Cyberpunk (album)

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Cyberpunk
Cover art by Billy Idol.
Studio album by Billy Idol
Released	June 29, 1993
Recorded	A 10-month period in 1992 (exact start/end date unknown), in Billy Idol's home studio in Los Angeles, California. Doug Wimbish performed bass at a studio in New York City, New York.
Genre	Rock music Electronica
Length	67:23
Label	Chrysalis Records
Producer	Robin Hancock
Professional reviews
All Music Guide: link Robert Christgau (C-) link Rolling Stone link Piero Scaruffi (5/10) link
Billy Idol chronology
Charmed Life (1990) Cyberpunk (1993) Greatest Hits (Billy Idol album) (2001)
Alternate cover
2006 reissue cover art.
Singles from Cyberpunk
"Shock to the System [Cassette Single]" Released: June 08, 1993 "Shock to the System [Capitol]" Released: June 08, 1993 "Heroin [CD]" Released: May 04, 1993 "Heroin [12"]" Released: May 04, 1993

Cyberpunk is a concept album by Billy Idol, released in 1993. Inspired by his personal interest in technology and his first attempts to use computers in the creation of his music, Idol based the album on the cyberpunk subculture of the late 80s and early 90s. The album was also an attempt by Idol to take control of the creative process in the production of his albums, while also introducing his fans and other musicians to the opportunities presented by digital media.

Released to overwhelmingly negative reviews, the album is seen as the artist's greatest career misstep. Cyberpunk polarized the internet communities of the period. Detractors viewed it as an act of cooptation and opportunistic commercialization. It was also seen as part of a process that saw the overuse of the term "cyberpunk" until the word lost meaning. Alternatively, supporters saw Idol's efforts as harmless and well-intentioned, and were encouraged by his new interest in cyberculture.

The album features a cyberpunk-styled storyline as well as synthesized vocals and techno influences, well before other pop musicians experimented with techno music. Despite the critical and financial failure of the album, Billy Idol set several precedents in the process of promoting the album. These included his use of e-mail, virtual communities, and multimedia software – each a first for a mainstream celebrity. Idol also based his fashion style, music videos, and stage shows on cyberpunk themes and aesthetics.

[edit] Conception

During the release of 1990's Charmed Life, Idol suffered a broken leg in a motorcycle accident. While in recovery, he was interviewed by Legs McNeil. McNeil noticed the electronic muscle stimulator on Idol's leg and referred to him as a "cyberpunk", citing the cyborg qualities of his appearance. This led to Idol taking a serious interest in the works of William Gibson for the first time, although he had read Neuromancer in the mid-80s.^[1] In the following months, Idol continued to investigate cyberpunk fiction and technology.^[2] He also read Neil Stephenson’s Snow Crash, works by Robert Anton Wilson, and others.^[3]

At approximately the same time, he began to work with Trevor Rabin to create his music, having parted-ways with his former producer, Keith Forsey. Rabin introduced Idol to the former's home studio, which was centralized around Robin's Macintosh computer and music software. The ability to personally produce music from his home, rather than a professional studio, appealed to Idol's "do it yourself" ethic.^[2] He felt that working through a team of producers and sound engineers cut into his personal vision for previous albums, and was interested in being more directly in control of his future work. Idol asked his producer, Robin Hancock, to educate himself and his guitarist, Mark Younger-Smith, on the use of software for musical production.^[2]

With his increasing exposure to technology and science fiction, Idol decided to base his upcoming album on the cyberpunk genra, and quickly set about educating himself in cyberculture.^[2] Idol saw the convergence of affordable technology with the music industry, and anticipated its impact on a new era for DIY punk music. "It's 1993," Idol said during a New York Times interview. "I better wake up and be part of it. I'm sitting there, a 1977 punk watching Courtney Love talk about punk, watching Nirvana talk about punk, and this is my reply."^[1]

