Billy Idol CYBERPUNK

Personnel: Billy Idol (vocals, keyboards, programming); Mark Younger-Smith (guitar, sitar, keyboards, programming); Robin Hancock (keyboards, programming); Jamie Mahoberac (keyboards, organ); Doug Wimbish, Larry Seymour (bass); Tal Bergman (drums); David Weiss (saw); Durga McBroom, Jo Henwood, Robert Farago, Carnie Wilson, Wendy Wilson (background vocals).
The CYBERPUNK [Limited Edition] Digipak CD includes a biography on floppy disk, the first music bio ever commercially available on computer disk.
Cyberpunk, Idol's attempt to restyle himself as a futuristic cyber-rocker, only works when he falls back on his effortlessly catchy guitar hooks and melodies of his past hits (the first single, "Shock to the System," for instance). Unfortunately, most of the album is padded with pretentious speeches, sampled dialog, and underdeveloped songs. Especially noteworthy is his techno-dance interpretation of the Velvet Underground's "Heroin" (featuring a repeated Patti Smith quote), which is one of the worst covers ever recorded. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock