Kings & Queens of the Underground

Kings & Queens of the Underground is the eighth studio album by English rock vocalist Billy Idol, released on 17 October 2014 and produced mainly by Trevor Horn. It was the first album of new original material from Billy Idol since the 2005 release of Devil’s Playground and only his third album in over twenty years. The album debuted at #34 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, which was Billy Idol’s highest debuting album ever. The album also peaked at #9 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart for the week of 8 November 2014. Videos were released for the songs Can't Break Me Down and Save Me Now.

Kings & Queens of the Underground
Studio album by
Billy Idol
Released17 October 2014
Recorded2010–2014
StudioSARM Studios, London
Echo Studios, Los Angeles
Length47:42
LabelBFI Records, Kobalt
ProducerGreg Kurstin (tracks 2-3)
Trevor Horn (tracks 1, 4-11)
Billy Idol chronology
The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
(2008)		 Kings & Queens of the Underground
(2014)		 Vital Idol: Revitalized
(2018)
Singles from Kings & Queens of the Underground
  1. "Can't Break Me Down"
    Released: 15 September 2014
  2. "Save Me Now"
    Released: 18 November 2014
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Classic Rock[2]
The Guardian[3]
The Observer[4]
Q[2]
Record Collector[5]
Rolling Stone[6]

Tour

The Kings & Queens of the Underground Tour started on 5 November 2014 and ended 4 April 2015. Over the 40-date tour, Idol with his band performed in Europe, North America and Australia.

Setlist[8]
  1. "Postcards from the Past"
  2. "Cradle of Love"
  3. "Can't Break Me Down"
  4. "Dancing with Myself"
  5. "Flesh for Fantasy"
  6. "Save Me Now"
  7. "Sweet Sixteen"
  8. "Kings & Queens of the Underground"
  9. "Eyes Without a Face"
  10. "L.A. Woman"
    Steve Stevens guitar solo
  11. "King Rocker"
  12. "Love Like Fire"
  13. "Whiskey and Pills"
  14. "Blue Highway"
  15. "Rebel Yell"
  16. "White Wedding"
  17. "Mony Mony"

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Bitter Pill"
Trevor Horn3:57
2."Can't Break Me Down"
Greg Kurstin3:42
3."Save Me Now"
  • Idol
  • George William Lewis
  • Kurstin
Kurstin4:31
4."One Breath Away"
Horn4:10
5."Postcards from the Past"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:20
6."Kings & Queens of the Underground"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:53
7."Eyes Wide Shut"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:29
8."Ghosts in My Guitar"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
Horn4:47
9."Nothing to Fear"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:39
10."Love and Glory"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:28
11."Whiskey and Pills"
Horn3:43
Kings & Queens of the Underground  – iTunes bonus track[9]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Hollywood Promises"
  • Idol
  • Tichy
4:11
Kings & Queens of the Underground  – Japanese version (bonus tracks)[10]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Hollywood Promises"
  • Idol
  • Tichy
 4:11
13."Cradle of Love" (Live from Vienna)
  • Idol
  • David Werner
Keith Forsey4:42
14."Dancing with Myself" (Live from Vienna)
Forsey5:39

Personnel
  • Billy Idol – vocals (all tracks)
  • Steve Stevens – lead, rhythm guitar (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 6 - 8, 11)
  • Billy Morrison – rhythm guitar (tracks 4, 9)
  • Trevor Horn – bass guitar (tracks 1, 4 - 11), programming (tracks 5, 7, 8), keyboards (tracks 6, 8, 11)
  • Ash Soan – drums (tracks 1, 4, 6 - 10), percussion (tracks 1, 8)
  • Matt Chamberlain – drums (track 3)
  • Joel M Peters – drums (track 11)
  • Tim Weidner – percussion (tracks 4, 9, 11), programming (track 7)
  • Julian Hinton – orchestral arrangement and programming (tracks 4, 6, 8, 10)
  • Pete Murray – orchestral arrangement and programming (track 7)
  • Geoff Downes – keyboards (tracks 1, 4 - 10)
  • Cameron Gower Poole – programming (tracks 1, 4, 9), keyboards (tracks 7, 9, 11), guitar (track 9)
  • Greg Kurstin – guitar (track 2), bass guitar (tracks 2, 3), keyboards (tracks 2, 3), drums (track 2), programming (track 3)
  • Josh Campbell – programming (tracks 1, 5), guitar (track 5), bass guitar (track 11)
  • Renate Sokolovska – flute (track 6)

Chart positions
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 81
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 17
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 109
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 127
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[15] 24
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 75
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[17] 37
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 102
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 8
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 45
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 35
US Billboard 200[23] 35
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[24] 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[25] 9

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label
Australia[26] 17 October 2014
BFI Records
Germany[27]
United Kingdom[28] 20 October 2014
Canada[29] 21 October 2014
United States[30]

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. BFI at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. "Reviews and Tracks for Kings & Queens of the Underground by Billy Idol". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  3. Dave Simpson. "Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground review – lovably ludicrous 80s rocker gets confessional | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  4. Phil Mongredien. "Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground review – a turkey of epic proportions | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  5. "Kings & Queens Of The Underground - Record Collector Magazine". Recordcollectormag.com. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  6. "Billy Idol 'Kings & Queens of the Underground' Album Review".
  7. "TOUR DATES - Billy Idol". billyidol.net.
  8. "Review and setlist: Billy Idol at O2 Academy, Birmingham". birminghammail.co.uk.
  9. "Kings & Queens of the Underground". billyidol.net.
  10. "Amazon.co.jp: ビリー・アイドル : 逆襲のアイドル". Amazon.co.jp.
  11. Ryan, Gavin (25 October 2014). "Slipknot Land No 1 Album On ARIA Chart". Noise11. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  15. "Danishcharts.dk – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  17. "Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  18. "Lescharts.com – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  19. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  20. "Artisti – Classifica settimanale WK 43 (dal 20-10-2014 al 26-10-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  21. "Swisscharts.com – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  22. "Billy Idol | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  23. "Billy Idol Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  24. "Billy Idol Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  25. "Billy Idol Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  26. "Buy Kings And Queens Of The Underground Billy Idol". Sanity.
  27. "Kings & Queens of the Underground: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de (DE).
  28. "iTunes - Music - Kings & Queens of the Underground (Bonus Tracks Version) by Billy Idol". Apple iTunes UK.
  29. "Kings and Queens of the Underground: Billy Idol: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca.
  30. "Amazon.com: Kings & Queens of the Underground: Music". Amazon.com.
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