On July 28, it'll be a nice day to start again: Billy Idol's self-titled debut album will be reissued on CD with a bonus live show.

Released in 1982, Billy Idol was the first full-length solo effort from the British rocker with the spiky bleached hair and the inimitable sneer. A year before, he'd issued the Don't Stop EP, offering a remix of "Dancing with Myself" - the last major single from his former band Generation X - and a peppy cover of Tommy James and The Shondells' "Mony Mony." (A live version by Idol would become a Top 10 hit years later.) That release and Billy Idol both represented the direction the singer would take in the years to come, mixing a rock 'n' roll edge - including the first appearance of longtime guitarist Steve Stevens as sideman - with an undeniable pop sensibility. (A single like "Hot in the City," with its strutting tempo, languid backing vocals and soulful piano and synthesizer riffs, was considerably removed from the British punk scene Idol came up in.)

Producer Keith Forsey's polished production helped the album stand out, and the record had a further coup with the simmering "White Wedding." Though only a modest performer on the pop charts - brushing the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 36, some 13 spots below "City," and only a U.K. Top 10 after being reissued in 1985, after follow-up album Rebel Yell broke big - the song gained notoriety for its arresting music video, a mainstay on the fledgling MTV (after editing some controversial material). The gauzy image of Idol made him one of the network's first stars, setting him up for even more success as the '80s wore on.

"White Wedding," labeled "Part 1" on the album and single, earned club play through an extended version that stretched the track past the eight-minute mark - but one of the new expanded edition's bonus centerpieces is a newly-discovered "Clubland Extended Version" that adds another four minutes to the running time! The album is further complemented with an unreleased live set from The Roxy in West Hollywood at the end of 1982; it features the balance of tracks from Don't Stop and Billy Idol plus a few from Generation X's swan song Kiss Me Deadly.

Idol, who's released a pair of well-received EPs in 2021 and 2022, will embark on a North American tour in the late summer and early fall, including a quintet of Las Vegas dates. Perhaps this reissue of his debut will be a terrific primer to reintroduce you to his unforgettable sound. It's in stores July 28 and can be ordered below. (A vinyl edition of the original album, including a bonus lithograph of the original album cover, will be available on the same day.)

Billy Idol (Expanded Edition) (Capitol/UMe, 2023)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Original album (released as Chrysalis 204 790 (U.K.)/CHR-1377 (U.S.), 1982) and unreleased bonus track

1. Come On, Come On
2. White Wedding (Part 1)
3. Hot in the City
4. Dead on Arrival
5. Nobody's Business
6. Love Calling
7. Hole in the Wall
8. Shooting Stars
9. It's So Cruel
10. Congo Man
11. White Wedding (Clubland Extended Remix)

Disc 2: Live at The Roxy, West Hollywood, CA - 11/13/1982 (previously unreleased)

1. Baby Talk
2. Untouchables
3. Come On, Come On
4. Hot in the City
5. Dead on Arrival
6. Heavens Inside
7. Ready Steady Go
8. Hole in the Wall
9. Shooting Stars
10. Kiss Me Deadly
11. White Wedding
12. Nobody's Business
13. Dancing with Myself
14. Mony Mony
15. Triumph