The Performance
When William Broad defiantly took the name Billy Idol, his way of snubbing one of his schoolteachers that described the aimless student as "idle," and formed the group Generation X in the late 1970's with friend and fellow musician Tony James, hardly anyone knew that what was to come in future years from the man. The band would eventually sign to Chrysalis Records and record three albums, becoming one of the hip punk acts of post-Sex Pistols' Britain, but it wouldn't last long.
Idol would leave Generation X and make for California to start up a solo career. Setting aside the more blatant punk aspects for a more commercially viable sound coupled with his very punk visual aesthetic, the rock and roll bad boy would eventually go on to become a staple of the airwaves in the U.S. on both radio and the fledgling MTV network.
By the end of the 1980's Billy Idol and Steve Stevens would fall out and Idol's career would fizzle after numerous scandals involving -- what else? -- drugs and women. In the 90's, the musician would attempt a couple of comebacks, even releasing an electronic album in the cyberpunk style that fell like a tree in an empty forest. Eventually, the two musicians would make up and Idol's career would get back on track.
Here, in this release from Eagle Rock Entertainment for the U.S. series Soundstage, the punk rocker with the perpetual sneer is back with Steve Stevens by his side in a 2009 concert at Chicago's Congress Theatre. He runs through most of the popular hits from his 80's heyday and even some Generation X classics, such as "Ready Steady Go" and "Kiss Me Deadly." He still has the chops to get the crowd into the music and his gritty voice holds up well, even under the grueling conditions of the non-air-conditioned theatre in the hot Chicago summer.
The Picture
In Super Overdrive Live's original high definition source arrives on this Blu-ray release in a 1.78:1 1080i/60 AVC/MPEG-4 encoding from Eagle Rock Entertainment. Flesh tones look superb, detail is strong in the close-up shots and video noise is thankfully at a minimum. There are some slight instances of combing artifacts noticeable, particularly around the drummer's drumsticks and I even noticed some jaggies on occasion, making me have to knock some points off of this otherwise pleasant to watch release.
The Sound
The sound is quite well done for this release. Two high-resolution options are offered, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless mix and a LPCM 2.0 mix. Neither version has very extended low frequencies and both have sort of crispy sounding high frequencies, but instrumental balance is strong and vocals are very clear throughout. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track adds in a good amount of ambience and crowd noise in the surround channels that widens and deepens the soundstage for a more open sound.
The Extras
Mosey on along, please. There's not even a bonus track or a thrown together interview segment offered up on this release.
Final Thoughts
This release may not be a perfect, reference quality Blu-ray, but it gets the job done and Billy Idol proves he's still got it after all these years. Fans of the peroxide rocker should definitely pick this one up.
Product Details
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