Reading Mondo 2000, and ”Gareth Branwyn's 1992 manifesto "Is There A Cyberpunk Movement?"”, he resolved to base an opening sequence on Branwyn's essay, contacting the writer for permission. He also read Branywn's Beyond Cyberpunk! HyperCard stack, a collection of essays based on fanzines, political tracts, conspiracy theories, and which referred to itself as "a do-it-yourself guide to the future." Idol proceeded to consult with various writers familiar with the computer related magazines, such as Mondo 2000, and bOING bOING. Idol also hosted a "cyber-meeting" attended by the likes of Timothy Leary; Jamie Levy, author of books published on disks under the "Electronic Hollywood" imprint; R. U. Sirius, co-founder of Mondo 2000; and Brett Leonard, director of The Lawnmower Man.^[5]

Asked by Idol about how he could become further involved in cyberculture, Branwyn and Mark Frauenfelder advised him to investigate The WELL, one of the oldest online communities.^[6] Idol did so, discussing the album project online with WELL users, and creating a personal e-mail account which he released on printed advertisements for the upcoming album, so that fans could communicate with him. Idol also made occasional postings to alt.cyberpunk, a Usenet newsgroup. Later in an interview for MTV News promoting the album, Idol expressed excitement over the medium. "This means I can be in touch with millions of people, but on my own terms."^[7]

[edit] Production

Keen to make an album based on the cyberpunk subculture, Idol 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.

The album was created in Idol's home studio in Los Angeles, centered around his Macintosh computer and accompanying software.^{[2] [1]} Programs used in the production included Studio Vision, by Opcode Systems, and Pro Tools, by Digidesign.^[2][3] Excited by the DIY aspects of the production process, Idol took only 10 months to record the album, which he often contrasted with the combined period of 8 years it took to create his two previous albums. Working with his computer over time also gave him the sense that the computer was itself an instrument, and that the performer's style was also presented by the technology.^[2] Its versatility also allowed him to switch roles with Mark Younger-Smith and Robin Hancock, allowing each to experiment with their different talents and blurring the lines of their specialized roles.^[8] Together, the trio comprised what Idol considered to be the "core" production group, although a number of artists contributed to a various tracks.^[2] Idol compared the production process to that of being in a garage band.^[3]

[edit] Release

A press pack was distributed to the media prior to its release to promote the album. The centerpiece of the pack was a copy of the Billy Idol's Cyberpunk custom stickered 3½" floppy disk, which was housed in a custom multi-coloured folder with artist and title logo on the front and contact information on the back. The pack included a 5-page version of the biography in the diskette, for the benefit of any journalist who lacked the equipment to operate the floppy disk. Also included in the pack were three black & white publicity photographs. Two pictures of Idol were taken by Peter Gravelle and the other was a digitallly edited image of Idol as he appeared in the blendo video, "Heroin".

As part of press junkets promoting the album, Idol reportedly insisted attending journalists be familiar with cyberpunk fiction. It was also revealed that Idol was not entirely as familiar with the genre as he had proclaimed. William Gibson reported in an interview, "A London journalist told me when Billy did his "Cyberpunk" press junket over there, he made it a condition of getting an interview with him, that every journalist had to have read "Neuromancer"...Anyway, they all did but when they met with Billy, the first thing that became really apparent was that Billy hadn't read it. So they called him on it, and he said he didn't need to..he just absorbed it through a kinda osmosis."^[9]

Upon release, the album did not fare well, failing to make the top 20 in either the UK or United States. Instead, the album debuted at #48 on the Billboard charts on July 17, 1993,^[10] and quickly plummeted to #192 in seven weeks before falling off the chart completely.^[11] The lead single, "Shock to the System," peaked at #7 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, #23 on Hot Modern Rock Tracks, and #5 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

