Cyberpunk (album)

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Professional reviews
Cyberpunk

Studio album by Billy Idol
Released	June 29, 1993
Recorded	?
Genre	Hard rock Electronica
Length	67:23
Label	Chrysalis Records
Producer(s)	Robin Hancock
All Music Guide: (link)
Billy Idol chronology
Charmed Life (1990)	Cyberpunk (1993)	Greatest Hits (Billy Idol album) (2001)

Cyberpunk is a concept album by Billy Idol. Released in 1993 (see 1993 in music) to overwhelmingly negative reviews, the album features a cyberpunk-styled storyline as well as synthesized vocals and techno influences.

After the release of 1990's Charmed Life, Idol began reading the works of writer William Gibson which included the novel Neuromancer; keen to make a musical version of the novel, he combined his rock sensibilities with more techno-orientated material in order to make the album sound more contemporary. Several spoken segues were placed in between the album tracks to create a linear narrative. The effect of these segues caused the album to become a concept album.

Cyberpunk includes the single "Shock to the System" and a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Heroin". Neither the single nor album did well; both failed to make the top 20 in either the UK or United States. The few critics who did review the album found it pretentious and meandering and accused Idol of sounding like a man desperate to keep up with current trends. Only one song (Shock To The System) was included on Idol's recent Greatest Hits compilation. The album, regardless, is notable for being a bold and early step towards the fusion of electronic music and punk rock, perhaps ahead of its time. (Industrial rock/metal classics such as Fear Factory's Demanufacture and Front Line Assembly's Millennium followed in 1994.)