Tag: Billy Idol

Billy Idol – “BFI Live” – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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On November 25th, 2016, Black Friday or another Record Store Day, Billy Idol released a special edition 3 LP vinyl Live Album!!  The release were highlights from his 2014-2015 Kings & Queens of the Underground Tour.  I say it is highlights because the songs are from various different shows from around the world and not one full show.  I am sure he went and grabbed the best versions of each song.

The album was limited to only 2000 copies, each hand-numbered and exclusively on vinyl as the only physical release. The album is available digitally as well (which also comes with the Vinyl version.  It is a beautiful set and the sound is amazing.  Here’s the only problem.  I was unable to snag a copy during its initial release.  I am keeping a watchful eye on eBay and Discogs to find a reasonably priced one for sell and then I will grab it.  So, this review is really just a review of the digital release.

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BFI?  What does that stand for?  I think it is Billy “Fucking” Idol.  I also think BFI is the name of his label as well.  Whatever it stands for, BFI Live is fantastic.  The sound quality of each recording is crisp, clear and loud!  Was it cleaned up in the studio…probably, but who cares.  It is still live for the most part and that is all that matters.  It captures the essence fo a Billy performance and that is all you really want anyway.  Okay, I guess it is missing a little of the roughness that happens during live shows so that might be the only negative.

The release has 16 tracks from 10 different cities including Houston, Vienna, Munich, Atlanta and even Council Bluffs (wherever that is).  The setlist is greatest hits set live basically.  It is everything you would want to hear and expect to hear at a Billy show.

He does 3 songs off the latest album and they are “Postcards from the Past”, “Can’t Break Me Down” and “Save Me Now”.  Two of the first three songs are off the new album which is smart as people tend to go to the bathroom or get a beer (or both) when a song comes on they don’t really know.  When the show opens up, the crowd is so energized, that isn’t going to happen.

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It is a high energy show and Billy and Steve Steven show no signs of slowing down.  The songs are kept pretty much to their original format with the exception of a few lyric changes such as “LA Woman” (the Doors cover) being changed to “Portland Woman” and Billy asking “Nashville to Dance” on “Dancing With Myself”.  Billy and the crowd seem to be having a wonderful time.

Steve Stevens sounds really great with his guitar work especially on Flesh for Fantasy and the one song I didn’t know when looking at the track listing. It was “Dementia” which turned out to be a wonderful Steve Stevens guitar solo.  I didn’t know guitar solos actually had names other than “Guitar Solo”. Seriously though, the song is actually off Steve’s solo album “Flamenco a Go-Go” from 2000.  Kinda nice Billy let him highlight one of his own songs.

The songs cover most of Billy’s career with even a song from his Generation X days, “Ready Steady Go” which Billy seems to love to still play and Steve adds a whole new magic to it with his playing.  You also get the story behind the song “Sweet Sixteen” which Billy tells with such enthusiasm.  Before that story, a woman screams “I Love You!!!” and immediately Billy responds back “I Love Me Too!  That makes two of us”…it was a very funny moment I am glad they left in.

And let’s talk about how he ends this album.  The album ends with 3 of his most iconic songs and I could imagine the crowd going nuts and loving everything about it.  He ends with “Rebel Yell”, “White Wedding” and “Mony, Mony”…what an amazing way to go out.

All-in-all, this is a hell of a live set and since Billy has only released one other live album (VH1 Storytellers), I will take what I can get.  I loved this set and I am eager to go out and find the physical copy after listening to this.  With 16 songs and 1 hour and 40 minutes of music…it is simply wonderful.  I will give this a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars and only deducting because it is too clean…I mean I don’t think Billy misses too many notes and I don’t think that is possible (I have never seen him live so can’t say for sure).  If you are out and about and come across it (somehow), grab it.  You won’t be disappointed.

