THE COUNTRY ISSUE IS OUT NOW!

THE WHIPLASH SMILE OF BILLY IDOL

It’s the recording news of early 1986, no doubt about it: Billy Idol’s long-awaited new album, Whiplash Smile should be in the stores by the beginning of March...to the relief of Idol-watchers everywhere. ROCK-SHOTS heard the inside scoop on this latest venture and we can report that Billy himself is describing it as “a very personal album.”

April 2, 1986

The CREEM Archive presents the magazine as originally created. Digital text has been scanned from its original print format and may contain formatting quirks and inconsistencies.

THE WHIPLASH SMILE OF BILLY IDOL

It’s the recording news of early 1986, no doubt about it: Billy Idol’s long-awaited new album, Whiplash Smile should be in the stores by the beginning of March...to the relief of Idol-watchers everywhere.

ROCK-SHOTS heard the inside scoop on this latest venture and we can report that Billy himself is describing it as “a very personal album.” (He recently broke up with his girlfriend of seven years, Perri Lister.) The tracks on Whiplash Smile might be an indication of the mood Billy was in while hard at work: “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “Ain’t Too Tough To Cry,” “Beyond Belief,” “All Summer Single,” “Don’t Need A Gun,” “Man For All Seasons,” and “World’s Forgotten Boy” (inspired by Iggy Pop’s “Search And Destroy,” we reckon) are all songs slated for the new disc.

Billy described the album iimself: “When you’re hurt, it’s hard to write about it,” he said. ‘But you have to be able to show ini your songs the person you are—a person with feelings. I Wanted to get my exact emotions down, get them in songs, then lile them a twist.”

o it would appear that Whiplash Smile marks a new turn in the recording career of the former William Broad. From starting out as the brash, punk simger in Generation X, he’s found American stardom with such electricity-filled songs as “White Wedding” and “Rebel Yell.”

N®w, fans can look forward to yet another side of Billy Idol—a m|>re vulnerable side, perhaps, it nonetheless as fascinating asf ever.