Customer Reviews

Public Image Ltd

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let it not be forgotten just how villified John Lydon was when Public Image Ltd emerged in the immediate post-punk era. Already despised by the press/public, Lydon (the face of Punk) was at this point also copping the derision of hardcore punks who labelled him a sell-out amid the messy break-up of the Sex Pistols. Which makes PiL's debut album all the more remarkable. While Steve Jones and Paul Cook were sticking with Malcolm McLaren as he bilked the Sex Pistols moniker beyond parody point, and Sid Vicious was inching ever closer to his ignoble and inevitable death, it was Lydon who managed to reinvent himself in the full glare of the public, with an album that sounds nothing like "Never Mind The Bollocks" but is equally powerful - due primarily to the expert musicianship that surrounded Lydon's lyrical/vocal broadsides, courtesy of ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene, novice bassist Jah Wobble and drummer Jim Walker. The insidious sparsity of PiL's first album has an aural menace that contrasts with the guitar wall-of-sound that was the Pistols' trademark. Comprised mostly of short, punchy anti-pop numbers, Lydon is at his most cathartic, tearing into the media in the classic single "Public Image" ("You never listen to a word that I said/You only seen me for the clothes that I wear"), "Bourgeois Anarchist" Malcolm McLaren in "Low Life" ("Egomaniac traitor/You never did understand/You fell in love with your ego/It did not fit into plan") and Christian hypocrisy in the venomous "Religion II." But the album is bookended by longer, improvisional "songs" which anticipate "Metal Box" - the opening "Theme" is a lengthy, steady-paced torrent of doom, with bass and shrieking guitars and Lydon alternating between fiendish cackles and anguished screams ("I wish I could die"). But nothing compares to the jaw-droppingly-weird improvisational closer "Fodderstompf" - 8 minutes of Wobble's disco-dub beat with the band in Silly Voice mode, muttering away cynically and nonsensically (and intoning "We only wanted to be loved" over and over again in Gollumspeak). If the album as a whole is not quite as satisfying as most of its parts (the spoken-word "Religion I" is superfluous), it was to be expected for a debut effort. By and large, this is an above-average starting point for the adventurous and underrated PiL.

According to Lydon most of the songs on this album were meant to be recorded by the Sex Pistols,but the other members,along with McClaren,thought the songs were too controversial. Ironic,eh?

My personal favorites are Public Image,Religion 1&2,and Annalisa. Religion 1&2 in particular are brilliant because of the stand that Lydon takes against the Catholic Church.Lydon grew up in a Catholic family and you can really feel his anger towards the church in the lyrics.

PiL were one of the best post punk bands in the 1980's and they have been sorely overlooked by people lately. I feel that they are just as important as Joy Division,in the sense that PiL influenced a ton of other bands. For me, they opened my eyes to a bunch of different styles of music from punk to funk.This is a great album by a great band.

This is the best PIL album, hands down. I go so far as to actuallybelieve it to be a better album than any of Lydon's efforts with theSex Pistols. It starts slow and steady with 'Theme', then goes into rant with 'Religion I and II'. The Religion songs, as legend goes, deals with an incident when Lydon's mother was living her last moments on earth. Her final request was to have a priest beside her when the moment finally came so Johnny, leaving his mother's side, goes out in search of a priest and when he finally finds one, the priest is getting smashed in a pub. The drunken priest returns with Johnny to his dying mother, but alas, she's already dead. Perhaps, this incident fuels a lot of the anger and cynicism on this album. In any case, I only relate the priest incident because people who do have problems with this album have them with the Religion songs. By that same token, people who really love this album, including moi, love it because of these same songs. Yet 'Religion' is only icing on the cake. 'Annalisa', 'Public Image', and 'Attack', all have Lydon's characteristic wailing which no doubt made them great, live, punk-rock performances once upon a time. And who can deny oneself the pleasure of 'LowLife'? Before there was 'Loser' there was 'LowLife', a much better song to sing, er, scream, along to. 'Fodderstompf' pays "homage" to the Beatles, paying homage as only punks can. When I first heard this album at my friend's place, the experience stayed with me. I kept hearing the music in my head (I still do) and I had to have the album. Unfortunately, I did not know it was an import and I scavenged every CD rack, always coming up empty, until I went to Amsterdam and found it in a CD shop. When I play this album, I play it at full volume (damn you neighbors!), deriving the same pleasure I get when I listen to music by the Velvet Underground or Sonic Youth. END

Let's get back to the basics as set down by early 80's Punk/New Wave releases such as this one. PIL's debut full-length album carries the mysterious flowering angst of early 1980's punk/new wave. The song "Public Image" shows a positive break from the Pistols and remains rosy even in the afterglow of 20 years. If your Father happens to be a priest, don't play the song "Religion" to him until you are ready to move out of the house. "Attack" has the the virulent energy of Lydon's old Pistols scowls while "Annalisia" has a poppy bass line. This album is short and sweet.

