Public Image Ltd. Albums (11)
What The Critics Say
Former Sex Pistol vocalist John Lydon once again unleashed his Public Image Ltd. project, this time with a more basic, unrelenting rock & roll attack than ever before. The audio assault of guitarist John McGeoch and bassist Allan Dias perfectly complements Lydon's frenzied, strangled bleating throughout. As usual, Lydon succeeds in being all of satirical and fatalistic, confrontational and self-deprecating. The album's opening words set the tone: "What does it mean/What does anything mean." It's spat out as a statement rather than a question. "Covered" unpredictably tosses sampled vocals, bluesy harmonica, and Tower of Power horns into the mix. That What Is Not can be a difficult PiL to swallow, but the heady side-effects make the effort worthwhile. ~ Roch Parisien, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
9 features essentially the same group of characters found on Happy?, with only Lu Edmonds having left the fold (though he did contribute to the writing on each song). Seven studio albums, seven lineups -- Lydon failed yet again to keep the same people together for more than one record. But is this notion really of major consequence? Not really, and Lydon probably prides himself in it. Thankfully, 9 retained the Happy? core of Bruce Smith, John McGeoch, and Allan Dias. If Happy? and various points prior were flirtations with accessible dance-pop, 9 was a bear hug embrace of it. 9 is split between a modern rock record and a dance producer-derived one, but credit both producers and band for making it a successful combination; on paper, the game plan looks like an accident waiting to happen. Stephen Hague was responsible for just over half of the album's production, with E.T. Thorngren working on the remainder and Nellee Hooper mixing one of Thorngren's productions. 9 is easily PiL's slickest yet, but there's substance to balance it out. The catchy "Disappointed" provided the band's greatest success in the States, with plenty of airplay on modern rock radio stations and light rotation on MTV. Other highlights: the dubby, almost Police-like near-instrumental "U.S.L.S. 1" and the surprising use of acoustic guitar on "Worry." Lowlights: the slightly goofy "Sand Castles in the Snow," the oddball fusion of Asiatic keyboards and late-'80s R&B on "Like That," the character play of Lydon in "Warrior." ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Happy? benefits from some relative stability in PiL's lineup, not to mention the undeniable fact that the band members' allegiance makes sense (in contrast to that of Album's crew). Keyboardist Lu Edmonds (the Damned and 3 Mustaphas 3), guitarist John McGeoch (Magazine and Siouxsie & the Banshees), drummer Bruce Smith (the Pop Group and Rip Rig & Panic), and muscular Yank bassist Allan Dias are a solid unit, forming something of a post-punk supergroup. The Blind Faith of the '80s? Even more radio friendly than Album, Happy? is increasingly entrenched in dancefloor-type fare. Lydon isn't his full-blown postal self, but he's still continents away from being rosy. Though the music might be too dated for most ears years later, Lydon's riffing on unplanned pregnancy ("The Body"), sheep mentality ("Angry"), and false national pride ("Hard Times") still holds together lyrically. McGeoch and Edmonds' sparkling work comes a little too close to stadium-bound for comfort (paging Mr. Edge...), but it's a good turn away from Album's brainy metal-wank fireworks. Just when the band sounds as if it's approaching standard issue 1987 chart fare, it fiddles with the arrangements and structures enough to make sure the songs don't qualify as such. If PiL was trying to remain accessible and challenging at the same time, the band fell just short of its goal; given the conspirators involved, Happy? is not quite as distinct as it should have been. But as far as PiL outings are considered, it was Lydon's best in six years. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
'Album/Compact Disc/Cassette'
Release Date 1/1/1986
Tracks 7
Label Elektra
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Hot guitars and 4/4 time signatures make this sound more like a hard-rock album than anything Lydon's done since The Sex Pistols. And the hit single "Rise" is actually a catchy number, believe it or not. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'This Is What You Want...This Is What You Get'
Release Date 1/1/1984
Tracks 8
Label Elektra
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Lydon adds keyboards, horns, and even a violin, double-tracks his vocals, and writes shorter songs with faster tempos. This Is What You Want ... This Is What You Get doesn't quite add up to a pop album, but you can dance to it. Contains the UK hit "This Is Not a Love Song." ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Live in Tokyo doesn't capture PiL at its best moment. Lydon is supported by a set of anonymous backing musicians, as he tries to squeeze some added milage out of the hit single "This Is Not A Love Song." The group's performance is bland and the entire record seems rather opportunistic, making it the weakest entry in PiL's catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'The Flowers of Romance'
Release Date 1/1/1981
Tracks 12
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