If you want to check out the other reviews I have done so far for the Billy Idol Series, click the links below:

  1. Generation X – ‘Generation X’
  2. Generation X – ‘Valley of the Dolls’
  3. Gen X – ‘Kiss Me Deadly’
  4. Generation X – ‘The BBC Transcription Disc Series No. 126 1978’
  5. Billy Idol – Don’t Stop E.P.
  6. Billy Idol – Billy Idol
  7. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell
  8. Billy Idol – Whiplash Smile
  9. Billy Idol – Vital Idol
  10. Billy Idol – Charmed Life
  11. Billy Idol – Cyberpunk
  12. Billy Idol – “Speed” (song from the Speed Soundtrack)
  13. Generation X – K.M.D. Sweet Revenge
  14. Billy Idol – VH1 Storytellers (Live)
  15. Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground
  16. Billy Idol – Happy Holidays
  17. Billy Idol – The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
  18. Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground
  19. Billy Idol – BFI Live (#RSD 2019)
  20. Billy Idol – Revitalized
  21. Generation X – Your Generation (7″ Record Store Day Release)
  22. Billy Idol – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First

Up next will be Billy Idol’s ‘Revitalized’.

Billy Idol – ‘Kings & Queens of the Underground’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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After Billy’s last greatest hits album “Idolize Yourself”, things went quiet.  From 2010 – 2014, Billy worked on the next project.  Along that same timeframe, he was also working on a book that chronicle his life called “Dancing with MySelf”.  The album and book were both released in October 2014 and I guess you could say the album was a soundtrack to that new book.

For me, the album, called ‘King & Queens of the Underground’, should have been called ‘Postcards from the Past’ as the songs seem to have that retrospective feel and were snapshots of his life and career.  There is a lot of soul-searching going and it feels like a cathartic exercise in releasing his demons.  It was the perfect companion piece for the book.

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For the recording of the album, Billy worked mostly with Trevor Horn of the famed band, The Buggles.  Keith Forsey, who produced most of Billy’s album was not back for this one.  I don’t think there were any issues, I believe Billy was wanting to explore new ground.  Trevor brought Billy back to 80’s sound more so than the ‘Devil’s Playground’ did.  There were a little more synthesizers/keyboards than in the past and it was utilized perfectly.

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Billy Idol – ‘The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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I wasn’t going to do any greatest hits, but with this one I changed my mind.  Billy has only had a handful of official greatest hits packages and although they cover the hits, none are really that great.  So, I thought I would help your search and give you what I think might the best of the greatest hits albums he has released.

The one I think is the best is the 2008 release, ‘The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself’.  It isn’t that much different than the 2001 release simply titled ‘Greatest Hits’. In fact, there are 14 songs that are the same and almost the exact track list order.  With the “Greatest Hits’ package from 2001, you get a live version of “Rebel Yell” and the Simple Minds cover of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” which is a really good cover.  Those two are great to have, no doubt.  However, I do prefer the ‘Idolize Yourself’ version better.

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Why do I like this version better than the prior release?  There are actually 5 reasons.

First: It is the most current, so you get a song from “Devil’s Playground called “World Comin’ Down”.  The song is an uptempo rocker about the troubles in the world and the pressures you feel as a result.  It is a song that gets you moving and with Steve Stephen’s speedy guitar riffs and Brian Tichy’s heart-pounding drums you never catch your breath.

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Billy Idol – ‘Happy Holidays’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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A short time after Billy’s comeback release, ‘Devil’s Playground’, he thought (or somebody thought), we should release a Christmas Album.  I don’t know if it was because of the positive feedback for the Christmas song on the last album “Yellin’ at the Xmas Tree” or drugs, but they decided to do it.

Now, “Yellin’ at the Xmas Tree” is absolutely fantastic. It is a rocking Idol song and I love the twist on the song that it is not all happy and joyful at Christmas. Some people don’t have the stereotypical Yuletide joy.

This album is nothing like that.  It is Billy putting on his dinner jacket, pouring himself a drink and playing traditional Christmas songs in both a traditional or even a smoke-filled room jazz style.

