Billy Idol - Billy Idol - Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for Billy Idol - Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: Good, but not every song is a Greatest Hit
Hit: 4 Stars
this is good, but not every song is a classic.Free Music Review: Some quirks prevent this from being a perfect "best of"
Hit: 4 Stars
When I listened to Billy Idol's music, the immediate word that came to my mind was intensity. I know when I put a Billy Idol album on, I would be prepared for a hard-rocking intense experience. This has been a trademark behind Billy's music career. I found "Billy Idol - Greatest Hits" a great place that captured Billy's greatest hits on one single CD. For the most part, this CD is the way a Greatest Hits Collection should be constructed. If it weren't for a few minor quirks, this collection would be near perfect.
"Billy Idol - Greatest Hits" takes the bulk of its music from between 1983 and 1993. There are 16 tracks and 14 of the tracks come from the albums released in this period. This includes 5 studio albums, 1 EP, and one Live Album. In order the releases are: "Don't Stop" (EP from 1981), "Billy Idol" (1982), "Rebel Yell" (1984), "Whiplash Smile" (1986), "Vital Idol" (Live Album from 1987), "Charmed Life" (1990), and "Cyberpunk" (1993). On "Billy Idol - Greatest Hits", for the most part each album is represented pretty well. There are no singles included from "Vital Idol". "Cyberpunk", which is generally considered one of Billy's weaker albums has only one song. At the same time, "Rebel Yell", which is generally considered one of Billy's strongest albums leads the pack with four songs. The collection also features two new songs: There is a 1993 live version of "Rebel Yell" that is done with an acoustic slant. There also is a 2001 remake of Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)".
With Greatest Hits collections, I find that the best "Greatest Hits" collections are ones that arrange the songs in chronological order. This allows me to see how an artist progresses over time. The nice thing about "Billy Idol - Greatest Hits" is that it does do this. It might seem like "Mony Mony" is out of chronological order. This is because it is the second song on the collection, but it did go number one in 1987. "Mony Mony" was actually included on the "Don't Stop" EP and was never released as a single. In 1987, a live version of "Mony Mony" went Number One from the "Vital Idol" album, but it actually was the "Don't Stop" EP version that got most of the airplay. I never was a big fan of "Mony Mony", but to me - the live version is far superior to the studio version. They should have included the live version on this collection - this would have given "Vital Idol" some representation and it would have included the better version of the song.
Historically, Billy Idol has done covers of many songs. This provided Billy a way to pay homage to the artists that he grew up listening to. Billy's popular covers are all included on this collection. This includes the remake of Tommy James' "Mony Mony", the terrific 1986 remake of William Bell's "To Be a Lover", the 1990 cover of The Doors' "L.A. Woman", and the 2001 remake of Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)". If you listen to Billy's covers - most of the covers sound very different than the original version - especially 1986's "To Be a Lover". I didn't think Billy's cover of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was very good. This cover goes back to Billy's connection with Keith Forsey. Forsey happened to be the co-writer of that song and also did producing for Simple Minds. I felt this song just wasn't very well suited to Billy's style. There are some good guitar rifts by Billy and Steve Stevens, but that is about the extent of it. I also think this version lacks a lot of the trademark intensity that has become a staple of Billy's career.
The other "new" song is the live version of Billy's "Rebel Yell" song. This song is listed as "Live and Acoustic". This is about as acoustic as it is going to get for Billy Idol. In other words, don't expect an "Billy Idol Unplugged" - you still are going to hear a touch of electric guitar included on this song. I actually enjoyed what Billy did with this version of the song.
It is also worth noting that "Dancing With Myself" is included. This technically is a song from Billy's days when he was a member of the punk band, "Generation X". However this song was also released on the "Don't Stop" EP, so it is included on this collection.
Another quirk is that there are single edits of two songs - "Don't Need a Gun" and "L.A. Woman". Single edits are usually done for the purposes of putting the song on the radio. This is something I am very much opposed to. If I want to hear an edited version of the song, I'll listen to the radio. For me, I always prefer to have the full version of the song. While I do realize that there is 72+ minutes of music on "Billy Idol - Greatest Hits", I would have easily sacrificed one of the 2 new songs to hear the full versions of these songs. In particular, "Don't Need a Gun" is one of Billy's best songs and they chop nearly a minute off in the radio edit.
One thing that I do like about this Greatest Hits collection is the liner notes. Ben Edmunds writes up a terrific 3 page piece that basically covers Billy's career from his beginnings in Generation X through his motorcycle crash and beyond. Each of the songs is listed - along with the album it was released on, the songwriting credits, its debut date, and where it ultimately wound up on the Billboard chart. If it weren't for the the quirks (namely the radio edits and the omission of the live version of "Mony Mony"), this would have been given 5 stars. However, it's still a great place to get a cross-section of Billy's work.
Free Music Review: HEY, DON'T FORGET STEVE STEVENS!
Hit: 4 Stars
There is little credit given to Steve Stevens, Idol's partner for most of the major hits.
Stevens is an amazingly talented axe-man and an incredibly talented writer... Everyone should check out his "Flamenco-A-Go-Go" CD that came out a few years ago, you will be KNOCKED OUT.
Also, if you want to listen to Steve just wail on electric and acoustic alike, check out the two "Black Light Syndrome" (on the Magna Carta label) CD's he did with master musicians Terry Bozzio and Tony Levin.
Even though Idol's hits stand up pretty well to time, his 80's stage persona has almost become a parody now, as witnessed in 2002 when he did his comeback thing on the "Tonight Show".
However, don't let the Idol schtick keep you from re-discovering Steve; ain't NO schtick ANYWHERE on any of his latest stuff!
Link to Flamenco A Go-Go
Link to Black Light Syndrome
Link to Situation Dangerous
Free Music Review: "GREAT GREAT GREAT AND GREATER"
Hit: 5 Stars
I wish I could give this CD more than five stars because Billy
Idol is just great
1.REBEL YELL "GREAT"
2.WHITE WEDDING "GREAT"
3.HOT IN THE CITY "GREAT"
4.TO BE A LOVER "GREAT"
5.REBEL YELL LIVE "GREAT"
6.MONY MONY "GREAT"
7.Dancing With Myself "GREAT"
Plus billy has a new song which was recorded in 1997 I think
and its really good to.
Free Music Review: Billy is my Idol
Hit: 5 Stars
Billy Idol never disappoints, if you are a person who cherishes innovation , originality, and unadulterated talent. If, however, you are the kind who expects repitition and stagnation, you perhaps will be better off elsewhere.
Billy Idol will always surprise you, and among his strong points (along with the Bangles) is that you can always tell which album a song comes from. With every album his sound EVOLVES. As the Phoenix self-immolates and then rises anew from its own ashes, Bill Idol discovers himself and his newest music FRESHLY with each album, allowing the album to become its own identity rather than attempting to force it to be something stale that conforms to a mold of what people will EXPECT it SHOULD be.