Apparently compilations are always a big hit with the music buying public. No one wants full albums anymore of new material…nope. They just want the hits. Universal Music & Capitol Records are capitalizing on that and have a series called ‘Icon’. You might have seen one from Kiss, Megadeth, Limp Bizkit, even Billy Ray Cyrus. In 2013, Billy Idol was treated with his own ‘Icon’ greatest hits compilation.
Here is my thing with these releases. They are LAZY! No new edits, no unreleased tracks and only room for a handful of the hits. Not even all the good ones. This Billy Idol release is no different. It only draws from his biggest albums, the first three and one Generation X song. It is missing the good stuff from Charmed Life, Cyberpunk or even Devil’s Playground. However, what is here is good, great in fact. These songs are classics for a reason so I can’t complain about that, but it is still a safe collection. The songs are in chronological order which is also pretty damn lazy.
The albums first is the now classic, “Dancing With Myself”. I say now a classic because this song failed to chart upon its release and didn’t really do much. It wasn’t until Billy released it as one of his solo songs, but that is for another discussion. The song was inspired by what the band saw while on tour in Tokyo. They noticed at that dance clubs, the people were dancing more with their own reflections in the mirrored walls than they were with other people. The song is pure New Wave dance music with a slight punk edge…classic Billy Idol solo. It is so melodic and catchy. The guitars are a little louder on this version and not as much bass, but other than that it is the song you know. A great way to start out the collection. This track is off the Generation X album ‘Kiss Me Deadly’.
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