# Kings & Queens of the Underground

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 5.3/10 |
| Metacritic | 64/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Arts Desk | |
| Classic Rock | |
| The Guardian | |
| laut.de | |
| Mojo | |
| The Observer | |
| Q | |
| Record Collector | |
| Rolling Stone | |
Kings & Queens of the Underground is the eighth studio album by English rock musician Billy Idol, released on 17 October 2014 by BFI Records. It was Idol's first album of new material since Devil's Playground (2005). The album debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200, becoming Idol's highest-debuting album to date. It 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. The setlist included five songs from the album, "Postcards from the Past", "Can't Break Me Down", "Save Me Now", "Kings & Queens of the Underground" and "Whiskey and Pills", as well as 13 older songs and two guitar solos by Steve Stevens.

## 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) | 81 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 17 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 109 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 127 |
| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) | 69 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten) | 24 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 75 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 37 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 102 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 8 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 45 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 39 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 10 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 35 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) | 4 |
| US Billboard 200 | 34 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 4 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) | 5 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) | 9 |

## Release history

Release history and formats for Kings & Queens of the Underground :
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label |
| Australia | 17 October 2014 | CD digital download | BFI |
| Germany | 17 October 2014 | CD digital download | BFI |
| United Kingdom | 20 October 2014 | CD digital download | BFI |
| Canada | 21 October 2014 | CD digital download | BFI |
| United States | 21 October 2014 | CD digital download | BFI |