[edit] Critical reception

Critics who reviewed the album found it pretentious and meandering and accused Idol of sounding like a man desperate to keep up with current trends. Robert Christgau excoriated various aspects of Idol's album, from its lyrics, music, and aesthetics, and also for his treatment of cyberpunk.^[12] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic considered the album a failed attempt by Idol to recast himself for the 90s, and judged the content of the album as being mostly "...padded with pretentious speeches, sampled dialog, and underdeveloped songs." He also referred to the cover of "Heroin" as "one of the worst covers ever recorded." Q Magazine listed Cyberpunk as No. 5 in their list of the 50 worst albums of all time.^[13] The AV Club included Cyberpunk as a nominee for their "Least Essential Albums of the '90s" awards. Cyberpunk won the "Least Essential Concept Album" award. An accompanying review stated, "The result [of Idol's casting as a "futuristic maverick" and the album itself] is as laughably dated as it is difficult to endure in its entirety."^[14] Manuel Esparza, of The Daily Cougar, wrote a more mixed review, praising some elements, such as the track "Shangrila", the use of sound space echo effects, and Idol's talent as a singer. However, Esparza felt that Idol attempted the same techniques across too many songs, and referred to the lyrics as "...[just barely making] more sense than a monkey pounding away on a typewriter..."^[15]

Tony James of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, a pop-cyberpunk band, and former bassist with Billy Idol in Generation X, also weighed in. Though sympathetic to his former band mate, he felt the stylistic change didn't fit Idol. "Billy is always cool but he does Billy Idol rebel yellin the best, i felt cyberpunk was a wrong turning for him..he has his sound..stay great as u are Bill..."^[16]

Idol briefly responded to the negative reviews of Cyberpunk in a 2005 interview, simply stating "...the idea that I was trying to do an overground-underground record just wasn't understood at the time."^[17] When asked if Idol's declining popularity and the failure of Cyberpunk was related to their split, Steve Stevens denied that idea, and said of the failed album, "I think the Cyberpunk record people didn’t get. I think I would be doing Billy and his fans a great disservice if I said that he needed me for his popularity."^[18]

[edit] Cyberculture reception

Prior to the album's release, Idol was asked if he feared his new interest in technology would be seen as an attempt to co-opt cyberculture. Idol denied this, stating that his belief in the relevancy of cyberpunk culture was genuine, and that he didn't care what others thought of him.^[2] However, the reaction by the majority of the online community was openly hostile and suspicious of Idol's motives. It was reported that his e-mail account on the WELL received mail from angry computer users, and was occasionally flooded with e-mail spam to antagonize him. Idol was also cast by many as a naive, tech-illiterate poseur. The charge of illiteracy was not entirely false, as at the time of the album's release, Idol was still typing using the "hunt and peck" system, and needed notes to log onto the internet.^[1]

Gareth Branwyn, who was among the initial tech-experts Idol consulted, defended Idol's interest in cyberpunk. "Billy is genuinely interested in and excited by cyberculture and, like all the rest of us, wants to factor that interest into his work, which happens to be pop music. Whether presenting cyberculture in that forum is ultimately a good thing or not is beside the point of Billy's right to bring it to that forum. After all, access to information should be free and total, right? Or at least that's how the mythology goes."^[6]

Mark Frauenfelder also defended Idol, pointing out the elitist hypocrisy of the WELL community, and highlighted the perceived pointlessness of the conflict. "There are all these 16- and 17-year-old cyberpunks who are afraid that everybody's going to learn their secret handshake or something." ^[1]

Andy Hawks, founder of the Future Culture mailing list, wrote, "As ab [sic] outsider, Billy Idol came to the net, and whether by himself or with assistance found the WELL and alt.cp. It matters not Iota 1 [sic] how he got here, why he came here, what he hoped to accomplish, or what plans he may have had conceived in his mind. It is ignorant and just plain stupid to question his motives. That he receives more publicity than *you* do, he is somehow deserving of scrutiny regarding his motives on the net when at the same time the other 10,000,000 fuckers here aren't?".^[19]

Penn Jillette, then a columnist for PC/Computing, accepted that Idol wasn't well versed in computers, but considered it a non-issue. "I'm tempted to call him a computer "poser" but that's not the point. [...] He's not a poser. He's a fan of computers, and he doesn't claim to be more. [...] He's not a fan of computers because he can write code, he's a fan because he knows that whatever is really happening nowadays is happening around computers."^[20]

