BILLY IDOL”Cyberpunk” Chrysalis * 1/2From the sneering,...

BILLY IDOL

“Cyberpunk”

Chrysalis

* 1/2

From the sneering, peroxide king of perky ‘80s dance-punk comes a supposed foray into the 21st Century. Idol’s seventh album attempts to integrate “futuristic” genres like techno and industrial with his own polished brand of “raw” rock ‘n’ roll. But as a cyberpunk, Idol totally misses the point.

“Cyberpunk” features the same kind of generic, metal-ish guitar solos and formula pop numbers featured on his past albums. The tunes are spiced with twists of simulated factory noise, synthesized effects and tinny, processed vocals. “Cyberpunk” borrows its hard, mechanical edge from Ministry, but comes off like a tame version of the real thing. Idol dips his groaning, lusty ballads into washes of ambient house music for space-age appeal, but barely succeeds in entering the stratosphere, let alone other galaxies.

Techno has already advanced far beyond Idol’s simplistic approach. Even Timothy Leary’s opening chants on “Venus” can’t coax this album out of its one-dimensional state.