Public Image Limited Compact Disc
Released: October 25, 1990 Origination Year: 1985 Time: 40:42 Tracks: 9 Produced by: Bill Laswell Style: Studio Format: CD Enhancement: None Website:

After punk came new wave, a cooler, more angular, sometimes synth-driven sound from the underground. Of course, it was accepted much faster than expected and soon a new deviant sound was needed. For lack of a better name, post-punk came about as a spawn of punk’s angst and anger and new wave’s ice blue austere glow. John Lydon stopped being Rotten, having hung up his Sex Pistols for awhile, and tried the new beast out with his new band Public Image Limited, or P.I.L. for short. P.I.L. didn’t blow up to icon status like the Pistols, but did catch a loyal bunch of fans up in their sound. By the mid 1980s P.I.L. was often mentioned in the same sentence as Joy Division or Wire.

But you can’t keep a good rabble rouser down and, in his most contrarian stance, Lydon hired on eclectic producer Bill Laswell, and a who’s who of modern music in order to record his most mainstream, most rock album. He alienated his fan base in the process, all of which probably shouted the usual cries of “sell out” at the time, but a funny thing happened on the way to the next century. Where discs like the Metal Box and Flowers of Romance energetically captured at scene in its time, Album became a release out of its own, like something that slipped through the cultural wormhole for it doesn’t feel like an 80s disc so much as a 90s disc that hasn’t gone passé by 2004. The CD version of “Album”, cheekily retitled “Compact Disc” is better than has been claimed and is, in fact, not a P.I.L. release so much as a John Lydon solo with a dream crew.

Witness the visceral spewing of “FFF” (or Farewell Fair-weather Friend), not pounded out with the phlegm & blood of punk, but with the chugging guitar more prevalent in metal. In fact, Steve Vai was a primary guitarist on the release. How about that inventive “hunk-a-junk’ percussion starting off “Round”? That might be Ginger Baker there. And of course, the college radio hit “Rise” has the oddest distinction of all: Mr. Lydon, singing. Yes, the man’s got quite a decent voice when he’s not snapping at your nose. The guitar on the song is very much akin to that of The Edge from U2, more about establishing rhythm than soloing, and it works well with the slightly Celtic feel of the song.

The best song on the disc is the ultimate driving machine known as “Home” with its mantra “Better days will never be”, it has Lydon’s usual socio-political lyrical bent but rather than the expected anarchist revolt, there’s a resignation to it. It’s the voice of someone who tried the picket sign, the fist, the gun and the folded hands and nothing worked, and the realization nothing is going to work because people just don’t change. Better days will never be. Home, sweet home.

The disc closes with the eight minute “Ease” that begins with sound textures provided by Ryuchi Sakamoto and ends with a lengthy, shredding guitar send-up, the perfect coda for a most unusual recording. But if this is so good, why do the P.I.L. fans hate it? I have to believe that old bias dies hard. Despite initial reactions of “Rotten Goes Metal”, this is not a metal album and it’s not a punk album. It’s a rock album with a lot of guts, a specific viewpoint and some outstanding performances.

And here’s the best part; you can probably experience it with fresh ears for relatively less than it was initially sold for. Sadly, it is unlikely that there will be a massive P.I.L. revival, forcing Elektra to do a major rerelease. What’s out is it, but due to the exacting ears of Bill Laswell, what’s out there still sounds good, no major hiss issues, reverbs don’t sound muddy, cymbals don’t sound watery… Just remember that this came out before disc manufacturers knew how far they could push volume levels.

Therefore, turn it up. This one sounds good at any level but why waste a chance to be a little contrary?

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