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| GENERATION X
DISCOGRAPHY ALBUMS Chrysalis Records MARCH 1978: 'Generation X' (CHR1169) Tracks: 'From The Heart' / 'One Hundred Punks' / 'Listen' / 'Ready Steady Go' / 'Kleenex' / 'Promises, Promises' / 'Day By Day' / 'The Invisible Man' / 'Kiss Me Deadly' / 'Too Personal' / 'Youth Youth Youth' Now also on CD as CCD 1169. GENERATION X 'Generation X' (Chrysalis CHR1169) **** You see the **** at the top of this review? Well, if this album had come out six to nine months ago that probably would have been *****, for the balance between the old and new material the LP contains would have been near perfect. The kids (God bless 'em) would have gone apeshit for the Generation X faves like 'Day By Day', 'Ready Steady Go', 'Listen' and 'Youth Youth Youth', and the hack critics would have drooled over the adventurousness of songs like 'Invisible Man' and the remarkable 'Kiss Me Deadly'. The blend is near perfect. I still probably couldn't take the facial and physical contortions with which Billy dominates Generation X's live shows, they probably achieve maximum effectiveness on persons much younger than I of the opposite gender, but as for their albums, I was pleasantly surprised to discover some real talent behind all the posing. This one was late but worth the wait, and barring any more bum decisions, next one could be truly great. DAVE FUDGER (Sounds March 18th 1978) JANUARY 1979: 'Valley Of The Dolls' (CHR 1193) Tracks: 'Running With The Boss Sound' / 'Night Of The Cadillacs'/ 'Paradise West' / 'Friday's Angels' / 'King Rocker' / 'Valley Of The Dolls' / 'English Dream' / 'Love Like Fire' / 'The Prime Of Kenny Silvers (Parts One And Two)'. Now also on CD as CCD 1193. GENERATION X 'Valley Of The Dolls' (CHR 1193) Maybe they weren't the brightest and best, but for a while Generation X seemed like a sure thing among British bands, New Wave division. Though disparaged in their country's hyperthyroid music press, the group's singles sold well, and their concerts were practically riotous. Dyed-blond singer Billy Idol attracted female teenypunks who'd outgrown the Bay City Rollers, and Generation X' energetic crossbreeding of punk with heavy metal almost excused the puerile lyrics. But that was last year. These guys kept a relatively low profile while cutting their second album, but Valley of the Dolls sounds like punk apostasy even in the context of fashionable anti-New Wave backlash. It's not just that the tempos have cooled down or even that Ian Hunter's production enshrouds the band in Mott the Hoople-like murk. On their first LP, ridiculous polemics ("Youth Youth Youth" and "Wild Youth") meshed perfectly with near-hysterical music (guitarist Bob "Derwood" Andrews is a confessed Ritchie Blackmore fan). On Valley of the Dolls, Generation X has presumably progressed to rococo punk: Idol still delivers lyrics in a hoarse sneer, but infantile directness has been replaced by infantile obliqueness. The music wanders around engagingly—the playing remains powerful, even through the haze— yet aimlessly, like a lost puppy. That said, this record is too puzzling to dismiss altogether, unless you have no patience for flubbed rock neural connections. SCOTT ISLER (Rolling Stone #294) (Donated by Joe Donnelly) JANUARY 1981: 'Kiss Me Deadly' (CHR 1327) Tracks: 'Dancing With Myself' / 'Untouchables' / 'Happy People' / 'Heavens Inside' / 'Triumph' Revenge' / 'Stars Look Down' / 'What Do You Want' / 'Poison' / 'Oh Mother'. This was released under the shortened Gen X name and with the new line-up of Billy Idol, Tony James, James Stevenson and Terry Chimes. Now also on CD as CCD 1327. NOVEMBER 1985: 'The Best Of Generation X'(CHM 1521) Tracks: 'Valley Of The Dolls'/ 'Night Of The Cadillacs' / 'One Hundred Punks' / 'Running With The Boss Sound' / 'Friday's Angels' / 'Wild Youth' / 'Ready Steady Go' / 'King Rocker' / 'Dancing With Myself' / 'Youth Youth Youth' / 'Triumph' / 'Revenge' / 'From The Heart'. Macdonald Bros Records JUNE 1987: 'Original Generation X' (JOCKLP 9) Tracks: 'Your Generation' / 'Day By Day' / 'Change Our World' / 'Youth Youth Youth' / 'Gimme Some Truth' / 'From The Heart' / 'No No No' / 'Rockers' / 'Endless Dreams Of Billy Idol' / 'Love Like Fire'. These recordings were made before the band signed to Chrysalis. Capitol Records NOVEMBER 5TH 1991: 'Perfect Hits 1995-1981' (21862) Tracks: Dancing With Myself / Your Generation /Ready, Steady, Go / Untouchables / Day By Day / Wild Youth / Wild Dub / One Hundred Punks / King Rocker / Kiss Me Deadly / Gimme Some Truth / New Order / English Dream / Triumph / Youth, Youth, Youth. Empty Records APRIL 14th 1998: 'KMD Sweet Revenge' (MT-421) (Format: CD) Their missing third album, recorded in 1979 and unreleased until 1998. Featuring eleven tracks.This full length release contains the standout tracks 'Modern Boys', 'Anna Smiles' as well as the original version of the hit 'Dancing With Myself'. This is the record that Gen X fans had been waiting for, for almost twenty years, featuring the original line-up of