Review: Billy idol's album: Cyberpunk

Rover · Plugged in Joined: 30 Sep 2006 Posts: 27 Location: France

I guess that everybody has heard about this album? It was released in 93, under the title Cyberpunk by a guy who had until here made only rock'n roll stuff. Some said that Billy used the Cyberpunk thing only for the hype effect, some cyberpunks enjoy this album...Personally, this is how I discovered CP, so I'll always cherish this album Razz

Well, the question is, is this album CP or not?
Let's analyze each of the songs...
Intro: that's a sort of summing up of the basics of CP: big governmental conspiracies, no hope for humankind excepts through technology, freedom of the informations...
1) Wasteland:
lyrics: a few lines are clearly CP, and promote hacking: "In VR law, computer crime, so sublime..." but the rest of the song has a lot of possible interpretations. It's about a sort of missionary who wants to bring religion and hope into 'the wasteland'...This reminds me of this street preacher in the movie Johnny Mnemonic. Perhaps the wasteland is supposed to be a futuristic shanty town, or to symbolize the fall of human relations because of the rise of technology? Anyway, I don't really think that religion and CP have a lot of things in common. Here, I have the feeling that Billy wants to bring back to human life the cyberpunks??
Tune: not CP...maybe a few elcetronical sounds.

2)Shock to the System : lyrics Yeah, Billy wants to make a revolution! Don't forget that in cyberpunk there's punk...
Tune: Billy added some sounds (flamethrower, police sirens...) to a guitar tune, and this sounds inventive enough to be CP to me.
Music Video: if this is not CP, then what the hell is CP? Machines, riot, cops, special effects made by Stan Winston (he worked on the Terminator movies)...

3)Tomorrow People:
lyrics: this song evokes to me a post-apocalyptic future (World War III, a scifi story/a dirt colored sky...), but it could also be about video games: "I like to fight, I kill global oppression, if I quit, no hope of redemption"...Anyway, the sadness and the despair are CP: "blue eyes crying in the rain", "I lost my love, lost my hold, I lost my heaven too"...I can picture a replicant from Blade Runner saying that.
Tune: some strange sounds and voices in the beginning which could be considered CP...

4) Adam in Chains :
lyrics: the long intro of the song reminds me of zen philosophy, and the rest doesn't make much sense...
Music video: sorry, I can't find any links anymore, but there was a music video where you saw a guy jacked into virtual reality: that's CP, but this doesn't explain the lyrics ^^
Tune: the sounds fit with the music video, and it's appropriated to listen while surfing

5)Neuromancer
lyrics: the song is a reference to Gibson't book...the lyrics deliver the same message, so, yep, that's CP.
Tune: some strange voice (that remind me of Deus Ex Machina in Matrix), and some electronical sounds...yes, this could be CP, but it sounds less CP than any techno song.

6)Power Junkie
lyrics:A song about drugs...Drugs are important in CP, most of the characters are addicted. But to make a true CP song, I think that Billy should have mixed drugs and technology for exemple
Tune: it doesn't really sound CP. Billy made a big creativity effort toward the end, where you hear a very strange voice, and he also played with the right-left effect (gotta listen to this with headphones)

7)Love Labours On :
lyrics:Title says it all, it's a song about love....I tried really hard, but I can't see the link with CP
Tune: it sounds like an emo songs...I dunno many Cp guys who are emos, though.

8)Heroin :
lyrics: Another song about drug. The line "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" matches with the Cp philosophy, and near the end of the song you can hear Billy say something like "VR hell heroin": what if he wasn't talking about drug addiction, but about computer addiction?
Tune: some parts of it have a strong techno influence

9)Shangrila :
lyrics: A song full of hope and love: somewhere there's a magic place where we can live and love forever. That's not CP. But....maybe this magic place is supposed to be cyberspace? If Billy's seeking this heaven, maybe that's because his real life is an urban hell?
Tune: a strong oriental influence, but it doesn't sound CP

10)Concrete Kingdom :
lyrics: No hope, no love in our modern world...This is CP. Plus, at one moment, Billy sings "what's for my son?": it means that he fears the future, because he knows it'll be even darker than our world...
tune: Billy worked with the voices once again, making them sound like in a techno song by moments

11)Venus :
lyrics: Venus was a goddess...well, how is this supposed to be CP? It's a personnal interpretation, but from a CP point of view, Venus could be an A.I.
tune: this sounds too classic to be CP

12) Then the Night Comes :
lyrics: err...I can't see any clear link with CP. Maybe with the underground thing? You know, CP have fun at night and go crazy because they don't give a damn about authority...I'm not sure that it was what Billy meant however^^
Tune: strange rock'n roll...it sounds cool, but not CP

13) Mother Dawn :
lyrics: a sort of hymn to the Nature...this sounds more like a Disney movie than anything CP related
tune: a soft song, nothing related with any form of CP music...

