and his image and it served him well. Unfortunately, as the 90's came about, Billy seems to have begun to believe his own press and he started spiraling down a drug addicted path that saw him become creatively deprived and his career dried up.

With this Storytellers album, Billy and Steve prove that what they had previously crafted wasn't just about fluff and image. It was real music with real emotion behind it.

They're the same songs we knew and loved (and still do), but they're much more acoustic here (for VH1 Storytellers show). Rebel Yell is not the stadium song it usually is. Eyes without a Face is even more achingly painful. Catch My Fall is emotional with a bit of a rockabilly twist to it. You get the picture.

Left to deliver his music without his stage antics (and hopefully sober - come on Billy we're nuts about you - get off the drugs), Billy proves that he was and is a real talent.

Sort of Like a Live Greatest Hits Album

This culls songs from Billy Idol's Storytellers show on VH1, but it's JUST songs (if you're looking for all the between-songs-stuff, you need to get the DVD instead). Still, it's great to hear Idol dust the cobwebs off of his old hits, ranging from "Dancing With Myself" to "Cradle of Love". There's not too much to recommend this to anyone who already owns his Greatest Hits or isn't an Idol fan, but you do get to hear him swear when he messes part of a song up, and that's kind of funny.

The best of Billy Idol - unplugged!

When I see Billy Idol I think about Beavies (MTV's Beavies & Butthead you know) for some reason.

This one is a "best of Billy Idol - unplugged" and if you got his "Greatest hits" I guess that will do. The only reason to spend money on this album is to get the opportunity to hear unplugged versions. The sound is good, some songs do better than other being unplugged. This is mainly for Billy Idol fans or maybe unplugged lovers - others will do fine without this one.