Idol also admitted that he was still learning about computers, and compared it to the early punk ethic of simply trying your best as a musician, even if you had difficulty. He also pointed out that William Gibson was computer illiterate when he wrote Neuromancer. "I don’t know much about computers, but I have the desire to learn and I have a computer and a modem, so I go for it. Banging my head sometimes, but continuing on."^[3]

Gareth Branwyn also quoted a post to the WELL and alt.cyberpunk which he felt was the best response to the conflict:^[6]

Every counter-culture is, for a brief initial period, the sole domain of a handful of founding elites who inevitably find a certain sense of superiority in the exclusive nature of their undertaking. The 'cyberpunk' movement -- term used as loosely as it was intended to be -- takes a particularly hypocritical stance in this case since the principle messages of the movement have been aimed at a loosening, opening-up and liberating attitude toward information and the use of tech. [...] Yet, when the 'early adopter' cyberpunks find their turf invaded by a diverse and rapidly increasing population of interested explorers, all of these principles disappear in a puff of ego. [...] Since the increasingly interested masses are never defeated, this conflict usually sends the founding elites scrambling as they abandon all the trappings of the movement and fleeing headlong into the latest undiscovered piece of exclusionary rebellion. [...] This kind of valuation of image over substance is exactly what so many of these people seem to be attacking.

Regardless, Cyberpunk is still seen as having been an act of hyped commercialization. In Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century, Mark Dery commented on the mainstreaming of the cyberpunk subculture. He viewed Idol as representing some of the worst abuses this took, deriding Cyberpunk as "a bald-faced appropriation of every cyberpunk cliché that wasn't nailed down." In 1995, when writer Jack Boulware asked "When did cyberpunk die?" at a meeting of former staff members of Mondo 2000, a response was "1993. The release of the Billy Idol record."^[21] In a section on "cyberpunk music," The Cyberpunk Project website notes, "...[the] usual opinion is that Billy Idol's album is just commercialization and it has nothing to do with cyberpunk."^[22] The F.A.Q for alt.cyberpunk, mirrored on the website, rejects the notion that there is a "cyberpunk fashion". Of Billy Idol's attempts to base his fashion and music on it, it states, "No matter how sincere his intentions might have been, scorn and charges of commercialization have been heaped upon him in this and other forums."^[23]

As the founder of the cyberpunk genre, William Gibson was repeatedly asked for his opinion on the subject of the mainstreaming of cyberpunk. This often brought up the subject of Idol's album. In a 1994 interview, Gibson said that he did not approve of the way the term "cyberpunk" was being increasingly commercialized by popular culture, and that Idol had "turned it into something very silly."^[24] Gibson also said in another interview that to understand cyberpunk as a movement was "something of a joke, as wonderfully demonstrated, not too long ago, by Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk album."^[25] Despite his negative comments, Gibson was more bemused than hostile by Idol's creation. Stating that he'd tried to withhold judgment before hearing the album, he eventually did and said "...I just don't get what he's on about. I don't see the connection. [...] I had lunch with Billy years ago in Hollywood... and I thought he was a very likeable guy. He had a sense of humour about what he was doing that is not apparent in the product he puts out. If I run into him again, we can have a good laugh about what he's doing now!"^[9]

[edit] Re-release

Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews from professional critics, the album was reissued on August 22, 2006, by Collectables Records, as part of its Priceless Collection series. The reissued album did not include the special edition multimedia of the original, but did include new cover art.

