Billy Idol - VH-1 Storytellers

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 Amazon.com

A Worthy Idol

It's hard to fault this pleasing album. Billy Idol is right on the money and belts out a set for posterity. The songlist speaks for itself...not much else to say! April 30, 2007

Bloody Awesome Sounds!!

This is easily the best Billy Idol CD to date.

Not only is it chock full of Billy's earliest and greatest hits but is so full of raw rock and roll energy, it is one of my overall favorite CDs I own. (And yes, I own hundreds of music CDs!)

This CD leaves you feeling satisfied and throughly rocked out. Idol's newest rendition of LA Woman makes the Door's version very weak and dull by comparison. Ever since Billy debut'ed this newest song version - he owned it!

Every single song on this CD is fantastic. His best ever. December 31, 2005

An Album That Will Leave You Crying More, More, More!

Billy Idol is without a doubt one of the finest artists of our time, and also is very underrated. But this 2001 performance at the legendary House Of Blues for the VH1 show "Storytellers" is a great way to bring Idol back into the spotlight.

This album is unlike nay other album Idol has done, live or studio. It's a mostly acoustic perfromance, which gives the songs performed new lives. For instance, when listening to "Cradle Of Love", the opening track and Billy's best song, one does not hear the hard rocking 1990 hit. Instead one hears a jaunty barroom rocker complete with some excellent piano flourishes. Similarly, electric guitar driven numbers like "White Wedding" and "To Be A Lover" are done brilliantly acousticly. And who but the great Steve Stevens can help revive these classics with his siganture guitar talents? The only track that I thought could have been better is "Rebel Yell". To hear a really good acoustic version of this classic, pick up "Billy Idol - Greatest Hits". That has an awesome version of that song and it's done acousticly.

Towards the end of the show, Billy plugs in, kicking off with a blistering "Dancing With Myself", a nod to his Gen X days. That 1970s' puk band is also represented finely on "Ready, Steady, Go", another underrated gem. "Blue Highway" is a rocker from "Rebel Yell" that is great for a long carride. "Mony Mony" has a foul mouthed Billy really getting inot the song with Idol flair. Clsoing out the album is an explosive "L.A. Woman", which I prefer to The Doors' original.

This is definitely a must own for all Idol fans. Heck, most people wo like anything music will love this. Just go out and get it. May 23, 2005

It's like the old songs are new all over again!

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. February 14, 2005

Sort of Like a Live Greatest Hits Album

This culls songs from Billy Idol's Storytellers show on VH1, but it's JUST songs (if you're looking for all the between-songs-stuff, you need to get the DVD instead). Still, it's great to hear Idol dust the cobwebs off of his old hits, ranging from "Dancing With Myself" to "Cradle of Love". There's not too much to recommend this to anyone who already owns his Greatest Hits or isn't an Idol fan, but you do get to hear him swear when he messes part of a song up, and that's kind of funny. April 6, 2004

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