Track Listings (14) - Disc #1| All Artists: Billy Idol Title: VH-1 Storytellers Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label: Capitol Release Date: 2/26/2002 Album Type: Live Genres: Alternative Rock, International Music, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock, Metal Styles: New Wave & Post-Punk, Europe, Britain & Ireland, Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 724353691929 |
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Search - Billy Idol :: VH-1 Storytellers
 | Billy Idol VH-1 Storytellers Genres: Alternative Rock, International Music, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock, Metal
Billy Idol, the original Gen X-er, remains one of the decade's enduring symbols--for better or worse. It's debatable whether this live career retrospective (taped in New York City for the VH1 Storytellers show in April, 20... more » |
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Amazon.com Billy Idol, the original Gen X-er, remains one of the decade's enduring symbols--for better or worse. It's debatable whether this live career retrospective (taped in New York City for the VH1 Storytellers show in April, 2001) is intended to burnish the legacy of Idol's recently stalled career or, more likely, is an attempt to resuscitate it in time for the expected rising tide of '80s nostalgia. (I've got my parachute pants ready; how about you?) An intimate, largely acoustic outing co-helmed by longtime guitarist and songwriting partner Steve Stevens, it's a performance that succeeds by underplaying Idol's MTV-familiar, platinum-haired, curled-lip, and pumping-fist antics and imagery in favor of welcome doses of musical dynamics and scaled-back vocal drama. Indeed, when he drops the snarl, Idol can be a stylist of emphatic conviction, as he proves repeatedly on this set, whose songs range from his days as frontman for early U.K. punk stars Generation X ("Ready Steady Go," "Kiss Me Deadly," "Dancing With Myself") through his prime run of '80s solo hits ("White Wedding," "Rebel Yell," et al.) to more emotionally involved, if less successful, late '80s fare like "Cradle of Love" and "Don't Need a Gun." This is a reinvention for sure, but it's one that cuts beneath Idol's sometimes-insufferable mannerisms to find the musical worth beneath. --Jerry McCulley Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsIt's like the old songs are new all over again! Get What We Give | Georgia | 02/14/2005 (5 out of 5 stars) "Billy Idol is truly an enigmatic rock star. He was, arguably, the driving force behind Generation X, a late 70's punk band. He saw the wave coming (new wave) and got on it in the U.S. with his MTV good looks and bad boy style and dynamite delivery. Idol knew how to make good music, but he was an even better at marketing himself. He made sure he surrounded himself with excellent people (Steve Stevens). He kept up his style and his image and it served him well. Unfortunately, as the 90's came about, Billy seems to have begun to believe his own press and he started spiraling down a drug addicted path that saw him become creatively deprived and his career dried up. With this Storytellers album, Billy and Steve prove that what they had previously crafted wasn't just about fluff and image. It was real music with real emotion behind it. They're the same songs we knew and loved (and still do), but they're much more acoustic here (for VH1 Storytellers show). Rebel Yell is not the stadium song it usually is. Eyes without a Face is even more achingly painful. Catch My Fall is emotional with a bit of a rockabilly twist to it. You get the picture. Left to deliver his music without his stage antics (and hopefully sober - come on Billy we're nuts about you - get off the drugs), Billy proves that he was and is a real talent." Billy Show's 'Em How It's Done! "The Woj" | Downers Grove, IL | 08/11/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "With Steve Stevens back on guitar this album builds to a climax that flat-out rocks concluding with "Mony Mony" & a great cover of the Door's "LA Woman". The songs sound as fresh now as the did almost 20 years ago. Billy Idol is one of the few singers who combines good ole' 50's Eddie Cochran-Gene Vincent era rock and roll, 70's punk, and hard rock. Write off Billy as an MTV cartoon character, but he has more balls and a better voice than any other singer from that era. Billy's ace in the hole is Steven's guitar. He rips thru the Gen X classic "Ready Steady Go" and the acoustic playing on "Cradle Of Love" is killer 50's style Hank Marvin or James Burton. A must." Great Set Of Idol's Best Works. Mr. Fellini | El Paso, Texas United States | 05/09/2002 (4 out of 5 stars) "Billy Idol, one of the great rockers from the 80s gets the VH1 treatment here. "Storytellers" is a fresh take on Idol's best songs and there are truly exhilarating moments. The acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" is excellent, incredibly well-played and sung. Those who have come down on it being changed to acoustic obviously lack a good melodic sense. "White Wedding" remains an interestingly emotional, deep yet hard-edged song. My favorite moment was the closing track, a treat which is a cover of The Doors' "L.A. Woman." It is explosive, dirty and exhilarating, superior to the original album version. It actually does Jim Morrison some justice. Overall it is a great showcasing of Idol's talent as a singer and his band's overall incredible skills with the instruments they play."
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