[edit] Music

When asked why he was pursuing such a shift in his musical style by adopting electronic music, Idol responded that he had attempted to incorporate technology in his older work, but found the equipment of the late 70s and early 80s too limiting and gave up. With the computers of the 90s, Idol finally felt that the technology was able to quickly and easily make changes as he saw fit. Idol came to expound on his belief in their future importance for the music industry, and quoting Gareth Branwyn, referred to the computer as "the new cool tool."^[8][2]

Some of the predictions Idol made for the future of the internet, computers, and musicians, was that it would allow for cheap and efficient recording from home; that musicians could record their music and send it to producers and fellow band members from great distances, perhaps while on tour; and that musicians would be able to directly communicate with their fans and critics.^[3] Idol also hoped that the rapid ability to do whatever he desired with the production would allow raw forms of rock music to remain relevant after the Grunge movement swept America in the early 90s. "[The computer] can do anything... If you want the music backwards, it can be backwards in a snap. This is in a way my sort of answer to grunge. I know there's a way of using this modern technology to bring a lot of rawness back."^[4]

However, he rejected the idea of referring to the music as "computerized", on the grounds that nothing was done for the album that couldn't have been done with acoustic instruments, and that the computer had simply sped up and simplified the creative process. He also felt that rather than create a techno album, he had attempted to capture the "Sturm und Drang" he found in rock and roll, and had simply modified it digitally.^[8][3]

[edit] Lyrics

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Cyberpunk themes

[edit] Fashion

On September 24, 1992, Billy Idol took part in a benefit fashion show by Jean-Paul Gaultier. The event, entitled the "Jean Paul Gaultier In L.A.", was a fashion benefit for amfAR AIDS research, at the Shrine Auditorium.^[26] Idol modeled a leather jacket and pants, covered in black sunglasses, to the yet-unreleased song "Neuromancer". This coincided with Idol's decision to change his fashion style to match the cyberpunk aesthetic of the album. Idol changed his hair to dreadlocks, and wore sleek, futuristic clothing by New York fashion designer Steven Strauss. In photo from Details Magazine July 1993, highlighting Billy Idol's new "cyberpunk" aesthetic, Idol modeled in a distressed-velvet jacket and matching trousers designed by Paul Smith. In the background, Idol stood amongst computers and chaotically strewn cables representing his home studio. Idol wore the same suit during the "Shock to The System" music video and the 1993 Billboard Music Award presentation spot.

[edit] Special edition software

Billy Idol's Cyberpunk was the first multimedia floppy disk included as a special feature for an album.

During his initial research into cyberculture, Idol ordered Beyond Cyberpunk! from Gareth Branwyn. The HyperCard stack, which included collections of essays on cyberpunk culture, inspired Idol to include similar material within the Cyberpunk album as a special edition digipak feature.^[6] Discussing the matter with Branwyn, Idol received an initial bid for the job of producing the disk from the writer. While this bid was under consideration by Idol's management company, Idol had purchased a book-on-disk by Jaime Levy at a Los Angeles bookstore. At the time, Levy was the author and publisher of Electronic Hollywood, one of the first magazines produced on floppy disk. Impressed by it's contents, Idol set about contacting her for the job of producing disk. Successfully under-bidding Branwyn,^[6] she was then given the job and a master tape of recorded songs – which were not yet complied into CD format – for use in sampling. Levy was given permission to include whatever content she desired. Meeting Idol to find what he was interested in presenting in the disk, his only concern was that the whole cyberpunk genre be represented as much as possible.^[27]

The special edition diskette, a Macintosh press kit entitled "Billy Idol's Cyberpunk", was an industry first.^[4] It included album clip art, sample sound bytes, a biography by Mark Frauenfelder, lyrics, and a cyberculture bibliography by Gareth Branwyn.^[6] Frauenfelder appeared on a segment of MTV News to describe the diskette's features.^[7] Plans were considered to re-release the album with an updated CD-ROM if the album was successful. As CD-ROMs were prohibitively expensive at the time of production, this was anticipated as a potential benchmark event for the music industry.^[5] However, this failed to materialize due to the critical and financial failure of the album.