An incredible release from Public Image Limited....their first, and arguably their most controversial but also very listenable...the single "public image", is a fast paced attack with punk overtones but does not really fit into the catagorie of "punk", great lyrics, explaining his split from the sex pistols and the image that was the pistols.."I'm not the same as when I began", its not a game of monopoly", my friends deny my goodbye"...those are the words of Johnny Rotten and he concludes the song with a loud "Goodbye"...telling all that the pistols are over...the album contains great guitar work from ex-Clash original member Keith Levene and some incredible bass work from t boyhood friend of Rottens, Jah Wobble...be very surprized by the music on this offering if you expect anything remotely close to the Pistols...not even close...almost disco in feel, with bass as the main instrument, but obtain this album...it is one of the best from the post punk era....if you are a Roman Catholic beware...the cut "Religion" is one of most controversial songs of all times...if you like the music of "77"-"79"...this is an absolute must!!!

Public Image Ltd's debut album feels like a serious attempt by John Lydon to make an artistic statement after years of playing Bad Boy. He and the band branch out well beyond punk to incorporate elements of dub, disco, Krautrock, and even classic rock. Guitarist Keith Levene serves up a range of fractured, choppy wails that would become characteristic of post-punk, while bassist Jah Wobble lays down funk/dub-influenced thumps. At this early stage, not everything works, but its inconsistency is what makes 'Public Image' so interesting.

The relatively upbeat title track is easily the most accessible song here; elsewhere, things are much more scattershot. The grinding menace of the opener `Theme' features sludgy guitar lines that would influence post-punk, noise-rock and even grunge. The driving `Annalisa' is the closest thing a former punk could ever come to straightforward hard rock. The two `Religion' tracks vilify the title subject in spoken and sung form, while `Attack' sounds like a rejected B-grade Pistols demo.

Special mention must be made of the closer `Fodderstompf', a bizarre but brilliant Monty-Python-does-disco effort. The song features nothing more than a minimalist proto-trance beat and the band members singing "we only wanted to be loved!" in silly high-pitched voices. Surprisingly, it works equally well as a joke and as a legitimate artistic experiment.

You can easily see why those who expected `Never Mind The Bollocks Part 2' would have been confused by this album, and why it got so many negative reviews. The bold experiments, and their mixed success, can make the album seem like a giant middle finger by Lydon at his critics. But in hindsight, `Public Image' clearly lays the foundation for the more difficult and ambitious music of PiL's later work. No, not every song is good, but the album's best moments had an enormous influence on post-punk, alternative-rock, and dance. Seek it out.

but don't let the headline fool you into thinking that he's the main event here. Sure, his inventive vocals front the band, but the contributions of Keith Levene (guitar), Martyn Atkins (drums) and especially the driving and/or dubby bass of Jah Wobble are of at least the same importance. Although Metal Box/Second Edition gets a lot more press, this is the album that sounded the clarion call for the battle over the dead carcass of punk. And, in a twisted bit of irony, it also contains perhaps the poppiest song in the PIL discography (Public Image) which shoulda/coulda/woulda been a worldwide hit in a just world.

I wrote this review only because I saw so many bad reviews of it I could'nt believe my eyes !!! How can anybody give this album less than 5 stars is beyond my wit !!! This is the sh..t !!! And the Holy Grail of after punk albums !!!!! It's weird and powerful,it was my introduction to after punk,and a deluxe one,I may add.Together with ALBUM,this is the best after punk album of all times.I LOVE THIS STUFF.

Maybe too much time has passed since the release of this album to have encouraged everyone else to give Public Image the five stars it deserves. It does seem to pale next to other, later post-punk sprees that occurred in the 80s and 90s. Still, nothing more brilliant had come from Lydon & Co.'s head since this release. With his typical voice, which sounded like he'd gargled with broken glass, John Lydon created his most caustic vocals ever. Jah Wobble's bass lines are beyond bottomed-out--I can't imagine how many speakers got blown to pieces that year. This album was a good-bye ... to punk. I only wish I could be more enthusiastic about the rest of PiL's output over the years

Ok, ok, we're in the year 2001 and today's music is...what it is. I was one of the first to buy this album at its release. Why ? Not for the Pistols anyway. Maybe more for the general approach of medias and stardom of this strange band. Think about it : event out of context, this band is far more subversive than, say, NWA or any hard talking rap band (even with attitude), and any hard core (even Ministry try to reimpersonate PIL attitude in concert) or alternative band. What will explode in the "Paris au printemps" live album and bloom in Metal Box is here : a complete reject of anything, in any way. Well, in that case the look of the revolt is musical, mainly. Godzillesque bass (wobble), abnormal drumming (Atkins), disturbingly high and agressive voice (lydon) and, well, a permanent hiss of guitar (Levene). What's more, Dennis Morris is around the corner, who will lead, the latter monster Basement 5. PIL is (almost) dead now : buy anything from here to Flowers of Romance and PAris au Printemps. No one made music industry feel so bad. Ever. My playlist : Theme (pure terror), Annalisa (hard stomp), Fodderstompf (Kraftwerk goes reggae)