He was a smart cookie that Johnny Vicious chap. Not being able to interest his fellow Sex Pistols in the Krautrock/dub influenced music he was starting to write and tiring of the whole chaotic scene he cashed in his chips, became his own man and regained his given name.
His first and best song was a laser-targeted statement of intent, self reclamation and a declaration of war on the degraded goods record companies were shipping out stamped ‘punk’. It was a sharp enough little blade that he named his band after it and Public Image Ltd was born.
Not knowing quite where to start with P.I.L but harbouring happy school-era memories of the track ‘Rise’, I found myself in possession of The Greatest Hits, So Far in 1992. The fact that the LP cover, drawn by Mental As Anything’s Reg Mombassa, shows a dog’s bumhole and knackers, a cock ring and a discarded rubber Johnny may have been what pushed the purchase into the go zone.
My initial reaction? I loved ‘Public Image’ and the tracks from Album that I already knew, but the rest bored me.
My todayian reaction? I’ll take the ones above and add ‘Death Disco’ to the mix, along with ‘Flowers Of Romance’, but the rest mostly bore me.
1537 hath spaken.
I have developed a tolerance for the sickly jarring skank of ‘Death Disco’, which is a danceable proposition if you push the furniture back against the walls. The two tracks from Metal Box* twitch and make deeply impressive original sounds without ever engaging, it’s an LP that needs to be listened to as a whole, separating two tracks from it does them no favours.
‘Flowers Of Romance’ is bloody great though, no wonder Mr Lydon is such a fan of Kate Bush Dreaming, he was there two years before her, almost; the LP’s share Nick Launay. It’s a weird percussive Eastern-sounding contraption that I think is just superb and Lydon does some really interesting vocal tricks and flicks. On ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ the band pretty much invent the mid 80’s in a flash, this is slightly irritating genius on every level, rhythm, sentiment, execution.
Album was a big hit in school, the tunes were great, Steve Vai was on it (we found out much later) and we dug the packaging. I never bought it, but I was too busy mooning after All About Eve and buying ever more pointy shoes, so what did I know? The two tracks here are amazing ‘Rise’ and the fearsome ‘Home’. I own a super-duper fancy pants boxset** which I’ll write about in the fullness of time. Needless to say they are just stuffing perfect.
After that The Greatest Hits, So Far nosedives into unsuitable drum sounds, bright production and just more workaday songs. I like the guitar straffing on ‘Seattle’ courtesy of John McGeoch and Lu Edmonds and the spark of ‘Warrior’ but that’s all for positives.
What needs to be said about P.I.L and isn’t said often or loudly enough in my view, is just what a great band they were at times, in all their configurations. Keith Levene was a ridiculously inventive guitarist, Wobble an astonishing and versatile bassist, Martin Atkins in particular was a smart drummer.
Above it all though reins John Lydon. His voice the one rubbery leering constant here; what a voice too! It is a great instrument in its own right, alternately strong, fractured, rhythmic, yelping and a hundred more things besides.
The Greatest Hits, So Far is a pretty decent primer but I would always redirect you to the original releases, although they don’t come with three-eyed aliens and a dog’s vent on the cover; so make an informed choice folks.
1146 Down.
*apparently the original version came in some sort of ferrous carton?
**sadly not called Box.
For a (relative) noob like me, a comp like this might be all I needed.
It’s why greatest hits work. It’s how I got into lots of bands.
Yup, I have a ton of them here. Many bands are comp bands for me, and that’s me done with them. And even then, some comps I only like a few songs lol.
I haven’t heard them outside Metal Box, which is weird because I’ve enjoyed Metal Box for a long time. It sounds like it should be back in vogue a bit – it’s not dissimilar to that clutch of new UK bands like Black Midi and Black Country, New Road.
Good point but none of those new ones strike anything chord with me. Maybe it’s age?
Album is a really good, umm, album too.
I like most of those bands – hopefully they’re still developing and have some growth left. The Black Midi guy gets better at singing with each new album.
I love to loathe to love PIL, not sure what that means although I have vague memories of dancing(?) to them along with BAD at some wretched nightclub and wowing the room. That’s my memory and I’m sticking to it. I too have the metal box album in its horrible US incarnation.
I can see you wowing the room Neil. To quote Sister Sledge ‘He’s the champion of dance/his moves put you in a trance/and he never leaves the disco alone’
I think it’s important to note my wife has refused to dance with me for anything more energetic than a waltz since 1991.
I’m not sure what P.I.L. there is in the VC collection other than the CD version of metal box, which I agree is an entire trip on its own.
Ah, Johnny. What a role model.
PS. Love Reg Mombassa’s art. So funny and acute. Saw an exhibition in Adelaide once and was tempted, but the tickets had just one too many decimal places for my wallet.
Yeah, I don’t think you can/should experience Metal Box in anything other than complete form.
Really like Album too, it still sounds great. Maybe when you’re doing your series of 85 from 85?
Were Mental As Anything any good? All I can remember is the name.
Mental As Anything were curious. A fine, off-kilter pop sensibility, as unpretentious as a suburban garage. Their songs often had some amusing wordplay, like “If you leave me (can I come too)” and they wrote a good chorus.