In the end, 8 songs out of 13 could be considered as CP...that's more than half, so for me, this album is CP. But I agree that this conception mainly depend on the personnal interpretation: I think that some songs unintentionally sounded CP (Venus for exemple). A few musical elements could be CP, but when you listen to the whole album, the feeling that remain toward the tune isn't really CP. I don't think that Billy used the word cyberpunk for the commercial effect because of the Shock to the system music video, which is the proof that he had understood and believed in cyberpunk.
Any opinions about this album? I know that a lot of people hate it Razz

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"Cyberpunks are the true rebels"

Fargo

Interesting review, Rover, I thought I would just add a YouTube link to the video "Shock to the system", since I we're talking about Billy Idol and his Cyberpunk album here Mr. Green

http://youtube.com/watch?v=grBLbiyJTDk

Mr. Roboto

vialick

That video is hawwt. Last goth club I went to played that song actually. Quite a night.

Rover · Plugged in Joined: 30 Sep 2006 Posts: 27 Location: France

and here's the music video for the song heroin: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CEsgpFqCK2Q err ..that's not Billy's best video...
And maybe Mr Roboto is right about Venus, it would make sense!
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"Cyberpunks are the true rebels"

Vesper

I think some people dissed Billy for trying so hard to get into a movement that was long proclaimed "dead" Wink

But then again, I really like the LP and think he did a great job. It's catchy and unusual at the same time.
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"<Immortal_Peregrin> The first time I read Neuromancer was in a txt file."

sfam

Awesome! I can post this on the front. Do we have any good still shots of this album we can use? Obviously the cover - anything else?

Rover · Plugged in Joined: 30 Sep 2006 Posts: 27 Location: France

Here are a few pics you could use:
http://eil.com/newGallery/Billy-Idol-Cyberpunk-169266.jpg(japanese cover)
http://eil.com/newGallery/Billy-Idol-Cyberpunk-20078.jpg(promo poster)
http://members.home.nl/roelof-everts/img15.gif (live for the Neuromancer)
You could maybe include a youtube link to the Shock to the system video, I dunno?
_________________
"Cyberpunks are the true rebels"

Spaceball · Just entering cyberspace Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Posts: 17

I bought the Album when it was released. The cover contains all lyrics and a bunch of really crappy images - like the front cover itself. There is even a email adress on one part of the cover. idol@well.sf.ca.su I doubt that Billy Idol ever used this email adress. I even wonder more that the Well does still exist.

The music is kinda experimental. If you know what the Billy Idol sound is you will be impressed that he has done something like Cyberpunk. Its more like a mixing of modern Rock and House or Techno music. The album has 19 Tracks and six of them are just sounds and spoken words, which are not listet on the album at all.

As far as I know Billy Idol never finished reading Neuromancer. I remember that a german teen magazine reviewed the album and stated something that Cyberpunk is some new weird trend from britain which will be gone within the next couple of months. Those teen magazine guys didn't know anything about Cyberpunk at all. Mr. Green

J.C Denton

Personnaly I love that album! I find it to be incredible just by its atmosphere. I decided to listen to it after having rea some articles saying it was a good stuff and at the same time I knew that a lot of peoples said that this album was partly responsible of the decline of the movement. Ans curiously, while it's been released in 1993, I find it to have some 80's SF-like atmosphera in some ways. I'll give my personnal review. Not as good certainly as the one already given in that topic but I'll give my personnal feelings:

Wasteland: A very good introduction song, well it's sounds like an introduction sound anyway. First the monologue then the music starts abruptly. Nice dark tone in that song.

Shock to the System: some mix beetween 50's and 80's rock by the rythm and the instruments. A really good and smashing song.

Tomorrow Peoples: Not my favorite song. It's good but didn't moved me that much.

Adam in Chains: A really good atmospheric song. I tried to listen to it in full darkness and eyes closed. That worked really good.

