Kings & Queens of the Underground

Kings & Queens of the Underground
Studio album by
Billy Idol
Released17 October 2014
Recorded2010–2014
Studio
  • Sarm (London)
  • Echo (Los Angeles)
GenreRock
Length47:42
LabelBFI
Producer
Billy Idol chronology
The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
(2008) 		Kings & Queens of the Underground
(2014) 		Vital Idol: Revitalized
(2018)
Singles from Kings & Queens of the Underground
  1. "Can't Break Me Down"
    Released: 15 September 2014
  2. "Save Me Now"
    Released: 18 November 2014
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?5.3/10[1]
Metacritic64/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Arts Desk[4]
Classic Rock[2]
The Guardian[5]
laut.de[6]
Mojo[2]
The Observer[7]
Q[2]
Record Collector[8]
Rolling Stone[9]

Kings & Queens of the Underground is the eighth studio album by English rock vocalist Billy Idol, released on 17 October 2014 by BFI Records. It was Idol's first album of new original material since Devil's Playground (2005) and only his third album in over twenty years. The album debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200, becoming Idol's highest-debuting album to date. The album also peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart for the week of 8 November 2014. Videos were released for the songs "Can't Break Me Down" and "Save Me Now".

Tour

The Kings & Queens of the Underground Tour started on 5 November 2014 and ended 4 April 2015. Over the 40-date tour, Idol with his band performed in Europe, North America and Australia.

Tour dates
Tour dates[10]
Date Country City Venue
Europe
5 November 2014 Birmingham England O2 Academy
7 November 2014 Dublin Ireland Vicar Street
9 November 2014 England London Hammersmith Apollo
10 November 2014 Manchester O2 Apollo
12 November 2014 Germany Stuttgart Porsche Arena
13 November 2014 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle
16 November 2014 Netherlands Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall
18 November 2014 Germany Düsseldorf Electric Halle
19 November 2014 Belgium Brussels Cirque Royal
21 November 2014 Germany Nuremberg Arena
22 November 2014 Switzerland Lucern Messe Lucern
23 November 2014 Italy Milan Fabrique
North America
21 January 2015 United States New Orleans House of Blues
22 January 2015 Atlanta The Tabernacle
24 January 2015 Philadelphia Tower Theater
25 January 2015 Washington Lincoln Theater
28 January 2015 New York Beacon Theatre
31 January 2015 Boston Orpheum Theater
3 February 2015 Canada Montreal Metropolis
4 February 2015 Toronto Massey Hall
6 February 2015 United States Detroit The Fillmore
7 February 2015 Chicago Riviera Theater
9 February 2015 Denver Paramount Theater
12 February 2015 Canada Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theater
13 February 2015 United States Seattle Paramount
15 February 2015 Oakland Fox Theater
18 February 2015 Los Angeles Wiltern Theater
19 February 2015
21 February 2015 Las Vegas The Cosmopolitan
Australia
14 March 2015 Australia Perth Kings Park and Botanic Gardens
18 March 2015 Wollongong Win Entertainment Centre
19 March 2015 Sydney Qantas Credit Union Arena
21 March 2015 Yarra Valley Rochford Wines
22 March 2015 Fleurieu Peninsula Leconfield Wines
24 March 2015 Melbourne Margaret Court Arena
28 March 2015 Hunter Valley Bimbadgen Winery
29 March 2015 Mount Cotton Sirromet Wines
1 April 2015 New Zealand Auckland Vector Arena
2 April 2015 Wellington TSB Arena
4 April 2015 Christchurch Horncastle Arena

Set list[11]

  1. "Postcards from the Past"
  2. "Cradle of Love"
  3. "Can't Break Me Down"
  4. "Dancing with Myself"
  5. "Flesh for Fantasy"
  6. "Save Me Now"
  7. "Sweet Sixteen"
  8. "Kings & Queens of the Underground"
  9. "Eyes Without a Face"
  10. "L.A. Woman"
    Steve Stevens guitar solo
  11. "King Rocker"
  12. "Love Like Fire"
  13. "Whiskey and Pills"
  14. "Blue Highway"
  15. "Rebel Yell"
  16. "White Wedding"
  17. "Mony Mony"

