Kings & Queens of the Underground


Kings & Queens of the Underground is the eighth studio album by the English rock singer Billy Idol, released on 17 October 2014 by BFI Records. It was Idol's first album of new material since Devil's Playground. It debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200, becoming Idol's highest-debuting album to date, and number 9 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart for the week of 8 November 2014. Videos were released for the songs "Can't Break Me Down" and "Save Me Now".
WWW billyidol.net/kings-queen...

Background

The album features new-wave synthesizers and keyboards, reflecting a new creative direction for Idol, and includes autobiographical lyrical themes from his co-written autobiography, Dancing With Myself. The title track was a collaborative effort, with Idol conceiving the concept and then, with his band, paying homage to fallen New York rock and roll heroes.The initial recording sessions were completed, but Idol felt the album was still incomplete. To finish the record, Idol reached out to Greg Kurstin, who wrote and produced the songs that would become the album's single.

Tour

The Kings & Queens of the Underground Tour started on 5 November 2014 and ended 4 April 2015. Over the 40-date tour, Idol with his band performed in Europe, North America and Australia. The setlist included five songs from the album, "Postcards from the Past", "Can't Break Me Down", "Save Me Now", "Kings & Queens of the Underground" and "Whiskey and Pills", as well as 13 older songs and two guitar solos by Steve Stevens.

Critical reception

The album was met with mixed to positive reception with the album receiving a combined score of 64/100 on Meatcritic. Classic Rock game the album a positive review stating “The plastic punk with the cartoon sneer has made his grown-up masterpiece.”

Personnel