Billy Idol

A science-fiction trip with Billy Idol? Get real. The guy's saving grace has always been an
over-the-top cartoon looniness, coupled with at least one sure-shot single per album.
Sadly, outing No. 6 comes up short – on both sly winks and Top 40-bound hooks. On
Cyberpunk this strutting video-age stud plugs into the computer-nirvana circuit and gets
fried. "A fantasy scene in my machine gave me the secret of life," Idol declares o... More >

If Idol's interest in William Gibson's uncopyrightable neologism was originally piqued by the dollar signs that appear in front of his eyes whenever he encounters the magic rune p-u-n-k, well, the fate of any good idea is that sooner or later it touches people with no deep connection to it--like punk itself and the former William Broad, for instance. Not that Idol would think of offending this new generation he's read about. So "Adam in Chains," which after a long spoken intro devolves into what a vulgarian might take for his latest love-gone-bad rant, is in fact "a prayer for the tomorrow people and powerjunkies." And the deathless "Suck on my love meat" is intended as a critique, not a celebration. Sexist, our Billy? How cyber would that be? (Grade: C-)