- CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
- Public Image Ltd. "What The World Needs Now..." 2015 (UK)
- For
11 years now, the Kosmik Radiation show's #1 most kosmik album of the
year has received an instant induction into the CAOTW hall of
fame. As often seems to happen, our #1 album this year is by an artist
that originated back in the groovy 1970's. John J. Lydon, better known
as "Johnny Rotten" from his days fronting the Sex Pistols,
founded Public Image Ltd. as a retort to . . . well, pretty much
everything. Sex Pistols dressed like slobs and preached anarchy, so PiL
wore suits and put on a corporate front. Three-chord punk rock was "in", so PiL played proto-industrial sorta-reggae that made chords and "guitar rock" in general sound passe.
The incorigible Lydon and his corporate rock band were among the
leading lights of underground rock in the 1980's: a subversive,
challenging, "hip" group that had a major label record deal and a
certain amount of mainstream exposure (ol' Rotten has always been good
at getting attention). However the final PiL album of the 20th
century came out in 1992 when "grunge" (retro-70's longhair music that
the Sex Pistols were supposed to kill off) was at it's hottest. Twenty
years passed - Lydon wrote his memoirs, did a reality show and a
notorious TV advert in Britain. Then in the 2010's, a new Public Image
Ltd. was born and have now released two albums in the 21st century. The
current line-up includes the return of former PiL employees Lu Edmonds
(The Damned, Mekons) on lead guitar and Bruce Smith (The Pop Group*,
Rip Rig + Panic) on drums, plus new bassist Scott Firth (who toured
with The Spice Girls! What other supergroup has covered that much
ground in the pop world!?) The first reunion album (This Is PiL,
2012) was paid for with money from Johnny's TV commercial and was a
solid, if not vital, effort. The most recent, our CAOTW, is the
finest album the group has done since the generic Album
from 1985 (a crazy supergroup record including Ginger Baker and Tony
Williams on drums!?) The latest PiL album includes some short rockers that sound
like Sex Pistols parodies, grinding industrial grooves, plenty of
profanity and social commentary, and even some ambient bits. Lydon
sounds as ornery (and funny) as ever, in fact it's a bit of a miracle
that he is in such fine voice (and still full of piss 'n' vinager)
after all these years. On the next KR show, we'll celebrate Johnny's
60th birthday!
* In 2015, Smith's The Pop Group also released Citizen Zombie, their third album and first new release since 1980.