As opposed to the axis of throbbing bass and guitar slashings of Metal Box, The Flowers of Romance is centralized on razor-sharp drums and typically haranguing vocals. No dubwise grooves here -- bassist Jah Wobble was kicked out prior to the recording for ripping off PiL backing tracks for his solo material. And growing more disenchanted with the guitar, Keith Levene's infatuation with synthesizers was reaching a boiling point. His scythe-like guitar is truly brought out for only one song. Stark and minimal are taken to daring lengths, so it's no surprise that Virgin initially balked at issuing the heavily percussive record. "Four Enclosed Walls" opens with something of a mechanical death rattle and John Lydon's quavering warble, framed by backwards piano and Martin Atkins' spartan, dry-as-a-bone drumming. His rapier-like drums seem to serve a similar purpose to Levene's guitar on Metal Box. An unsteady drum pattern and fragile, wind chime-like guitar from Levene shape "Track 8," a bleak look at sexual relationships. Lydon adds color with pleasant imagery of Butterball turkeys and elephant graves. "Under the House" and "Francis Massacre" are the most violent tracks due to Atkins' machine gun firing and Levene's chilling atmosperics. Lydon lashes out at zealous fans on the only bottom-heavy tune, "Banging the Door": "The walls are so thin/The neighbors listen in/Keep the noise down." Perhaps the band's most challenging work (in the avant garde sense), it's just as "love it or hate it" as Metal Box; it'll either go down a treat or like a five-pound block of liverwurst. [The UK version adds three bonus tracks: an instrumental version of "The Flowers of Romance," "Another," (essentially "Graveyard" with vocals) and "Home Is Where the Heart Is." The latter two can be found on Plastic Box.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Released primarily to cut down on bootlegs of the same concerts from early 1980, Paris au Printemps catches Public Image Limited at the peak of the band's career. While the album was criticized at the time for being nothing more than a live album and thus not adhering to the group's avant-garde rhetoric, the music more than makes up for any breakdown in the band's ideology. Jah Wobble issues forth pseudo-reggae liquid basslines while John Lydon moans and whelps over heavy, almost free-form guitar from Keith Levene. Although the songs remain quite similar to their album versions, there are far more prominent synth effects on this recording, adding more of an element of dark psychedelia to the mix and enhancing the menacing aspect to such songs as "Bad Baby," and the droning "Careering." Meanwhile, the epics -- "Theme" from First Issue, and "Poptones" from Metal Box -- sound arguably even better live. Unfortunately, while the music is great, the album has been pasted together quite sloppily from two concerts, placing the tracks in a bizarre order while leaving out some of the group's best numbers. Nonetheless, Paris au Printemps is a fine release, especially in the absence of any other live recordings of the band from this period. [Note: The CD is currently out of print in America and is also known as Paris in the Spring.] ~ Geoff Orens, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
PiL managed to avoid boundaries for the first four years of their existence, and Metal Box is undoubtedly the apex. It's a hallmark of uncompromising, challenging post-punk, hardly sounding like anything of the past, present, or future. Sure, there were touchstones that got their imaginations running -- the bizarreness of Captain Beefheart, the open and rhythmic spaces of Can, and the dense pulses of Lee Perry's productions fueled their creative fires -- but what they achieved with their second record is a completely unique hour of avant-garde noise. Originally packaged in a film canister as a trio of 12" records played at 45 rpm, the bass and treble are pegged at 11 throughout, with nary a tinge of midrange to be found. It's all scrapes and throbs (dubscrapes?), supplanted by John Lydon's caterwauling about such subjects as his dying mother, resentment, and murder. Guitarist Keith Levene splatters silvery, violent, percussive shards of metallic scrapes onto the canvas, much like a one-armed Jackson Pollock. Jah Wobble and Richard Dudanski lay down a molasses-thick rhythmic foundation throughout that's just as funky as Can's Czukay/Leibezeit and Chic's Edwards/Rodgers. It's alien dance music. Metal Box might not be recognized as a groundbreaking record with the same reverence as Never Mind the Bollocks, and you certainly can't trace numerous waves of bands who wouldn't have existed without it like the Sex Pistols record. But like a virus, its tones have sent miasmic reverberations through a much broader scope of artists and genres. [Metal Box was issued in the States in 1980 with different artwork and cheaper packaging under the title Second Edition; the track sequence differs as well. The U.K. reissue of Metal Box on CD boasts better sound quality than the Second Edition CD.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
PiL managed to avoid boundaries for the first four years of their existence, and Metal Box is undoubtedly the apex. It's a hallmark of uncompromising, challenging post-punk, hardly sounding like anything of the past, present, or future. Sure, there were touchstones that got their imaginations running -- the bizarreness of Captain Beefheart, the open and rhythmic spaces of Can, and the dense pulses of Lee Perry's productions fueled their creative fires -- but what they achieved with their second record is a completely unique hour of avant-garde noise. Originally packaged in a film canister as a trio of 12" records played at 45 rpm, the bass and treble are pegged at 11 throughout, with nary a tinge of midrange to be found. It's all scrapes and throbs (dubscrapes?), supplanted by John Lydon's caterwauling about such subjects as his dying mother, resentment, and murder. Guitarist Keith Levene splatters silvery, violent, percussive shards of metallic scrapes onto the canvas, much like a one-armed Jackson Pollock. Jah Wobble and Richard Dudanski lay down a molasses-thick rhythmic foundation throughout that's just as funky as Can's Czukay/Leibezeit and Chic's Edwards/Rodgers. It's alien dance music. Metal Box might not be recognized as a groundbreaking record with the same reverence as Never Mind the Bollocks, and you certainly can't trace numerous waves of bands who wouldn't have existed without it like the Sex Pistols record. But like a virus, its tones have sent miasmic reverberations through a much broader scope of artists and genres. [Metal Box was issued in the States in 1980 with different artwork and cheaper packaging under the title Second Edition; the track sequence differs as well. The U.K. reissue of Metal Box on CD boasts better sound quality than the Second Edition CD.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
