To me, the right music can really make a gaming session that much more enjoyable. Like exploring a Cathedral of Flesh is the Carpathians to the tones of the soundtrack from Bram Stoker's Dracula or entering the forested realm of the elves with Lisa Gerrard singing. Thus, I have decided to review a number of CDs for use in gaming sessions.
Note: Billy Idol rocks! Few can match his personal cool, fewer still surpass it (Tom Jones is one of these). If you don't think Billy Idol is cool, don't bother reading this review, just crawl back to whatever culturally deprived pit you exist in. :)
Billy Idol came somewhat late out of British Punk and became one of the defining artist in 80'ies punk, even though his style seems more a mix of pop and rock. However, with Billy Idol being very 80'ies in style and Cyberpunk being very 80'ies in style, a CD entitled Cyberpunk from Billy sounds like it has a lot of potential. So, with that in mind, let us see what the man has to offer.
Cyberpunk contains a whopping 20 tracks (though three of them aren't really tracks). The CD-cover is rather psychedelic with a slight computer feel to it, displaying Billy's distorted face in strong colors. The CD booklet, which is fold-put, contains lyrics for all songs, as well as several other images, most of which are held in the distorted psychedelic computer style, though two are in black and white. The colored pictures leave me kinda cold, though the black 'n' white pictures are very evocative.
The CD starts off with an unnamed track, which is spoken word. A distorted voice, possibly Billy's tells us about the world of Cyberpunk. Interesting enough, but I would be hard-pressed to find use for it, unless you've got some whacky Demolition Man scenario where someone needs an intro to the new world he's woken up in. Apparently, the spoken word piece is an edited version of something written by a man named Gareth Branwyn in "Is there a Cyberpunk movement?".
Track 2 is Wasteland, with it's semi-chanted chorus "No religion - no religion at all". It is a solid rock track with some electronic elements and, to my mind, could be used quite effectively in a Cyberpunk game, especially with the constantly repeated "No religion", which definitely serves to set a mood for a desperate world.
Next comes the CD's big hit, Shock to the System. The song bring fond memories of White Wedding in its style and is a nicely pumping rock song. However, for my money, it's not hardcore and edgy enough for down and dirty running in the shadows, not refined enough for a high corporate environment and not electronic enough for hacking. However, it's still Billy Idol and some of the background noise of sirens and gunfire means it's still a useful track.
The next song is Tomorrow People, a slower, more airy track where Billy's voice is "hidden" behind the music. It makes for good background music for empty streets and someone walking through a wasted cityscape.
Next we get the slightly psychedelic track Adam in Chains, a spoken word piece with vocals from a certain Robert Farago of the Farago Clinic in London. This makes the opening line ("do you want to be hypnotized") very interesting and the first half of the song does seem somewhat like a hypnotism session. We then move on to some slow, almost sensual singing. This track could work quite well for a strange and alien setting, such as an unknown corporation or a corner of cyberspace. The slowness does not lend itself to action in the streets.
Track 7 is called Neuromancer and now we're in full on Cyberpunk mode. With a repeating verse of "It's the age of destruction - In a world of corruption" and an energetic guitar, we get a track perfect for setting a mood of street-level Cyberpunk and nihilism.
Next comes Power Junkie, with its shouted "I'm goin' crazy". With its funky energy, jilted lyrics and slightly electronic feel, it can serve very well both as a background tune for running the net and for a real-life situation where one or more of the characters are losing it.
Love Labours On starts with a beautiful organ piece and then moves into a slow, introspective track. It is a rock ballad, which is perhaps a bit too sentimental and wishy-washy for Cyberpunk, though if you want to interject something besides hard-core cyberrunning, then this could easily serve as the soundtrack for an emotional moment.
Next we have Heroin, a great name for a Cyberpunk song. The slow beat and Billy's low voice moving over to a slightly faster beat, it could be a good track for a slower section of the game, maybe some downtime, maybe some laying low, maybe just chilling out because the sun is in the sky. Oh, and lots of drugs.
Shangrila follows, a track that combines electronic sounds with an Indian/Eastern feel. This makes it good not only for a netrunning session, but also as background music should the PCs find themselves inside a major Indian corporation. Combine it with Adam in Chains to get a longer session of weirdness.
Track 14 is Concrete Kingdom, a great name. Both the name and the feel of this lighter track serves as a great backdrop for a meeting with an urban primitive tribe somewhere in the ruins of a major city. There is also something of the mystic about it, which can be combined with Adam in Chains and Shangrila.
Next we have Venus. It is a slow, airy track which lends itself quite nicely to a slower session of netrunning, especially one which includes a meeting with an AI or Ghost in the Machine, due to the chorus; "One touch of Venus - and she'll receive us".
And then we have When the Night Comes, perhaps my favorite track here. A faster, energetic song in which Billy's great voice is allowed to run free and with some great backing vocals. While the lyrics do have a more party feel, I can definitely see it as the starting song for when darkness fall and the team assembles.
Track 18 is just strange noise, but it's not very long.
Mother Dawn is in competition with When the Night Comes as most favorite track. Energetic, it has a good feel for when the group goes clubbing or has a good time.
We end with more odd noise, this time with some spoken word and screams. There's something exceptionally evocative about this, but I can't put my finger on it.
So, in the end, what is my verdict? Well, as much as I love Billy's music, this CD is not perfect for Cyberpunk. Just very, very good. What it lacks are more songs suitable for action sequences. But if you get a hold of one of several modern soundtracks, that can easily be remedied. As such, it's a great CD to keep in mind for Cyberpunk games.