Neuromancer: It reminds me another soing, I don't remember which one. Anyway I like it a lot for its strong guitars and rythm.

Power Junkie: More in a hard-rock tradition than really CPish. But still, good with great guitars and some nice electronic effects.

Love Labours On: Well the less CP song of the bunch maybe but a really good emo song with a bit of despair inside of it but it fits much more with a classical subject than with CP.

Heroin: On of the top song I'll keep in mind for that album. Each time I'm listening to it, I'm feeling like exploring a huge city lighted by thousand neons lights around me.

Shangrila: Same for Tomorrow People. Maybe because I think the oriental influence doesn't really fits with the CP theme.

Concrete Kingdom: A great song I think for the way it's been played. Work with electronic instruments is great. I dunno why but I see a huge cristal city when I listen to that song. Certainly because some of the instruments.

Venus: Nice one but not really extraordinary again. I was surprised even when I met that title in the playlist, I was not expecting to see a goddess there. Well as long as it's not a remix of bananarama's song I'll take it.

When the Nights Comes: It's sound like a song for a gang. I immagine the scene: big bad guys with black leather jackets grabbing their choppers and starting their raids into the city.

Mother Dawn: My second personnal favorite. Ok it's not really a CP theme but when I listen to that song I close my eye and I see myself driving in a motorcycle in a highway with neon-lights everywhere. In a way there's some kind of "Ode to Freedom" in that song but I don't know why, I just feel I want to take the keys and drive to infinity and beyond just when I hear it.
_________________

J.C Denton

Personnaly I love that album! I find it to be incredible just by its atmosphere. I decided to listen to it after having rea some articles saying it was a good stuff and at the same time I knew that a lot of peoples said that this album was partly responsible of the decline of the movement. Ans curiously, while it's been released in 1993, I find it to have some 80's SF-like atmosphera in some ways. I'll give my personnal review. Not as good certainly as the one already given in that topic but I'll give my personnal feelings:

Wasteland: A very good introduction song, well it's sounds like an introduction sound anyway. First the monologue then the music starts abruptly. Nice dark tone in that song.

Shock to the System: some mix beetween 50's and 80's rock by the rythm and the instruments. A really good and smashing song.

Tomorrow Peoples: Not my favorite song. It's good but didn't moved me that much.

Adam in Chains: A really good atmospheric song. I tried to listen to it in full darkness and eyes closed. That worked really good.

Neuromancer: It reminds me another soing, I don't remember which one. Anyway I like it a lot for its strong guitars and rythm.

Power Junkie: More in a hard-rock tradition than really CPish. But still, good with great guitars and some nice electronic effects.

Love Labours On: Well the less CP song of the bunch maybe but a really good emo song with a bit of despair inside of it but it fits much more with a classical subject than with CP.

Heroin: On of the top song I'll keep in mind for that album. Each time I'm listening to it, I'm feeling like exploring a huge city lighted by thousand neons lights around me.

Shangrila: Same for Tomorrow People. Maybe because I think the oriental influence doesn't really fits with the CP theme.

Concrete Kingdom: A great song I think for the way it's been played. Work with electronic instruments is great. I dunno why but I see a huge cristal city when I listen to that song. Certainly because some of the instruments.

Venus: Nice one but not really extraordinary again. I was surprised even when I met that title in the playlist, I was not expecting to see a goddess there. Well as long as it's not a remix of bananarama's song I'll take it.

When the Nights Comes: It's sound like a song for a gang. I immagine the scene: big bad guys with black leather jackets grabbing their choppers and starting their raids into the city.

Mother Dawn: My second personnal favorite. Ok it's not really a CP theme but when I listen to that song I close my eye and I see myself driving in a motorcycle in a highway with neon-lights everywhere. In a way there's some kind of "Ode to Freedom" in that song but I don't know why, I just feel I want to take the keys and drive to infinity and beyond just when I hear it.
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xVx-01

Well besides the fact that Billy Idol makes me want to dig my eyeballs out with spoons (no accounting for personal taste right?) my only beef with the Cyberpunk album is that people often assume that it's the be-all and end-all of cyberpunk music or that all cyberpunk music sounds like this. Ugh =/

While there isn't really a specific cyberpunk music genre, I would consider most goth/industrial and digital hardcore to be much closer to the mark. Atari Teenage Riot is, in my opinion, the quintessential cyberpunk band.