Customer Reviews

Perfect Hits 1975-1981

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For fans of British punk, this is a "must have." I would class this one as good as if not better than Never Mind The Bollocks. It's a raw sound which is rare to find on remastered recordings. Billy Idol fans will get a taste of the origin of his rash rock. Songs cover six years and three albums which gives a variety of Generation X sound from John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" to "Ready, Steady Go" and "Untouchables." A great buy. No regrets.

HeyDJ

This was when billy idol was cool. the songs are great, there is good variety, some ballads, some straight ahead rockers. This is the proto-type for modern pop punk, only much much better.

Billy Idol, with his striking "blond hunk" good-looks, and clever musical chops, became an overnight sensation in the UK in the late 1970's. Idol's pop sensibilities, combined with the punk look, limited the Generation-X appeal in the US initially. Like they young Elvis Presley of 1955-1956, with his buns and crotch bursting out of snug leather, Bill Idol and Generation-X looked dangerous, and sounded great.

The songs here have not aged much at all. They still sound contemporaty. In fact, one wishes that the music industry would get rid of all those lame boy bands and sign more rock groups like Gen-X.

Gen-X was short lived (like Elvis Presley's first Band), but like the initial Elvis band, their influence has been far greater than sales would suggest. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that this band, not the later coining of the term by some author, was the real origin of the "GENERATION-X" label. Quite an influence!

There's not a bad song here. The only improvement I'd suggest is upgrading the artwork on the liner & sleeve (Gen X had very HOT publicity photos).

Billy Idol became a big MTV star, but except for his intial solo reseases (DON'T STOP and BILLY IDOL and some songs on the VITAL IDOL compilation), he never re-created the sexual energy suggested by the Generation-X. Messy personal problems got in the way of his music, and seemed to cause it to all lose its edge as the 1980's wore on. In the end, Idol becema almost a parody of himself it seemed.

Naturally, the critic hated it all (they NEVER get anything right, and they never have, it seems--they all hated Elvis too at first). The bands that the critics all touted quickly sank into oblivion.

Great CD for listening, and as a document from the early Punk era.

Generation X were one of the best bands to emerge from the original UK punk scene and this album offers the proof. Some critics have said they were sell-outs, or too poppy. Whatever. It was okay for the Buzzcocks to be poppy, but not Generation X, right? Got it. The beauty of the first wave of punk bands was that none of them really sounded alike. Gang of Four was differnt from Wire. The Sex Pistols were different from X-Ray Spex and so on. This album compiles some of their best material from their original three albums. Bands currently passing as punk these days could learn a lot by listening to this album. It's great and you won't be disappointed.

Had it not been for independently run radio shows, I probably never would have heard much about Generation X - a short-lived essential British punk band - featuring of course vocalist and future fashion plate Billy Idol. I know I've seen a couple of vintage clips of theirs on cable music shows late at night, but this fifteen track hits package is truly the way to go - I mean here, you get plenty of their stunning self-titled debut plus some hits you might've never heard before. Tunes I found myself playing repeatedly were the early version of "Dancing With Myself", "Your Generation" (possibly, one of THE best punk songs of all time), the fist-pumping "Ready Steady Go", "One Hundred Punks" and John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth". Line-up: Billy Idol-vocals, Bob Andrews-guitar, Tony James-bass and Mark Laff-drums. Highly recommended.

Generation X was at the top of the heap alongside punk bands The Clash, The Jam, The Damned and The Buzzcocks during the late seventies and early eighties. Headed by the exhuberant blonde spikey haired vocalist Billy Idol, Generation X released some excellent songs, most of which are included in this compilation called "Perfect Hits 1975-1981", from their three albums "Generation X", "Valley Of The Dolls" and "Kiss Me Deadly". The standout tracks are numerous starting with the obvious MTV favorite "Dancing With Myself", followed by "Your Generation", "One Hundred Punks", "Ready, Steady, Go", "Day By Day", "Wild Youth", "King Rocker", "Gimme Some Truth" (a punk rendition of the John Lennen classic), and "Untouchables". The packaging is excellent with many rare photos of the band (including a baby faced Billy Idol) and the overall sound quality is excellent. This collection represents an era when punk/new wave overthru arena rock and disco and started a whole new sound so popular many consider it the second British Invasion.

This album is absolutely amazing.

I originally bought this because I am a huge fan of Billy Idol's solo works. I was expecting a mildly good album- maybe okay instrumentations and vocals, but nothing stellar.

Was I ever wrong.

This CD is an absolute classic. The selection is phenomenal- there really is not one bad song on this. It includes the hit "Dancing With Myself" (slightly different guitar sounds from Billy's solo album) and great tracks like "Untouchables" and "English Dream." I would highly recommend buying this CD.

Maybe these guys were poseurs. Maybe Billy Idol has turned into an embarassing parody of himself over the years. Who cares! These songs are great! Generation X had a way with melody and songcraft that few of their peers could match. Maybe as socio-political commentary "Ready, Steady, Go" and "Wild Youth" aren't in the same league as "God Save The Queen" or "London's Burning" but these songs still pack alot of energy, excitement and power. This collection is no substitute for their excellent first album, but it does feature most of that record's standout tracks (in some cases, as different versions) as well as two of the best tracks from "Valley of the Dolls" and some other goodies. But why kick off this compilation with "Dancing With Myself"? That song is more associated with Idol's solo career and not nearly as good as any of Generation X's earlier recordings. Also, there's alot more room for additional songs, so why not a few more from "Valley of the Dolls" ("Night of the Cadillacs" anyone?)and the BBC sessions. Also, I could live without "Wild Dub" but not without "Promises Promises". Why isn't that song on here? But enough of my nitpicking, this is a solid collection.

If you are a Billy Idol fan i think this is a pretty good addition for your collection. I would recommend it.

I bought this "Best Of" compilation back in the 90's when it came out. Its definitely a decent introduction into the excellent work of Billy Idol before he became a self-parody; indeed, I think most Billy Idol fans would admit that his work in Generation X was probably his best work. And this CD definitely hits some high points--"Triumph", "English Dream", "One Hundred Punks", "Kiss Me Deadly", and "Ready, Steady, Go" all showcase the catchy hooks and aggressive guitars that made all 3 Generation X albums so appealing. The main problem is with some of the other selections, many of which are extremely weak and do little to convey the tremendous songwriting talents of the Idol/James team. "New Order", "Wild Dub", and the gimmicky "Gimme Some Truth" are easily among the weakest songs Generation X ever recorded. In general this compilation falls prey to the fallacy that Generation X's main strength was their "punkiness" and as a consequence it samples much more heavily from their first, "punkest" album to the detriment of their successive albums. Only three songs come from "Kiss Me Deadly" (one of which, "Dancing With Myself", is really just a Billy Idol solo song with different guitars) and two from "Valley of the Dolls". "Running With the Boss Sound", which is a magnificant ode the power of rock and roll from "Valley of the Dolls", should have made the cut instead of some of these other songs. And anyone wanting to hear what Generation X sounded like at the absolute peak of their post-punk, powerpop sound should find an ultra-rare copy of "Kiss Me Deadly". "Heavens Inside", "Stars Look Down", and "What Do You Want" off this final Generation X album are all as good or better as the songs included here. Use this CD as the start of a journey into the pop-punk brilliance of Generation X, but don't stop here.