Billy Idol on vocals, Bob “Derwood” Andrews on guitar, Tony James on bass and Mark Laff on drums. Liner notes by Lord Pathetic. LP version licensed and released by Munster Records in spain. Capitol Records MARCH 2003: 'Anthology' (Capitol) DISC 1: Dancing With Myself / Fridays Angels / Your Generation / Ready, Steady Go / Untouchables / Valley Of The Dolls / Day By Day / Wild Youth / Prime Of Kenny Silvers Parts 1 & 2 / Wild Dub / One Hundred Punks / King Rocker / Kiss Me Deadly / Gimmie Some Truth / New Order / English Dream / Youth, Youth, Youth / Rock’n’Roll / The Hunter. DISC 2 : Triumph / Dancing With Myself / Girls / Modern Boys / Cathy Come Home / Revenge / Flash As Hell / Anna Smiles / Psycho Beat / Stars Looked Down / I Dig Everything / Dancing With My Wealth / Exclusive Interview With Tony James. DISC 3 : Ready Steady Go / This Heat / English Dream / Triumph / Anna Smiles / Night Of The Cadillac’s / No No No / Valley Of The Dolls / Revenge / Kiss Me Deadly / Friday’s Angels / Wild Youth / Day By Day / King Rocker / Your Generation / Rock’n’Roll / Shakin’ All Over / Youth Youth Youth / Outro Jam. GENERATION X 'Anthology' (Capitol) Recently, Chrysalis reissued the first two Generation X albums, remastered with bonus tracks. Now here's a triple disc set that has its pros and cons. First the cons: the liner notes aren't very informative and are awkwardly written and plagued by grammatical and spelling errors. For example, here's a gem of a sentence: "In some cases not all of these albums had even been mixed, but what was recoverable is presented here for the first time in among the groups (sic) hit singles and some classic live material, enjoy." (Sounds like Nihilism On The Prowl! - PDC) Unless you know something about Gen X, you're not going to learn very much from the short liner notes, that's for sure. Also, the CD goes on to say that disc one is "the complete singles," which it most certainly is not. It has the A-sides of most of the singles, but few of the non-LP B-sides, and is basically the same tracks as the Perfect Hits CD that's been available for years, minus "Triumph" and with a few more songs added. A couple of those, covers of "Rock and Roll" and "The Hunter," aren't even from singles, they're previously unreleased outtakes! A couple of minor quibbles with this disc, too: I also wonder why they always include "Wild Dub," certainly not the band's strongest release, since it's, as the title implies, simply a "dub" version of "Wild Youth." The other quibble is the use of the inferior earlier version of "Gimme Some Truth," which was a single B-side. The best version remains on the still-unreissued American version of their first LP, which substituted three album tracks for three more recent recordings. That version of "Truth" has it all over this one. It's tighter, faster and has a great guitar solo and amazing backing vocals. Disc two is the legendary Sweet Revenge album, which would've been the follow-up to Valley Of The Dolls had Derwood Andrews and Mark Laff not quit the band after a Japanese tour. Previously available as a Spanish import on Munster, this version sees the tracks mixed up and has better sound overall. It includes the original version of "Dancing With Myself," later rerecorded by the Gen X line-up for the Kiss Me Deadly LP, as well as superior versions of "Triumph," "Stars Look Down," and "Revenge." The totally unreleased tunes like "Anna Smiles," "Psycho Beat" and "Modern Boys" all rock like crazy. They also added a couple more songs to the line-up, including a great speeded up cover of David Bowie's "I Dig Everything," and a completely unnecessary "dub" version of "Dancing With Myself." There is an interesting audio interview with bassist Tony James at the end, though. Disc three is an entire live show from Osaka, Japan on that ill-fated tour that split the original line-up. I've had this in bootleg form for years, but the sound here is way better, with absolutely none of the hiss of the boot version, and simply amazing sound. A great and enthusiastic show, though I'm curious as to why the last song is listed as "Outro Jam," when it's just the crazed ending part of the last song, "Youth Youth Youth." The long and short of it is, if you're a major Gen X fan you'll want to get this, but casual fans may be better off sticking with the recent expanded CD reissues of the first two albums. ALAN WRIGHT GENERATION X SINGLES There's a wide range of more Generation X recordings and releases that keep on surfaceing as time rolls on. And you can find a good selection of BBC radio one sessions here http://nemsworld.com/genx/bbc.htm plus good Generation X related albums selection here http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/6464/ FOR THE OFFICIAL BILLY IDOL website... www.billyidol.com/ FOR TONY JAMES and his creations try here... www.sputnikworld.com/ |
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| NIHILISM ON THE PROWL! LOOKS BACK ON THE RECORDED LEGACY OF GENERATION X. ALBUMS SINGLES |
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