by Jamie
It seems to be excessively obvious to say that Jon Lydon is an important figure in rock history, but what isn’t obvious is just how important a figure he is, especially here in America where large swaths of the populace either don’t know the name or treat him with relative indifference. One could very easily say that Jon Lydon’s singular stamp on rock and rolls trajectory is as important as any.
It’s the Sex Pistols that initially put Lydon— as Johnny Rotten— into the publics collective conscience, as they (and he was their brains) single handedly birthed (or worked as the most important middlemen to) legions of bands, movements, and sounds. But they are a topic for another day, today it’s his work post-Pistols that’s in our focus, specifically his next group Public Image Limited (PiL).
PiL emerged immediately after the Sex Pistols dissolved, so quickly in fact that Lydon can factually claim to not only helpingcreate England’s first punk band but also its first post-punk band. Helped by angular scratch guitar maestro Keith Levene (someone who had been a scenester from the start as he was in the first incarnations of what would become the Clash) and doom laden dub bass master Jah Wobble (a person who is, in my opinion, one of English rock’s true undervalued eccentric geniuses) PiL would release 7 albums of which the first three are undisputed rock masterpieces (and a few after that too, certainly Album/Compact Disc/Cassette is). First Issue, their 1978 debut, contained many songs written (lyrically) during the Sex Pistols US tour that ended in disaster (and Lydon uttering the fantastic quip: “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”). It broke stylistically from the Pistols straight ahead guitar rock, with its thudding rhythms and alien atmosphere. Metal Box, their 1979 second album (later named Second Edition in altered packaging in 1980) and today’s official selection, pushed the envelope even further. It’s one of the most challenging discs to get through, and yet it’s also this strange dance record. It’s their creative zenith and essential to boot, so it’s quite a shame that after a Live album release Wobble left the band, forever severing the groups chief creative trio. With Wobble and his distinct bass sound no more, the band decided to make their next record virtually bass-free (it’s an interesting solution: How do you replace an irreplaceable player? You don’t, you just omit that instrument from the next record). As such 1981′s The Flowers of Romance was met with much hesitation, as most listeners used to the steady rock template had no bearing in an album consisting of abstract vocal compositions delivered in aggressive shrieks and moans overtop bare synthesizer and heavy drumming. It’s either post-punks first (and probably only) hip hop record, or it’s a minimalist soundtrack to the scariest film you’d ever see. Either way it’s aged magnificently well, and it’s status as influential masterpiece is cemented.
With the quick, but necessary, background out of the way lets move a little closer to today’s actual selection. Metal Box/Second Edition is easiest (and incredibly interesting) to look at as Jon Lydon’s response (though one didn’t really predate the other) to what the Clash were doing at the time. It wasn’t probably premeditated in his head this way, but as the Clash have become more and more acclaimed for their great double record of 1980 (London Calling), it was Lydon who many viewed as out in the cold. His Sex Pistols well apart (unfortunately) and punk had become greatly commercialized (and some of his old mates were to blame, such as Billy Idol) thus the Clash started to look more the real deal when put next to Lydon. This must have hurt at some level as every band had sort of been queued up behind Lydon’s in critics eyes. To see a pupil pass its master must have done something. So with an ambitious double from the Clash, it seems natural that PiL were right there thinking the same thing: go longer, explode ideas, experiment, and jam endlessly.
It’s right there from the start, ‘Albatross’ is 10-and-a-half-minutes of bubbling menace. Lydon’s icy monotone and Wobble’s stalking repetitive bass reduce even the cool listener to virtual nervous breakdown. From there the band jumps from highlight to highlight, ‘Memories’ a tricky guitar part, ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘Poptones’ are demonic pop dance numbers (Wobble’s production creativity to his bass parts are mesmerizing throughout) and Lydon delivers some of his most acute social critiques (‘Socialist’, ‘The Suit’, and my personal favorite that still floors, ‘Careering’). On ‘Chant’, the albums second to last track, everything comes to a head as the band rip themselves, each other, and the song to shreds. Everyone collectively realizes they are no longer willing to play endless moody dub music. It’s placement is hardly accident, and as such, it elevates the track to even greater heights.
Sure the album had predecessors and antecedents (Can, Captain Beefheart, and Lee Perry’s production work) but it, and they, seemed so original and remain so to this day. True iconoclastic artists, happy listening see you next week.
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You’re really on a roll with these now! The Fall, Wire and PiL are definitely some kind of post-punk holy trinity. This is a very, very important album for me, an album that opened up whole new musical vistas and really shook me up when I first heard it. That deep, dub-influenced bass, the lengthy jamming song structures, the in-your-face vocal stylings: it’s all just pretty much perfect as a way of really ripping apart the foundations of punk and delivering something that retains the aggressive, edgy attitude of punk and not much else. Socially, it’s related to the band’s influences, but the combination and the way they approach this music is virtually without precedent.
I agree, and it’s an album for me that I initially thought was pretty ‘normal’. When I was initially ‘doing my homework’ all those years ago listening and buying all I could to become aware of and appreciate the important albums in a movement I loved, I used to read those guide books and lists as to where to start my searches. Loving Lydon and that sole Pistols disc, I had been tipped as to how important/great this record was so I set out one day to purchase it. The record store I frequented back then that was generally well stocked on this sort had days before sold it’s last copy or SECOND EDITION, so it was either buy THE FLOWERS OF ROMANCE or leave without buying a PiL record. Now a audiophile can understand the potential disappointment in leaving empty handed so I bought FLOWERS and listened on the way home, and was floored by it’s strangeness. By the time I located SECOND EDITION it seemed downright commercial! PiL were quite fantastic back then (watch those live videos on youtube from the English rock TV shows of the era to see how hypnotic and chaotic they were), constantly changing and seeking new boundaries. Top class band, I bet in early 1978 when the Pistols dissolved fans must have been devastated, but as crazy as it sounds Lydon becoming paired with Levene and Wobble was the best thing that could have ever happened.