Track listing

Kings & Queens of the Underground track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Bitter Pill"
Trevor Horn3:57
2."Can't Break Me Down"
Greg Kurstin3:42
3."Save Me Now"
  • Idol
  • George William Lewis
  • Kurstin
Kurstin4:31
4."One Breath Away"
Horn4:10
5."Postcards from the Past"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:20
6."Kings & Queens of the Underground"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:53
7."Eyes Wide Shut"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:29
8."Ghosts in My Guitar"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
Horn4:47
9."Nothing to Fear"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:39
10."Love and Glory"
  • Idol
  • Stevens
  • Morrison
Horn4:28
11."Whiskey and Pills"
Horn3:43
iTunes bonus track[12]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Hollywood Promises"
  • Idol
  • Tichy
4:11
Japanese version bonus tracks[13]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Hollywood Promises"
  • Idol
  • Tichy
 4:11
13."Cradle of Love" (live from Vienna)
  • Idol
  • David Werner
Keith Forsey4:42
14."Dancing with Myself" (live from Vienna)
Forsey5:39

Personnel

  • Billy Idol – vocals (all tracks)
  • Steve Stevens – lead, rhythm guitar (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 6 - 8, 11)
  • Billy Morrison – rhythm guitar (tracks 4, 9)
  • Trevor Horn – bass guitar (tracks 1, 4 - 11), programming (tracks 5, 7, 8), keyboards (tracks 6, 8, 11)
  • Ash Soan – drums (tracks 1, 4, 6 - 10), percussion (tracks 1, 8)
  • Matt Chamberlain – drums (track 3)
  • Joel M Peters – drums (track 11)
  • Tim Weidner – percussion (tracks 4, 9, 11), programming (track 7)
  • Julian Hinton – orchestral arrangement and programming (tracks 4, 6, 8, 10)
  • Pete Murray – orchestral arrangement and programming (track 7)
  • Geoff Downes – keyboards (tracks 1, 4 - 10)
  • Cameron Gower Poole – programming (tracks 1, 4, 9), keyboards (tracks 7, 9, 11), guitar (track 9)
  • Greg Kurstin – guitar (track 2), bass guitar (tracks 2, 3), keyboards (tracks 2, 3), drums (track 2), programming (track 3)
  • Josh Campbell – programming (tracks 1, 5), guitar (track 5), bass guitar (track 11)
  • Renate Sokolovska – flute (track 6)

Charts

Chart performance for Kings & Queens of the Underground
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 81
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 17
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 109
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 127
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[18] 69
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[19] 24
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 75
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[21] 37
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 102
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 8
Italian Albums (FIMI)[24] 45
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 39
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[27] 35
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[28] 4
US Billboard 200[29] 34
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] 4
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[31] 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[32] 9

Release history

Release history and formats for Kings & Queens of the Underground
Region Date Format(s) Label
Australia[33] 17 October 2014
BFI
Germany[34]
United Kingdom[35] 20 October 2014
Canada[36] 21 October 2014
United States[37]

References

  1. ^ "Kings & Queens Of The Underground by Billy Idol reviews | Any Decent Music". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Kings & Queens of the Underground by Billy Idol". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. BFI at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  4. ^ Coffey, Russ (17 October 2014). "CD: Billy Idol - Kings and Queens of the Underground". The Arts Desk. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  5. ^ Dave Simpson (16 October 2014). "Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground review – lovably ludicrous 80s rocker gets confessional". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  6. ^ Kiß, Jonas. "Ist das jetzt Gänsehaut oder Cold Turkey?". laut.de (in German). Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  7. ^ Phil Mongredien (18 October 2014). "Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground review – a turkey of epic proportions". The Observer. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Kings & Queens Of The Underground". Record Collector. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Billy Idol 'Kings & Queens of the Underground' Album Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  10. ^ "TOUR DATES - Billy Idol". billyidol.net. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Review and setlist: Billy Idol at O2 Academy, Birmingham". birminghammail.co.uk. 6 November 2014. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Kings & Queens of the Underground". billyidol.net. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  13. ^ "Amazon.co.jp: ビリー・アイドル : 逆襲のアイドル". Amazon.co.jp.
  14. ^ Ryan, Gavin (25 October 2014). "Slipknot Land No 1 Album On ARIA Chart". Noise11. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  18. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 46.Týden 2014 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens Of The Underground" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  22. ^ "Lescharts.com – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  23. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  24. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  26. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  27. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  29. ^ "Billy Idol Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  30. ^ "Billy Idol Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  31. ^ "Billy Idol Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  32. ^ "Billy Idol Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  33. ^ "Buy Kings And Queens Of The Underground Billy Idol". Sanity. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  34. ^ "Kings & Queens of the Underground: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de (DE).
  35. ^ "iTunes - Music - Kings & Queens of the Underground (Bonus Tracks Version) by Billy Idol". Apple iTunes UK. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  36. ^ "Kings and Queens of the Underground: Billy Idol: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca.
  37. ^ "Amazon.com: Kings & Queens of the Underground: Music". Amazon. 16 August 2023.