Hearing Billy Idol's latest album 'Billy Idol: Happy Holidays', one can't feel anything else than sheer pain. Pain at the thought that such a successful rocker, one of the first MTV stars of all times would be that desperate for attention as to record a full album of covers.

Sure, nowadays, every single artist out there has at least one cover of a classic song so that's not the worst part of Billy's latest 'achievement'. The sad part is that, unlike a few (and like thousands of so-called 'singers'), the rocker went for covers of classic Christmas hits, to which he brings absolutely nothing new.

No originality and no specific characteristic of Billy's can be felt by listening the carols. Until now, I lived with the impression that only washed-out, faded stars chose oldies to make a so-called comeback or to record Christmas carols. However, many singers release their own carols, tracks they worked on and lyrics they put down with their own hands.

Billy just posted two videos on myspace, 'White Christmas' and 'Jingle Bells'. The clips are... well, not much. He's still hot and still maintains something that reminds us of that wild rocker that used to sing 'Dancing With Myself' or 'Eyes Without a Face'. But the spirit has gone out of him, he is no longer the same person.

It's sad, and yet true. Maybe he needs the cash really bad or maybe he just thought that the album would be nice. In the end, I don't know how much the world would still like him to sing his old tracks or anything resembling them. They would then say that he's stuck in the past - it's a no-win situation. Still, I am not going to buy this album. I prefer to remain with the memory of Billy Idol in the '80s, it's much nicer.

Click HERE and HERE to see the videos and get into the Christmas spirit... or not...