Essential [2011]

by Billy Idol

Overview

As one of the first poster children of the MTV era, Billy Idol's iconic punk image has always been a little at odds with his music. While the spiky hair, perma-sneer, and studded leather jacket suggested rough living and raw sounds, Idol scored enormous mainstream success from the very beginning of his solo career, mostly with a moody, melodic sound that came much closer to hard-edged pop than gritty punk. Idol's most memorable moments in the early days came from the amalgam of catchy tunes -- crooned and yelped in his low rasp -- and unsettling video imagery. Essential focuses on Idol's seemingly endless string of hits from the early MTV era, including ubiquitous smashes like "White Wedding," "Eyes Without a Face," "Rebel Yell," and his solo version of "Dancing with Myself," a song he played first with his early band Generation X. With no shortage of early-'80s hits, post-'80s representation is limited to two tracks from 1990's Charmed Life and "Shock to the System, " the lead single from Idol's 1993 concept record Cyberpunk. ~ Fred Thomas

Product Details

Release Date:	11/08/2011
Label:	Emi Gold
UPC:	5099968023423
Rank:	123164

Tracks

1. Rebel Yell
2. Hot in the City
3. White Wedding, Pt. 1
4. Eyes Without a Face
5. Catch My Fall
6. Mony Mony [Edit]
7. To Be a Lover
8. Sweet Sixteen
9. Flesh for Fantasy
10. Don't Need a Gun [Single Edit]
11. Dancing with Myself
12. Blue Highway
13. Cradle of Love
14. Prodigal Blues
15. Shock to the System

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Billy Idol   Primary Artist
Generation X   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Billy Idol   Composer
Ritchie Cordell   Composer
David Werner   Composer
William Bell   Composer
Tom James   Composer
Tommy James   Composer
Steve Stevens   Composer
Bobby Bloom   Composer
Booker T. Jones   Composer
Mark Younger-Smith   Composer
Albert Sanchez   Photography
Tony James   Composer
Bo Gentry   Composer