I began listening to Public Image Ltd in April 2023.
First Issue (1978): A-
Metal Box (1979): B-
The Flowers of Romance (1981): C+
First Issue (1978):
As much as I enjoy Never Mind the Bollocks, I've always hesitantly endorsed John Lydon. Now, things are clearing up. Post-punk, art rock, anti-rock--whatever else you might call this record--it's certainly not an amalgamation of genres I'm likely to give a chance and with an already rocky impression of the former Johnny Rotten, it's hard to overstate just how successful this album is in spite of all my biases. The band--held together by bassist Jah Wobble and the very talented ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene--create a soundscape full of all the psychotic desperation that their front-man could hope for. Lydon meanwhile is as irreverent and unignorable as ever: a truly powerful and creative force to be reckoned with. A-
Metal Box (1979):
First Issue was released to mostly negative reviews only to be reevaluated as a classic down the road; this was immediately hailed as a masterpiece and continues to have a higher critical standing than their debut. The metallic guitar playing as well as the dub dance beats still sound decent overall but the music doesn't hold up for 60 minutes and Lydon is not consistently impressing either. There are highlights no doubt--"Memories," "Socialist," and "Radio 4"--but sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to make it through the rest of the drawn-out crap. B-
The Flowers of Romance (1981):
Although they certainly aren't doing over their old stuff, they nevertheless feel stagnant creatively. A lot more needs to going into a record than percussion and vibrating vocals from Johnny Stale. C+