[edit] Blendo imagery

Inspired by The Lawnmower Man, Idol conceived of using "Blendo" imagery throughout the promotion of the album. He personally used the style to create the album cover art, and conceived of its use in other areas.^[4] This included its use in the Billy Idol's Cyberpunk floppy disk and in the press pack released to the media. Two music videos were produced with the use of blendo images, one for "Heroin" and a second for "Shock to the System."^[28] The cover art for several single album releases also sued blendo art.

To promote the release of Cyberpunk, Idol began the 1993 No Religion Tour to promote the album. The title of the tour came from a lyric in the album's first track, "Wasteland", which described a man traveling through a dystopia. In keeping with the album's theme, the performance stages were set to a computerized, high-tech aesthetic. Idol wished to use Blendo imagery on massive television screens behind the stage to rapidly shift in time with the music.^[4] Some of the video and photography was shot by Idol and Brett Leonard, including photos of Idol during acupuncture, himself at a spa, various LA landscapes, and imagery which referenced heroin use.^[2] An engineer on stage, whom Idol fashioned as another band member, would be charged with altering the images in rhythm with the music, as though it were also an instrument. Multiple engineers with video equipment would also roam the audience, beaming images of the crowed onto the screen as well, creating an interactive show.^[2] The tour took place in Europe, performing a total of 19 shows in 18 cities across 11 countries. It began on August 18, 1993 in Berlin, and concluded on September 20, 1993 in London.^[29]

Idol explained during an interview with the New York Times that he hoped to achieve a technical breakthrough in the way stagecraft and lighting were used at rock concerts.

"Part of the idea is to create an element of visible language, so that you feel as if you're being talked to through images. I think you have to start looking to get to the future of what rock-and-roll concerts should be like. We're working; we're pushing the technology to the edge."^[1]

[edit] Music videos

Four music videos were produced for three Cyberpunk singles: "Shock to the System," "Adam in Chains," and a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Heroin".

The first single, "Shock to the System," was inspired by the Los Angeles riots of 1992. As Idol explained for MTV News, he had originally created the song with an entirely different set of lyrics, but upon witnessing the riots on television he immediately rewrote and recorded them that day.^[7] Idol explained that he was trying to capture the political and economic conflict that had created the LA Riots. He also felt that the camcorder – as displayed in the witnessing of the Rodney King beating – was a "potent way of conveying ideas" and an important metaphor for technology used in rebellion.^[28]

The music video was set in a dystopian future controlled by Cyber-cops (referred to as such by Brett Leonard.) It depicted an individual who records the Cyber-cops beating a man, only to be noticed and attacked himself. His camera is destroyed and the Cyber-cops leave him unconscious on the ground, as they are busy trying to put down a riot elsewhere in the city. Alone, his camera equipment lands on him and is absorbed into his body, causing him to dramatically morph into a cyborg. The cyborg then joins the riot, leading the rebels to victory.

The make-up effects were achieved through stop motion, with Billy Idol moving in slow stages during points of the filming. Stan Winston, who had previously worked on the Terminator series and Jurassic Park, supervised and created the special effects for the video. The music video for "Shock to The System" was nominated for "Best Special Effects in a Video" at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, losing to Peter Gabriel's "Steam". The video and song were also heavily analyzed for the overtones of racial, sexual, and physical trauma presented within them by Thomas Foster, associate professor at Indiana University, in his 2005 book, The Souls of Cyberfolk.

The second music video "Adam in Chains," was directed by Julien Temple. It depicted Billy Idol being bound into a chair as he is monitored by scientists. He struggles before being hypnotized, and is then inserted into a virtual reality simulator. There he is treated to an ethereal water fantasy. Idol eventually rejects the fantasy, which is consumed in flames as, in the real world, his body violently convulses. The scientists end the experiment and Idol is brought back into reality, only to fall unconscious.

