More on Billy Idol's upcoming release

Some more information has been released about the upcoming record from Billy Idol, which is his first album of new songs in over 10 years, titled Devil's Playground, via Sanctuary Records on March 22, 2005. The 13 track record was produced by Keith Forsey and will be preceded by the single and video for "Scream" on January 24th.
You can click Read More for the annotated track listing and cover art.

Super Overdrive: I was
thinking of the Richard Branson rocket, especially that first
flight when it started to wobble just as it was leaving the
atmosphere. Rock & roll is like that--very fragile, and it
can kill you, but you can ride it to places you’ve never
been. Brian had the riff and I said, ‘Well, what are we
going to call it?" And Steve looked down at his distortion
pedal and said, ‘Super Overdrive’? We were laughing
because it was so brilliantly dumb. I was in super overdrive with
my music, but I’ve also been in super overdrive when I was
just crazy.

World Comin’ Down:
That’s kinda written from a kid’s point of view. I
remembered all the things that I went through as a kid, and how
school is just the world in microcosm. There are times for
everyone as you grow up to resent authority, but you have to
break the rules to be true to yourself. Now, they REALLY penalize
you for that. I’ve never been able to learn anything that I
wasn’t interested in, just couldn’t make myself care
why the litmus paper was changing colors.

Rat Race: That’s the adult
me talking to myself. Our public lives turn into rat races, but
then you discover that your private life is a rat race too, and
the problem is inside yourself. It’s so easy to get sucked
into things and then wonder why you’re doing them, which
can cause damage. Somehow you’re not going to be the same
person again, the person you’re proud of.

Sherri: I wrote it from a
girl’s point of view, something I’d never done
before. I’d pretty much done everything by the age of 16,
so I know how easy it is to run away from things and then
discover that there’s really no place to run. You’ve
got to make the best of what you’ve got right here.
It’s difficult to tell anyone what to do, especially when
you’re Billy Idol, but then, we all grow up a little
don’t we?

Plastic Jesus: I was playing
this thing on acoustic guitar one day and Steve Stevens said,
"That sound’s like ‘Plastic
Jesus.’" And I said, "What’s that?"
We couldn’t find a recording of the original, so I’m
sure the melody is different. We just downloaded Ernie
Marrs’ lyrics, which had the feeling of a hillbilly song. I
identified with the guy being an alcoholic carrying around his
booze in the plastic Jesus. There might be a little Donovan in
the chorus. The weirdest stuff comes out when you squeeze the
sponge."

Scream: Totally filthy. Its three
o’clock in the morning and the sex beast is on the prowl.
It’s such a Billy Idol song, it’s almost funny. But
it really roars.

Yelling At The Xmas Tree: My dad
never came home drunk like that, but I did a few times. And I did
spend an entire Christmas once yelling at the tree like it was my
manager or somebody. I don’t think my mother ever had sex
with Santa Claus. But maybe. Who knows?

Romeo’s Waiting: A few
years ago I found myself in a strip bar with all the other
losers, and I started to see it from their point of view.
They’re the most romantic people in the world, because
they’re thinking that the chick is dancing for them, that
they’re going to save her. Romeo was always a bit of a
loser. A total loser, when you think about it.

Body Snatcher: My mother was an
O’Sullivan and she always said that people with an O in
front of their name heard the Banshee wail. And I have heard the
Banshee wail. I’ve been in that place when I thought the
body snatchers were coming. I’ve nearly killed myself on
the motorcycle, and I’ve nearly killed myself with drugs,
so I’m very lucky to be here. But this is more about
something dark taking over your soul, the melancholia thing.

Evil Eye: Continues the same
theme as "Body Snatcher." Heroin is a relationship
drug. That’s how I got into it. I fell in love, and we fell
into heroin. That was a long time ago, and it took a long time to
shake it.

Lady Do Or Die: A mix of Johnny
Cash and Leonard Cohen. You’re on the road, and you decide
that playing music for living isn’t so bad. Music as a way
of freeing yourself from prison--it’s done that for me. Do
that or die.

Cherie: The challenge was writing
a song that says "I Love You" and making it real. I
did it by flashback to my childhood in the punk revolution. You
have everything but you’re still looking for something
more, so you lose what you had. And yet you’ve still got
your memories, even after you fuck up so badly. So I’m
saying, "Thanks for helping me. You made my life great,
even if we’re not together anymore."

Summer Running: I was riding my motorcycle and
rejuvenating the life I nearly destroyed in "Body
Snatcher" and "Evil Eye." When you ride,
it’s almost like meditating and you can ask yourself all
the important questions: What do I really love? What do I really
believe? What do I really want to do? You can answer those
questions if you just find a place where you can stop and think.
For me, that was the motorcycle. For somebody else, it might be a
Winnebago. I learned that I had to get back to having a great
band again, writing great songs again, celebrating those moments
when you’re alive and healthy. You go on for all the people
who can’t do that. You do it for them, I
think."