Billy Idol Yells At Christmas Tree, Plays With Devil

12/06/04 5:30pm

by David McDougall (CHARTattack)

Long before Spike appeared on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the bleach-blond/black leather look belonged to a sneering '80s rock star — one Billy Idol.

Well, after 10 years of dancing only with himself, Idol is ready to make some new waves in the world of rock music. Aside from one track on his 2001 Greatest Hits package, the singer hasn't had any new music in a decade, but that's all set to change in 2005. In early January we'll see Idol's new single "Scream" hit the airwaves, with the full-length album Devil's Playground to follow in the spring.

Idol and his band have been working on the new material for months, apparently getting back to his rocker roots on tracks titled "Super Overdrive," "World Coming Down" and the sweet holiday ditty "Yellin' At The Christmas Tree."

On the Billy Idol fan club website, guitarist Steve Stevens wrote in a message that the new material is "fresh, unruly and gave me the opportunity to revisit some of my New York punk rock roots."

The longtime Idol band member added, "I think we have in our own way reinvented ourselves," referring to the addition of a slew of new players: drummer Brian Tichy, bass player Stephen McGrath and keyboardist Derek Sherinian.

The new line-up has been touring with Idol, performing his classic material for several years — when the singer signed a new record deal, the others were happy to head into the studio, with Tichy and Stevens also co-writing many of the songs. Idol apparently has the one thing crucial to an attempted comeback — a sense of humour about his career.

He introduced Snoop Dogg at the American Music Awards this November, telling reporters afterwards that it was great fun and "this gets me out of the house."

A world tour will begin in March, with Devil's Playground hitting stores on the 22nd of that month.