An awful lot of rubbish has been spouted in the UK press about Billy Idol over the years; yes, his punk credentials aren't fantastic and yes, he released that awful Cyberpunk album. But at the time of "Rebel Yell" and (to a slightly lesser extent) "Whiplash Smile", he was at the cutting edge of rock, and releasing some true quality tunes. Pretty much ALL of this album is very, very good, and William deserves major kudos for having the foresight to ditch the UK's bitchy Smash Hits scene, decamp to LA and hook up with Steve Stevens, whose fabulous but understated guitar pyrotechnics are the soul of his sound.
It may sound a bit dated nowadays, but then so does pretty much all '80s American (based) rock. Give the album another listen and give the man some credit, for heaven's sake.