Nice Day to Start Again

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Two years later, Idol's greatest-hits album, released as an afterthought by EMI, became a surprise platinum seller. Idol, sensing opportunity, got a band together and hit the road, filling 3,000-seat venues on the strength of his catalog and charisma. ("There's not much you can do about the face at my age," he says, "but you can keep your body together. I can still take my shirt off.") Impressed by his drawing power, Sanctuary Records--current home of Morrissey, Robert Plant and Kiss--signed him to the 2003 deal that resulted in Devil's Playground, which ... is really not bad. There's an inexplicable Christmas ditty in the middle and tracks titled both Sherri and Cherie, but the songs are well crafted and full of energy. If Idol is a little thinner at the top of his range, his growl still brings on fits of delight, particularly on the rockabilly ballad Lady Do or Die and Sherri, which he accurately calls "a really stupid song that gets better each time you hear it."

Regardless of how Devil's Playground sells, Idol says making his first album in a dozen years has given him new respect for his previous accomplishments. "It's a fantastic thing to think that I start a song in my room on acoustic guitar, six strings, and it ends up having some 20- or 30-year life. Even if it's just playing in Bed Bath & Beyond, there's somebody shopping to Cradle of Love. Heh!"