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The album is full of songs you know and love (well, the original versions you love) and it even has two brand new songs written by Billy…oh joy!!  I know…you can feel my excitement.  I am sorry…I will be completely honest with you.  I HATE CHRISTMAS ALBUMS!!!  That isn’t entirely true.  If you want to do a compilation Christmas albums with different artists singing the best versions of Christmas songs…I am all for it.  If it s one Singer or one Band doing a whole entire 40 minute album of them doing Christmas Songs..,please count me out!!!

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Billy Idol – ‘Devil’s Playground’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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On March 22, 2005, Billy Idol returns to music with his first album of new material in over 12 years.  Way too long in my book.  While on tour prior to the album, Billy was approached by Sanctuary Records to record an album.  The trick was that they wanted it in the old Billy style and sound.

As a result, Billy, Steve Stevens and producer Keith Forsey re-teamed to record the album. Yep, the gang was back together and I couldn’t be more happy.  Along for the ride was Stephen McGrath on bass, Derek Sherinian on keyboards and Brian Tichy on drums.  Not a bad line-up.

Of course, Steve and Billy had some songs together.  However, it was only 3 songs for Steve.  Billy did most of his writing with drummer Brian Tichy who had 8 writing credits on the album.  Of course, Billy had to have a cover song and the album checks that bucket as well.  All was now in place.

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Billy Idol – ‘VH1 Storytellers’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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For the last half of the 90’s, Billy didn’t release anything.  After the failure of the ‘Cyberpunk’ album (which was awesome) and the issues with the label, Billy sort of vanished from the music scene.  He did have the single for the movie “Speed”, he made a memorable cameo in the movie ‘The Wedding Singer’, but outside of that, there wasn’t much else.

In 2001, that started to change.  VH1 aired a ‘Behind the Music’ on Billy and a greatest hits compilation was released that had a cover of Simple Mind’s song “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” which had moderate success.  Heck, the greatest hits album sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. alone.  VH1 also decided to film a VH1 Storytellers with Billy and along for ride was Steve Stevens which was a reunion that was long overdue.

I am not going to critique the VH1 Storytellers show, but the CD that was released.  The CD came out on February 22, 2002 and is only the songs that were played and not any of the stories.  For that, you need the DVD.

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Generation X – ‘K.M.D. Sweet Revenge’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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After the release of Generation X’s second album, “Valley of the Dolls”, the band started recording the follow-up release.  However, during the recording the band started having some creative issues with each other. The album was demoed, but never finished before the band broke-up.  Billy Idol and Tony James decided to continue on and they rebranded themselves as Gen X.  They released ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ in 1980 to little or moderate success.  So, the 3rd Generation X album never saw the light of day.

Well, it never saw the light of day until 1998 when former Generation X guitarist Derwood Andrews released it due to some contract obligations without the consent of Billy Idol and Tony James.  Billy & Tony were able to block the release in the U.S., but not anywhere else.  The songs were in demo form and not fully realized tracks.

Now in 2003, Billy finally did release the songs (from a different audio source) on a Generation X Anthology that he did approve.  The songs I have that I will discuss are for the Anthology and not the actual Sweet Revenge release as I am still trying to get my hands on it.  When I do, I will update the post.

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Billy Idol – “Speed” (from the Speed Soundtrack) – Single Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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After the lack of success of ‘Cyberpunk’, Billy Idol was pretty quiet for many years with one minor exception.  He reunited with Steve Stevens for a song on the 1994 Soundtrack to the movie Speed starring Keanu Reeves.  Billy was having some disagreements with his label and having many issues with drugs (still), he needed something to get back in the fans good graces.

Billy and Steve were contacted by the soundtracks music director, Ralph Sall, to come up with the movie’s title song and Billy thought this would be a good opportunity.  The song was inspired by the movie and the rest of the soundtrack included songs that were either inspired by the movie or were just songs about Speed such as the Kiss song “Mr. Speed”.

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Track Listing for the Soundtrack

I am not reviewing the whole soundtrack as this is a Billy Idol series so we will focus only on Billy’s song.  And what a song it is.  It didn’t do well upon its release as this was 1994 and Billy’s style of Rock was no longer in fashion.  The movie did way better than the song for sure.

