A new and pretty decent compilation covering the man's career, finishing with two new tracks showing he's still got it.

The CD kicks off with "Dancing With Myself" and the sleazy "Hot In The City", mixing punk rock with new wave pop and huge stamp that says "80s".

"White Wedding", another of the many hits here, picks things up, and sounds less programmed than the opening 2 tracks. A nod at mid 80s Damned. Like the following "Rebel Yell", it does get you nodding and is a poke in the eye of the plethora of pop crap at the time. Easy to overlook that guitar solo, but it's worth checking out.

While it's easy to deride Idol as the acceptable face of punk, he still came up with decent and catchy hits, like it or not. Yes there are keyboards and the odd hint of programming but it still worked at the time, and there's enough here to make it enjoyable now.

"Eyes Without A Face" is a nod back at the new romantic movement, and the lead acoustic on "Sweet Sixteen" nods at Chris Rea.

A live take on "Mony Mony" and lesser known tracks like "Cradle Of Love" and the uptempo "L.A. Woman" will take you back in time. "World Coming Down" is the closed Idol ever got to hardcore.

The 18 track CD closes with "John Wayne" and "Future Weapon", two highly polished and very solid new tracks, the latter a real rocker too. A special edition with a bonus DVD will be essential for fans; 13 music videos including 2 tracks never previously released.

More fun than most would admit to.

***½

Review by Joe Geesin

www.joegeesin.com