Billy Idol was still a rock & roll bad boy despite being over the hill by the start of the new millennium. Billy Idol: VH1 Storytellers captures that typical snarl without the bombast and returns to basics. The real rawness behind such classics as "Flesh for Fantasy," "Cradle of Love," and "To Be a Lover" is stripped, and the acoustic mix found on this album showcases Idol's appeal on a different level. The sexiness is still there, and Idol and guitarist Steve Stevens compose a magic as well. Fans should be pleased, for the tantalizing swagger of "Rebel Yell" is ageless. Renditions of Generation X's "Kiss Me Deadly" and "Dancing With Myself" are just as exciting, however it's the intensity of the punk anthem "Ready Steady Go" that brings everything together. While Billy Idol was issuing smash singles during a decade criticized for being unoriginal, Billy Idol: VH1 Storytellers suggests otherwise.

New album! Shortly before their 20th anniversary, the Viennese cult band unleash 15 new songs on the crowd that has been hungry for two years. The wide corset of their current stylistic range has little in common with the gloomy Psychobilly of the early days: The avowed horror, B-movie and trash fans play extremely accomplished hard and atmospheric dark rock, which adapts to punk, rock with playful ease. nRoll, Hard Rock and Gothic elements served. The quintet naturally draws richly from historical and fictional horror stories, but also likes to pack snappy systemic criticism into the lyrics ("Off With Their Heads!"). The songs always remain catchy and are crowned by hymn-like choruses - the Misfits school unites perfectly with shock rock legends such as Alice Cooper or W.A.S.P. The perfect soundtrack for a foggy walk at Vienna's central cemetery!

The likeable and always well-dressed quartet from Austria has been around for over 15 years, and it is not an understatement to say that Dead "Richy" Gein (standing drums, vocals), Mr. "Jim" Evilize (guitar), Dejan Decay (double bass) and Reverend Bloodbath (guitar, keyboards) have created their very own aesthetic playground from the already distinctive genres of psychobilly and horror punk, into which they effortlessly integrate more and more elements of other styles without any fear.

It was Joe Strummer's good fortune that he was the frontman of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, the Clash. It was his burden that after the group broke up, he had to spend the rest of his career being judged by a standard that meant only so much to him. Very little of what Strummer did as solo artist followed the musical template of the Clash, and that was just the way he wanted it. His albums had as much to do with folk as rock in their focus on storytelling and character studies, as well as his willingness to incorporate acoustic guitars and fiddles in their arrangements to give them a sound and personality distinct from what he'd done in the past.

Spanning 55 years and 45 songs, a 2CD collection to ratify Manchester’s claim to be Britain’s second – if not at times, first – musical city. From primal beat through promiscuous punk, high 80s disco/soul and pure baggy to proud and proper rock, the evidence is all here.

From Bad Time Records comes THE SHAPE OF SKA PUNK TO COME: VOLUME 1, featuring 12 brand new / unreleased tracks from some of ska punk's boldest and brightest.

There's a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the ‘Godfather of Punk’: every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop. With his outrageous and sometimes dangerous stage antics and the relentless rock & roll that accompanied them, Iggy Pop prefigured Seventies punk (and also Nineties grunge). Acting as an eternal misfit and a saboteur of all convention, Iggy has parlayed twisted social commentary, raw-power vocal style, and survival smarts into a long career characterized by some commercial success, sizable critical notice, and huge amounts of respect all over the pop landscape.