This did not go the way I thought, but has been delightful all the same.
First, for that part of the retrospective when there were some bands that it was important to not leave out, but that I had never reviewed, Billy Idol was one:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2021/06/review-retrospective-not-reviewed-but.html
There was certainly the thought that I would want to review some of them at some point, perhaps with the hope that I could see them live, but there were no concrete plans; I'm not really going to concerts right now, at least not indoors.
Then when I was on Youtube getting a daily song ready, a new Billy Idol video popped up: "Bitter Taste". It became the song of the day for September 2nd.
Then another video popped up, "Save Me Now".
This is where I got things wrong; the two videos were stylistically similar, so I thought they were from a single album. Then I saw that the last album release was 2014. I was really late on "new".
In fact, Kings & Queens of the Underground, an album, came out in 2014, thus concurrent with Idol's excellent autobiography, Dancing With Myself.
Idol also released an EP, The Roadside, about three weeks ago. "Save Me Now" is from the album. "Bitter Taste" is from the EP, released before the full EP was out, so was in fact very new.
I liked them both so much that I needed to include both in this review, and yet I have focused so much on those two specific releases that I can't call it a full review of Billy Idol.
Despite seven years between them, they fit well together.
Listening, I love them. It is such a revelation of growth, and yet it is also a natural growth and maturation. It's not a departure so much as a becoming.
I hear familiar things, like a cadence on "Bitter Pill" that kind of reminds me of "Sweet Sixteen". Sometimes there are hints in the lyrics; I believe I heard the phrase "rebel yell".
At the same time everything is deeper and richer. They are often still so much fun, like (especially the intro on) "Rita Hayworth" and "Can't Break Me Down".
"Save Me Now" probably had the most profound first impact for me.
In the video, a man dressed as a priest (but probably not a priest) drives a cop car (the cop is handcuffed in the back) while pawing the irritated woman beside him. That seems surreal, and yet, as Idol sings about consulting the law and a priest, without much help, it suddenly makes sense that often traditional institutions that are supposed to be authoritative leave us hanging.
Despite that, there is not a surrender. He is still asking, though the answer may be more in personal relationships than traditional institutions.
And then Steve Stevens comes out, so it's perfect.
Speaking of relationships, the change that seems most striking for the EP is a theme of taking relationships more slowly, having learned the value of connection and not wanting to damage that.
Which is pretty dang mature, but it still rocks.
Old fans who have not kept up should be pleased by these developments.
There is more. More, more, more, more! More, more, more!
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