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Billy Idol – ‘Cyberpunk’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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After ‘Charmed Life’, Billy wanted to do something different.  He didn’t want to keep repeating his previous work over and over again.  Let me tell you he completely succeeded.  The album is nothing like his previous work and I think was way ahead of its time. ‘Cyberpunk’ delivered Billy’s most experimental and most controversial album.

Billy became fascinated with technology and the cyberpunk movement of the early 90’s.  He saw how the advancement could be used to make music and in fact, this was one of the first albums to use ProTools for almost the entire recording of the album. He felt the use of the computers allowed him to do things faster and he felt it gave the whole feel of a garage band.  I don’t know about that last part, but it was the very early stages of how albums and music would be recorded down the road.

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When he released the single for “Shock to the System” he released it with a 3 1/2″ Floppy Disc.  MP’s eat your heart out.  The disc housed pictures, bios and all the things you now see issued in todays electronic press kits (EPK).  He was also was one of the first albums to actually have an email address in the booklet that came with the album (don’t try it, it no longer works).

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Turntables & Vinyl #20 – The Paris Adventure

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For Spring Break this year, we had the pleasure of visiting a quaint little town in this little country.  The country was France and the little town was Paris.  It was a dream trip come true.  I had hoped to have a little time to have a little rock & roll adventure while I was there, but there was so much to see and so little time to do it.

I did hit a couple record stores, but didn’t get to as many as I had hoped.  I didn’t get to see Jim Morrison’s grave or visit the Place Vendome to see where the band got its name.  But we did do so much that I thought I would share a little of it with you.  Oh yeah, this a music site so we will get to what I bought by the end.

Now, we skipped the whole Hotel thing and rented an apartment for the family and an awesome neighborhood with lots of cafes and lots of pastries.  Below is the door to the courtyard.  It was a beautiful blue door and made it easy to find.

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There was so much room in the apartment which is surprising for Paris.  It was absolutely stunning. These were our windows right above that blue door.

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And the view down our street was awesome as well. The architecture was always amazing. The streets were so cute. This one was a one way with real small sidewalks and we loved being in that area.  Everyone was so nice and helpful.

We of course visited all the museums and the typical Paris sites, but nothing is better than the Eiffel Tower.  Every time we saw it, I had to stop and just admire.  It is breathtaking.  There is just something about it that is so special and I don’t know what it is.  Here are a couple of my favorites…

Oh!  And at night!!  She is even more beautiful…

Now, a week before we arrived, there was devastating news that Notre Dame Cathedral caught on fire.  That bothered me a lot as that was one of the top places I wanted to see while we were there. Now, we weren’t able to get inside, but we did go on Easter Sunday and take a look.  This was as close as we could get.  We weren’t the only ones that had that idea as the area was slammed with people.  I am glad I got to see her.

I have no real exciting stories to tell on this trip.  It went off without a hitch and we got to see so much. Nothing unusual or strange happened, the weather was beautiful and all was right with the world so I apologize for no real adventure.  Just a lot of beautiful places visited, memories had and unforgettable times with family.

Here are a few more things we saw…

We saw the Louvre which houses the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo statue among many, many other things.  The Mona Lisa was tiny. She isn’t this grand painting and at times hard to imagine why this painting is so famous, but it is and we saw it.  The picture I took does it no justice so I am hoping my daughter with the good camera got some good pictures.

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We also went to the many churches and cathedrals and all were amazing.

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And the museums were boundless and if I never step into another one for rest of my life I am okay with that…just kidding.

And let’s not forget Versailles.  Wow!  What a place that small, tiny palace is.  I think they liked Gold…A LOT OF GOLD!!!

And the fountains were amazing at the palace as well…

Everywhere you went in the city there were statues and fountains as well.  I mean it, every time you came out on a new street, you had to stop and soak it all in.  There is nothing like that where I come from.

