It has
turned into an eighties week at the old CD Odyssey. My last review was the
Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and fresh on the heels of that masterpiece comes
another one of the better early eighties albums.
Disc 1393 is…. Self-Titled
Artist:
Billy Idol
Year of Release: 1982
What’s up with the
Cover? Billy Idol, looking
moderately cool in his faux-leather vinyl vest. Billy has a tattoo, which back
in 1982 was code for “total badass”.
How I Came To Know
It: I
knew the singles off this album when I was a teenager but don’t recall the
record (although it may have been played at a party or two back in the day).
More recently it came to my attention when my friend Chris played some early
David Bowie at a music listening night. This sparked my interest, so when I saw
a bargain on a 2-CD set (along with 1983’s “Rebel Yell”) I scooped it up.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Bill Idol
albums (if you are following along, you already know which two). Both are great
records, but I’m going to give the edge to this one and put it #1.
Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5
Billy Idol is the crooner with a snarl, and the brilliance of his debut
album is how he manages to do both with energy and style. 1983’s follow up “Rebel
Yell” has had a more enduring impact on pop culture (and spawned more hits) but
it came together first on his self-titled debut.
“Come On, Come On” opens the record and sets the tone, with a
simple but infectious guitar riff from Steve Stevens. Stevens is a big part of
Idols’ sound, adding the crunch these songs need to pull them out of the eighties
pop tunes they might otherwise be. Idol may evoke rock and roll with his lip
snarl and some well-timed fist pumps on a music video, but it is the music that
gives these records staying power, not the image-obsessed rock videos.
“Come On, Come On” also demonstrates Idol’s ability to raise a
song from a simple keg-shaker into an anthem. His voice is surprisingly smooth,
adding just the right amount of grit to draw in all those hard rockers like me
that were alert to any signs that this might be just another pop song. Of
course it was just a pop song, but it was a great pop song, so we were easily
placated.
After “Come On, Come On” we are treated to the album’s classic
hit, “White Wedding”. Again, the combination of smooth production and
guitar riff lands the song right at the intersection of pop and rock. This is
also some of Idol’s best vocal work, conveying the menace of a family feud, the
layers of which are never fully explained but lurk just under the surface of
the song.
“Hot in the City” combines an E-Street Band swing with a bit of
guitar and Idol’s best impersonation of an early sixties heart-throb (which is
what he really is). I had to check the liner notes of this one because I was
convinced it was a cover from that earlier era but no, it’s an original.
The album always makes you feel like you are an integral part of the
experience. “Dead on Arrival” is a fist-pumping rock anthem, and “Nobody’s
Business” has an “oh-oo-oooh-oh-oh” in the chorus that encourages you
to ooh-ooh along. And there is no song ever made that was more tailor made for
arm swinging eighties-dancing than “Dancing with Myself.” If anything
could make that kind of dancing cool (and not much can) it is “Dancing with Myself.”
“Dancing with Myself” and “White Wedding” remain company Christmas
party staples, guaranteed to load the dance floor with middle-aged executives
and twenty-something interns alike. And those twenty-somethings aren’t just out
there because they were raised on Mom and Dad’s record collection; they’re out
there because the songs are still amazing.
What is also amazing is how many other killer tracks are on the album. They
may not make it on Idol’s many compilation records or be DJ favourites under
the disco ball, but they are worth getting to know all over again, and so is
this record. Please go do so. You can thank me later.
Best tracks: Come
On Come On, White Wedding Part 1, Dead on Arrival, Nobody’s Business, Hole in
the Wall, Dancing With Myself
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