The Sex Pistols burned out in a flash, releasing only one proper album, 1977’s Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Better to burn out than to fade away.
Risen from the ashes, Pistols’ lead singer Johnny Rotten became John Lydon once more to form Public Image Ltd., aiming for something completely different. Their first album showed some promise, but it wasn’t until their second album, released first in metal canisters as Metal Box and a few months later as the Second Edition double-LP, that PiL found their voice. Beneath Lydon’s menacing vocal delivery, the band takes its musical cues from the hypnotically repetitive rhythms of Krautrock. Think Johnny Rotten in a seasick mood backed by an angry, mutant version of Can, for a pulsing, propulsive nihilism unlike almost anything else in rock history, before or since.
Playlist 1
Playlist One contains highlights from PiL’s most significant period of work, the intriguing Public Image: First Issue (1978), the essential post-punk of Metal Box / Second Edition (1979), and the occasionally brilliant The Flowers of Romance (1981).
Playlist 2
This mini-playlist contains a few later highlights from PiL and John Lydon, much of which is from the album / cassette / compact disc album (1986). I may expand this later to include some more recent material.
Cover Art:
- Second Edition: Source, Discogs.com, Fair use.
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