Best of British (Bonus CD) [Import]

John Lydon, John Lydon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B000AMCZ7O
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,664 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Anarchy In The Uk

2. Public Image

3. This Is Not A Love Song

4. Open Up

5. Rise

6. Don't Ask Me

7. Seattle

8. Holidays In The Sun

9. Disco Death

10. Flowers Of Romance

11. World Destruction

12. Warrior

13. Disappointed

14. Sun

15. Bad Life

16. Home

17. Body

18. Cruel

19. God Save The Queen

20. Rabbit Song

See all 32 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

32-track double CD version Best Of from the PiL and Sex Pistols frontman. Includes one new track: 'The Rabbit Song'. Disc 2 features 12 tracks including 12 inch mixes. Artwork is by Lydon himself. There aren't many of his so-called musical piers that could boast a back catalogue as strong or diverse as John Lydon's. Whether it be with the Sex Pistols, Public Image Limited, Leftfield or as a solo artist he has made some remarkable records, and this collection compiles for the first time all the tracks that make John Lydon so special. 'Anarchy in the UK' , 'Public Image', 'This is Not a Love Song', 'Open Up'. These are just the first 4 tracks in what is a musical tour de force. Other standout tracks include "Holiday's In The Sun", "Flowers of Romance" and the immortal "God Save The Queen". Through his work with the Pistols and PiL right through to his solo work Lydon has left his unmistakable stamp on everything he has touched be it through his powerful lyric, his snarling vocal or it's relentless anti melody. He has bridged rock, dance and of course punk and has truly left an indelible mark on music of the last 30 years. Slipcase. Virgin. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy comp covering the whole of Lydon's career, December 25, 2007

By 

Chet L. Young - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of British (Audio CD)

Spanning three decades and featuring singles from the Sex Pistols, Public Image Limited, Lydon's post-PiL solo career and a couple of collaborations with other artists, "The Best of British One Pound Notes" is a must for any John Lydon fan--particularly if you want to hear the highlights of PiL's spotty later albums. (Yes, this collection is very PiL-intensive, but that's only natural since the group was around from 1978 to 1992, and since they had so many first-rate songs.) Very nice single-disc career retrospective! My only complaint has to do with the edits necessary to fit all this music onto one CD. The "fools and horses" verse has been cut from the conclusion of 'Disappointed', one of my all-time favorite PiL songs, and I'm...well, disappointed :( Otherwise, "Best of British One Pound Notes" is a pleasure to hear from start to finish.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Healthy Dose of PiL, April 2, 2009

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Best of British (Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

The 2-CD version of this album may cover mostly familiar terrain for fans - there is one new solo track, Rabbit Song - but it is an interesting overview of John Lydon's career, with a heavy emphasis on Public Image Ltd.

The first disc - also released as its own album - has a trio of tracks from the Sex Pistols (Anarchy in the UK, Holidays in the Sun, God Save the Queen), while loading up on PiL (13 tracks), with two songs as a solo artist (Sun, Rabbit Song) and a pair of collaborative efforts (with Leftfield and Time Zone). Disc two also provides a healthy dose of PiL - 10 tracks, including four remixes - and a remix each of Open Up (w/Leftfield) and the punk classic from the Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen.

Though the collection lacks the unearthing of previously unreleased tracks from a dusty vault, it is a solid set when taking into account that a number of albums in the PiL catalog are out-of-print, which makes many songs virtually impossible to find on CD.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's my entrance, my own creation, my grand finale, my goodbye!, January 1, 2006

By 

epsteinsmutha "epsteinsmutha" (At the bottom of Juan Epstein's excuse note) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Best of British (Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

Surprisingly consistent, but for completists, redundant

I was warned by reading an interview with Mr. Lydon himself that this compilation with the bonus disc was a situation where longtime fans had most of the material already and despite my hopes on the contrary, I did have most of this already having been a PiL fan since fourth grade (1984) and Sex Pistols fan thereafter (1985).

If you followed both bands, bought everything they ever put out and Lydon's solo stuff and projects with Afrika Bambaataa (aka TimeZone) and Leftfield, then yeah, this is of no use to you outside of the one new song, which is the oldest trick in the book to pull on completists when releasing a best of (I happily fell for it). If you are just dipping your toe in the water and want to see what all the fuss is about over some middleaged bugeyed Irish singer with goofy hair, welcome to the party but at the same time, what took you so long, ya tosspot?

That said, it's not a chronological best of. Pistols/PiL/Solo material mingle freely. This is like what you might make if you did a John Lydon career spanning mix disc (or, if you prefer, technowhore, uploaded into your MP3 player) and no surprise here, it's better than 99% of the dross out there on FM, XM, BBC, CBC, or however you get your music. An already genre-stretching performer, thanks to the running order of the tracks, throws all boundaries out the window and the world is a better place for it, you'd better believe it.

It's a fine place to start, unless you're a fatty oldie like me, then you've been born too soon, matey.

Signed,
epsteinsmutha