The final single, "Heroin", which also incorporated a lyric from Patti Smith's version of "Gloria", was a "Blendo" video which rapidly shifted random imagery and colors in time with the music. The music video for the song was directed by Howard Deutch, using stock footage shot by Idol and Brett Leonard. It was not released for rotation on television, instead being included in the video album release, Cyberpunk: Shock to the System.^[28]

A fourth "blendo" video was produced for "Shock to the System," and was also included in the Cyberpunk: Shock to the System cassette.^[28]

[edit] Cyberpunk: Shock to the System

Cyberpunk: Shock to the System
Cyberpunk: Shock to the System box cover. The tagline reads: "Outlaw Tech. Rebel Science. Information is the ammunition, your mind is the target."
Video by Billy Idol
Released	June 29, 1993 (VHS
Genre	Rock music Electronica
Length	24:16
Label	Chrysalis Records
Billy Idol chronology
Billy Idol: The Charmed Life and Other Vital Videos (1990) Cyberpunk: Shock to the System (1993)

A supplementary VHS cassette was also produced to promote the album. Cyberpunk: Shock to the System included a director's cut version of the "Shock to the System" music video; Shockumentary, a mini-documentary on the making of the aforementioned video; and two music videos which made use of Blendo images, one for "Heroin" and "Shock to the System". The production was directed by Brett Leonard, having already directed the "Shock to the System" music video. Its cover art featured images of the cyborg freedom fighter played by Billy Idol in the "Shock To The System" music video, and included taglines that suggested a story of a dystopian world of high technology and rebellion.^[28]

[edit] Legacy

Over ten years after the original release of Cyberpunk, the album remains one of the most polarizing in Idol's career.

Only one song from the album, "Shock To The System", was included on Idol's 2001 Greatest Hits compilation. Idol would not produce another original album until 2005's Devil's Playground, 13 years following the failure of Cyberpunk. However, this was not due to the failure of the album, but rather his dissatisfaction with his producers at Chrysalis Records. During the intermittent years between albums, Idol produced music for various film soundtracks. Occasionally, Idol returned to the style he'd explored in Cyberpunk, an example of which is "Buried Alive", on the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack.

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 would eventually follow in 1994.

The album was also prescient for its early advocacy of the use of the internet and software to market albums. The Boston Globe reported, "...[Cyberpunk] demands recognition as a style setter, not for its musical content, but for the changes it may prompt in the ways recordings are made and marketed..." ^[5] Idol's early adoption of the internet to communicate with fans was broadened in the years after Cyberpunk's release. By the late 90s, most celebrities had made inroads into the internet, using official websites and blogs to directly advertise albums and tours to fans.

The inclusion of multimedia software as a special feature was unheard of when Idol first included the Billy Idol's Cyberpunk diskette.^[4] This was also widely adopted by the music industry years later.^[4] CD-ROMs were initially considered as a medium for Cyberpunk's multimedia features, but were too expensive at the time of production, and so floppy disks were used instead. Peter Gabriel and Todd Rundgren had previously experimented with CD-ROMs, but it was hoped that if Idol's album had proved popular, it could have been reissued with CD-ROMs, catapulting the format into the mainstream.^[5] This never materialized due to the album's general failures. However, during the late 90s it became increasingly common for some limited edition digipaks to include CD-ROMs, evolving by the early 2000s into the inclusion of DVDs.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Billy Idol and Mark Younger-Smith except where noted.. 

[edit] "Heroin"

See also: Heroin (song)

Track 11, "Heroin", is a cover of a song by The Velvet Underground. The lyric, "Jesus died for somebody's sins / But not mine", is from "Gloria" written by Patti Smith, used under license from Linda Music Corporation. Billy Idol mixed several versions of "Heroin", releasing each on singles with a mix of other hits from previous albums, and often with "Shock to the System," in an effort to promote Cyberpunk. The various mixes include:

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] See also

• List of cyberpunk bands

[edit] Citations

[edit] External links

General

• Beyond Cyberpunk!:The Web Version, an online version of the HyperCard stack that inspired the creation of the "Billy Idol's Cyberpunk" floppy disk.

Album indexes

• Cyberpunk at Discogs
• Cyberpunk at Google Music
• Cyberpunk at Last.fm
• Cyberpunk at MusicBrainz