This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Judging by the Dorian Gray-like cover pic on Devil’s Playground, there is a portrait of a decrepit-looking Billy Idol moldering away in an attic somewhere. And judging by the songs on his first new studio album in 12 years, there’s a copy of Rebel Yell rotting away right beside it.
Ignoring grunge, alt-rock, teen-pop, electronica and every other musical trend that has come and gone during their absence, Idol and guitarist Steve Stevens time-travel directly back to their ’80s-rock glory days on this 13-song comeback. Stevens cranks up and cranks out chugging buzzsaw riffs and chiming licks as if Kurt Cobain never existed. Idol still bellows and growls his vocals with a lip permanently cocked into a sneer and a pumping fist clad in a fingerless leather glove. He also continues to write some of the lamest lyrics around (“You made me bleed like a Kennedy”).
But damned if the old formula doesn’t still get the job done on hard-charging rockers like Super Overdrive and Scream, even if the latter is pretty much a rewrite of Rebel Yell. And even at his stoopidest, like on the Yule log Yellin’ At The Christmas Tree — or worse, when he sounds like Neil Diamond on Cherie — it’s hard to hate somebody who’s clearly enjoying his return as much as Idol is.
So you might as well disengage your brain, sit back and enjoy Devil’s Playground. After all, unless that portrait goes up in flames or something, it looks like Idol’s gonna be around a long, long time.
