At the start, it was assumed
Public Image Limited were motivated solely by revenge. Formed by John
Lydon in the aftermath of the final and humiliating Sex Pistols show
in San Francisco in January 1978, they were to be -as this four-CD box
set spanning their career chronicles -everything his previous band weren't:
a personality-free, anti-rock'n'roll, avant-noise assault on a music
industry Lydon felt had cheated and abandoned him.
Their eponymous debut album,
where Lydon was joined by guitarist Keith Levene and virtuoso dub bassist
Jah Wobble, was nightmarish. Brutal and frequently unlistenable, it
was a raw howl of intent that stretched way beyond a simple flicked
V at the music industry. Far from being a random assault on people's
nerves, PiL were creating a New Music with something approaching scientific
vigour. Arguably the first post-rock group, they traded traditional
rock influences for something far more interesting. Can, Lee Perry and
Captain Beefheart replaced The Who, the Stones and Eddie Cochran, and
brought a densely layered and fiercely rhythmic sound.
Their next two LPs ('Metal
Box' and 'Flowers Of Romance', both featured here almost in their entirety)
showcased this giant leap forward. 'Metal Box' was the first time PiL
really assimilated their influences. Underpinned by gargantuan dub basslines,
and drenched in reverb, it's a heavy, abstract collage of distorted
drum patterns and spray-on guitar effects, thrilling to listen to even
today. The sound of grey paint and '70s tower blocks made all too tangible.
Wobble left soon after, but
'Flowers Of Romance' is even further out there, songs being abandoned
altogether in favour of spliced noise, relentless percussion and looped
tape effects. Lydon's sneer was still smeared liberally over the top,
but now had just become another instrument lost in the mix. Despite
being critically reviled, it was the logical conclusion to a journey
Lydon had set out on three years before.
In 1983, PiL mutated once
again when Lydon relocated to LA and Levene departed. From 1984 to 1992,
they released five LPs, which, while musically conservative, were commercially
(more) successful. The last two CDs of this set chronicle this period
all too extensively, although on the plus side they do include PiL's
two biggest hits -'This Is Not A Love Song' and 'Rise'. What had started
as a radical experiment had ended up as bland formula, with the amiable
eco-friendly message of 'Don't Ask Me' representing the real nadir.
If you're interested in how that happened, invest in 'Plastic Box'.
Otherwise, just get the first three LPs. Twenty years on, nobody's come
close to matching them. |