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Billy Idol
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Barnes and Noble
Billy Idol
Current price: $24.99
Barnes and Noble
Billy Idol
Current price: $24.99
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Size: CD
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's self-titled debut album eventually broke the singer in America, but not without a struggle. In 1981, he left
and launched his solo career, borrowing the group's final single, the
standard
for his first solo release, a four-song EP called
.
was prefaced in June 1982 with the single "Hot in the City," which made the Hot 100, but the album was given a second breath of life (and a higher chart peak) a year after its release when its second single,
finally caught on after an eye-catching video played on
and made the Top 40 in July 1983. An attempt was then made to resurrect
which was added to the album (the track
being deleted). Those three songs remain the album's strongest, if only because they are the best realized as songs; elsewhere,
and guitarist
have constructed a series of
tracks along the lines of
mixing quick tempos with slashing guitar chords and occasional hook elements (a backup choral chant here, a saxophone part there), but seemingly have forgotten to write real songs to go on top of the tracks. The result is an uneven collection. Oddly, when
came to reissue a 24-bit digitally remastered version of the album in 2002, the new producers did not take the opportunity to add on the other
tracks and
the sort of bonus material you'd expect. Instead, the reissue presents only the ten tracks from the second version of the album, albeit with great sound.
's liner notes begin with a factual error (the album was not a "platinum success," it only went gold), but are otherwise adequate. ~ William Ruhlmann