22. February 2025
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Media Review

Billy Idol – The Roadside EP

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Billy Idol - The Roadside

Billy Idol - The Roadside
4.5

Rating

 4.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Powerful EP with four very different songs
  • Four really good songs

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Just four songs

Likely, you would not rate William Michael Albert Broad to be one of the biggest English music legends. However, you may know the US-British dual citizenship rocker / punk rocker as Billy Idol. About seven years after his last album, Idol is back with a four track EP. Here are my thoughts about Roadside, which is available from 17th September 2021.

 

Billy Idol – About The Artist

Billy Idol was born on 30th November 1955 in Stanmore, London. His artist name is making fun of a teacher he had at school. Idol thereby started to release music quite late. his self-titled debut has been released when idol was 26 years old. The album made it to the fifth spot in the New Zealand charts. The album contained one of Idol’s classics, which is often quoted and copied, White Wedding. However, the following album Rebel Yell with the famous title track become much more popular already. In Canada, for example, the album notes a five time platinum record. From then on, Idol was one of the most successful artists of the 1980’s. After his 1993 Cyberpunk, which still had quite some success, Idol went for a new recording twelve years later, Devil’s Playground. Idol has been nominated thrice for the Grammy Awards, in all cases for the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, but never won that award.

 

Billy Idol – The Roadside – Track by Track

The four track EP lasts 16 minutes.

1. Rita Hayworth

Powerful rock with a lot of tempo and drive – that’s how Billy Idol fans love him best – and just what he delivers in the first song, Rita Hayworth. Apart from that, the song has a lot of quality to be enjoyed with fans when on stage – maybe already during the small tour Idol is doing at the end of year.

2. Bitter Taste

Bitter Taste, the lead single of the EP, comes with a very different character. The acoustic guitars give a folk music / folk rock touch. A very intimate song, in which one of the central events is his almost deadly motorbike crash in 1990.

Hello, goodbye
There’s a million ways to die
Should’ve left me way back
Should’ve left me way back
By the roadside
Hello, goodbye
I was staring in the devil’s eyes
Should’ve left me way back
Should’ve left me way back
By the roadside

3. U Don’t Have To Kiss Me Like That

The beginning of this third song almost felt like an electro-pop song to me – but song more and more turns into a straight rocker with a lot of speed. The rhythm is driving the track – you just have to move to the music.

4. Baby Put Your Clothes Back On

Is that already a ballad in the world of Billy Idol? The last song is definitely the slowest and also most melodic song on this small collection of songs. Especially the ending of the song comes with an catching, but also almost childish easy character.

 

Billy Idol – The Roadside – Spotify

Here is The Roadside on Spotify:

 

Billy Idol – The Roadside – My View

I feel I can express my view very briefly: The Roadside is a really good recording, no doubt. It has a nice wide range of sounds – and all of the songs are high quality. The downside: it is just a collection of four songs. With one or two tracks more, Idol would be close to my top list of EP releases 2021.

 

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