And of course the Arc de Triomphe…

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Okay, Okay…I have bored you enough with the pictures.  Let us get to the music.  The goal on the trip was to hit as many record stores as I could find and only buy things I couldn’t find here in the States.  It didn’t always follow that rule, but I stuck to it pretty hard.  The first store I went was a bust.  Nothing.  The rock section was weak.  The next store, which happened to be a block from our apartment was NEVER OPEN!! I think they went out of business.

I was getting worried.  We were traveling around so much, hitting museum after museum and walking mile after mile (we averaged around 8 miles a day walking) that there was little time to record shop.  I finally got out one afternoon and walked to a place called Betinos Record Shop.

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It was a great little store, but I didn’t find a lot.  I did find the UK pressing of Billy Idol’s Vital Idol with the different cover and one less track than the US version I have.  I was pretty excited about that.

I also found a 12″ Single of Billy Idol’s “To Be A Lover” from Whiplash Smile which I  could probably found in the states, but this was the French Edition.

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And the last thing at this store was a 12″ Single of Whitesnake’s Give Me More Time from the album Slide It In.  The B-Side was the song Need Your Love So Bad which was the bonus track on the Cassette.

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And that was it…only 17 Euros spent.  Not too bad.  After this stop, I continued over to Born to Be Bad Records and guess what, they were closed.  The website showed as open, but the site was wrong.  At this point, it was late and I headed back to the apartment so we could all go to dinner.

The next day, I was able to squeeze in a little time at the best record store I could find…Rock’n’Roll Voltage.  The specialize in Hard Rock, Thrash, Glam, Death, Doom and Black Metal…Heavy Metal Overload (HMO) would feel right at home in this store.

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I found a lot here!!  A LOT!!!  If I wanted to spend $1,000’s on 12″ Singles for Def Leppard, Kiss, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, etc…I could have gone broke.  I needed unlimited funds in this store which I didn’t have.  I walked out with two Non-Kiss items at this store.  The first was this beauty…

A 12″ Picture Disc of the Coverdale * Page song “Take Me For A Little While”.  It gives you two versions of that song (LP and Acoustic) as well as “Shake My Tree” (The Guitar Crunch Mix) and “Easy Does It”.

And to top it off, I found a 12″ of David Coverdale’s “The Last Note of Freedom” from the Days of Thunder Soundtrack.  This will work great in the David Coverdale series that will be starting soon on the site.

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Then I hit the mother lode of Bootlegs for Kiss.  The guy specializes in Bootlegs and he showed me all the bootlegs he had and he had tons!!!  We stayed focused with Kiss and I ended up buying 7 different Kiss concerts from his selection.  I am telling you, I needed unlimited funds and I would have enough material to write for years on this blog and never have to buy another thing.

Anyway, here are the shows I bought…

Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ – July 10, 1976):

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Kiss – North Hampton, PA – March 19, 1975 (Roxy Theatre):

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Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (He Victory Burlesque, Toronto, ON, Canada – September 14th, 1974):

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Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Largo, MD – July 8, 1979):

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Kiss – Look Wot You Dun To Me: Kiss On Japan Tour 1988 (The Castle Hall, Osaka, Japan – April 18, 1988):

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Kiss – The Hottest Show On Earth (Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA – September 2010):

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Kiss – Accept No Imitations (T. H. Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, AK – November 29, 1985):

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And that was my haul.  Getting them back to the U.S. was a pain.  I had to borrow my daughters Paris bag she bought as it was the only bag that fit the albums and let me tell you, she wasn’t happy about that.  I had to carry them under my arm the whole way (except overhead bin when on the plane).  They weren’t light by any means, but no complaints from me.  All these Kiss Bootlegs will get reviewed for A Kiss Bootleg Series I will now do as a result.

There you have it. The Paris trip in a nutshell.  Thanks for taking the journey with me and I hope you enjoyed it.  It was the trip of a lifetime for us and memories the kids will have forever.  We did New York City last year, Paris this year…what will next Spring Break hold??? We will have to wait and see (I am thinking Hawaii or London; the kids are thinking LA/San Francisco)