Billy Idol, who has had an enviable career, was a punk rock icon who was a huge success in the MTV world of the '80s, and now he's back with his new EP, The Roadside, offering his own more mature view of the world, but still the hustle and bustle of punk rock.
Those rock classics that Billy Aidor released in the '80s have recently gained a lot of revisits, in part because youtube is filled with channels with all sorts of fan reactions.
For example, like many of her younger peers, the uprunner of The Jayy Show was terrified when he first saw the MV for Rebel Yell. When she realized how old the song was, she said she wished he was alive so she could see him live.
Indeed, many of the old musicians and bands she's responded to are gone.
Billy Idol
However, Billy is still doing very well and still has great performances, starting with a series of performances in Las Vegas since October 16, 2021. But he also realized that because of the disastrous event of February 6, 1990, he might have said goodbye to the stage forever, or even had children and grandchildren of his own.
On that disastrous day, he rode a motorcycle, dashed past a no-go sign in a hoot, and then was knocked over by a car and passed out on the cement floor in pain.
"It was a particularly scary time for me," Billy said in a video interview with Billboard, "and in a very short time, I don't know if I'll be able to keep my legs." It's scary, it's painful, it's messy. I knew I was going to have to deal with my drug addiction, and I also got both mental and physical scars. ”
He knew he was lucky because he wasn't wearing a helmet at the time, but his skull wasn't broken. He was indeed, really lucky, that not only did he not lose his right leg in the end, but he recovered quickly and was able to tour again in August 1990 – although at that time he still had to walk on crutches.
The accident did cost Billy the chance to appear in the 1990 hit movies "The Gate" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," but fortunately, he felt his pattern was open.
"I knew I had to stop doing things that hurt me," he said, "and I had to accept the fact that I had been too frivolous about my life in the past." I was just having kids, so I really had to start thinking about what I was going to say to them. ”
Billy spent most of his '90s trying to get rid of his addiction and alcohol addiction.
"I started to change my life," Billy recalled, "and it took me a long time, probably a decade or so." Slowly, the Abstinence Mutual Aid gave me a sense of discipline, and eventually I returned to a state of only drinking a few drinks. I stopped drinking at home and only drank two drinks when I went to restaurants. That's when I realized that I didn't really depend on alcohol, I really just needed to drink a little. ”
In that decade, Billy also had a big magic trick in music, that is, the 1993 album Cyberpunk, which was heavily influenced by internet culture and electronic music.
Cyberpunk cover
Cyberpunk was originally the soundtrack to brett Leonard's sequel to the 1992 film Lawn Mower, but the film was later canceled and the album became a Billy music album. It was ahead of its time and challenged his audience.
The album did not advance in the way he was originally musical, and had more profound lyrics. But Billy himself said he enjoyed making that album, and he deliberately chose to create it in a sober state.
He said: "I had a great time and I still think there are some places where it's good. I mean, it's a pity that there isn't a single hit on this album, which may be a point that makes some people very unhappy. ”
He continued: "In a way, this album is about being away from the poison of society, and it's like a struggle that's going on in society. So I talk about meditation, I talk about self-healing. People would say 'Dude, he's not singing about sex, so it's not Billy Aidor.' Maybe not — I don't know, but I just never thought I would just write about sex. ”
Back to Billy's 2021 EP Roadside, the EP by Dark Horse Records reflects his broader view of life and gives people a glimpse of a more mature, but still maintaining the hustle and bustle of punk rock.
Billy began recording the four songs around May 2020, and although he met some of the people who died of COVID-19, he felt he wasn't ready to write a song about the pandemic, so he chose to sing something about himself at this watershed moment in his life, and he felt that others would agree with his choice.
The end result: the gloomy "Bitter Taste"— a song reminiscent of his 1986 song "Sweet Sixteen" and Chris Isaak's classic "Wicked Game"— that would take him back to where he might have died.
"U Don't Have to Kiss Me Like That" awakens the hedonistic Billy, but years later, he hooks up with the man who ran away.
Baby Put Your Clothes Back On, on the other hand, will show an older, more sane man messing up everything by deciding not to sleep with the woman he loves too early.
(To be continued)
references：
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9642621/billy-idol-interview-miley-cyrus-metoo/