Public Image Ltd - Live In Tokyo (1983) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd - Live In Tokyo (1983)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 325MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
After guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Pete Jones left Public Image Limited due to major concerns about the direction John Lydon wanted to take the band, Lydon and drummer Martin Atkins reformed the group with members of a New Jersey outfit, Westside Frankie and the Inglewood Jerks, who knew the Sex Pistols' catalog by heart. The band toured Japan in the summer of 1983, and were offered the chance to record two shows on rare Japanese digital recording equipment while in Tokyo. Atkins would later say the resulting album was released not because of the quality of the show itself, but because of the opportunity to record a live album digitally. Comprising of material from throughout the group's history, Live in Tokyo was originally released as two 12" 45's, in keeping with the style of the earlier Metal Box. However, unlike that seminal album, the performances by this version of Public Image Limited were resoundingly faceless and bland. Even Lydon seems unable to muster up any enthusiasm for the material, which is stripped of any of the qualities that made it so revolutionary in the first place. Gone is any semblance of Jah Wobble's deep bass, Levene's brash guitars, or even Lydon's apocalyptic screaming. Instead it is all replaced by bland competence. Particularly appalling is Lydon's call-and-response shtick with the crowd and the soulless versions of the once haunting "Death Disco" and "Flowers of Romance." Only one track, "Religion," comes across as adding something to the original version, with a new organ introduction and an astonishingly biting performance from Lydon. Ironically enough, because the group recorded with such sophisticated equipment, the sound is phenomenal, capturing a mediocre band in crisp, rich tones.

Tracks
* 1. "Annalisa"
* 2. "Religion"
* 3. "Low Life"
* 4. "Solitaire"
* 5. "Flowers of Romance"
* 6. "(This Is Not a) Love Song"
* 7. "Death Disco"
* 8. "Bad Life"
* 9. "Banging the Door"
* 10. "Under the House"

Personnel
* John Lydon - vocals
* Joseph Guida - guitar
* Louis Bernardi - bass
* Tommy Zvoncheck - keyboards-http://www.zkgmusic.com
* Martin Atkins - drums

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Public Image Ltd - Paris au Printemps (live) (1980) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd - Paris au Printemps (live) (1980)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 300MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
Released primarily to cut down on bootlegs of the same concerts from early 1980, Paris au Printemps catches Public Image Limited at the peak of the band's career. While the album was criticized at the time for being nothing more than a live album and thus not adhering to the group's avant-garde rhetoric, the music more than makes up for any breakdown in the band's ideology. Jah Wobble issues forth pseudo-reggae liquid basslines while John Lydon moans and whelps over heavy, almost free-form guitar from Keith Levene. Although the songs remain quite similar to their album versions, there are far more prominent synth effects on this recording, adding more of an element of dark psychedelia to the mix and enhancing the menacing aspect to such songs as "Bad Baby," and the droning "Careering." Meanwhile, the epics -- "Theme" from First Issue, and "Poptones" from Metal Box -- sound arguably even better live. Unfortunately, while the music is great, the album has been pasted together quite sloppily from two concerts, placing the tracks in a bizarre order while leaving out some of the group's best numbers. Nonetheless, Paris au Printemps is a fine release, especially in the absence of any other live recordings of the band from this period. [Note: The CD is currently out of print in America and is also known as Paris in the Spring.]

Track list
1. "Thème"
2. "Psalmodie" ("Chant")
3. "Précipitamment" ("Careering")
4. "Sale Bébé" ("Bad Baby")
5. "La Vie Ignoble" ("Low Life")
6. "Attaque" ("Attack")
7. "Timbres De Pop" ("Poptones")

Personnel
* John Lydon – vocals, sleeve paintings
* Keith Levene – guitar, synthesizer
* Jah Wobble – bass
* Martin Atkins – drums

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Public Image Ltd - That What Is Not (1992) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd - That What Is Not (1992)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 370MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
Former Sex Pistol vocalist John Lydon once again unleashed his Public Image Ltd. project, this time with a more basic, unrelenting rock & roll attack than ever before. The audio assault of guitarist John McGeoch and bassist Allan Dias perfectly complements Lydon's frenzied, strangled bleating throughout. As usual, Lydon succeeds in being all of satirical and fatalistic, confrontational and self-deprecating. The album's opening words set the tone: "What does it mean/What does anything mean." It's spat out as a statement rather than a question. "Covered" unpredictably tosses sampled vocals, bluesy harmonica, and Tower of Power horns into the mix. That What Is Not can be a difficult PiL to swallow, but the heady side-effects make the effort worthwhile.

Track listing
1. "Acid Drops"
2. "Luck's Up"
3. "Cruel"
4. "God"
5. "Covered"
6. "Love Hope"
7. "Unfairground"
8. "Think Tank"
9. "Emperor"
10. "Good Things"

Personnel
* John Lydon - Vocals
* John McGeoch - Guitar
* Allan Dias - Bass Guitar, Keyboards

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Public Image Ltd - 9 (1989) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd - 9 (1989)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 310MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
9 features essentially the same group of characters found on Happy?, with only Lu Edmonds having left the fold (though he did contribute to the writing on each song). Seven studio albums, seven lineups -- Lydon failed yet again to keep the same people together for more than one record. But is this notion really of major consequence? Not really, and Lydon probably prides himself in it. Thankfully, 9 retained the Happy? core of Bruce Smith, John McGeoch, and Allan Dias. If Happy? and various points prior were flirtations with accessible dance-pop, 9 was a bear hug embrace of it. 9 is split between a modern rock record and a dance producer-derived one, but credit both producers and band for making it a successful combination; on paper, the game plan looks like an accident waiting to happen. Stephen Hague was responsible for just over half of the album's production, with E.T. Thorngren working on the remainder and Nellee Hooper mixing one of Thorngren's productions. 9 is easily PiL's slickest yet, but there's substance to balance it out. The catchy "Disappointed" provided the band's greatest success in the States, with plenty of airplay on modern rock radio stations and light rotation on MTV. Other highlights: the dubby, almost Police-like near-instrumental "U.S.L.S. 1" and the surprising use of acoustic guitar on "Worry." Lowlights: the slightly goofy "Sand Castles in the Snow," the oddball fusion of Asiatic keyboards and late-'80s R&B on "Like That," the character play of Lydon in "Warrior."

Track listing
1. "Happy?" – 3:57
2. "Disappointed" – 5:34
3. "Warrior" – 4:17
4. "U.S.L.S. 1" – 5:37
5. "Sand Castles in the Snow" – 3:44
6. "Worry" – 3:54
7. "Brave New World" – 4:19
8. "Like That" – 3:40
9. "Same Old Story" – 4:19
10. "Armada" – 4:43

Personnel
* John Lydon: vocals
* John McGeoch: guitar
* Alan Dias: bass
* Bruce Smith: drums

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Public Image Ltd - Happy (1987) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd  - Happy (1987)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 230MB

Griffin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
Happy? benefits from some relative stability in PiL's lineup, not to mention the undeniable fact that the band members' allegiance makes sense (in contrast to that of Album's crew). Keyboardist Lu Edmonds (the Damned and 3 Mustaphas 3), guitarist John McGeoch (Magazine and Siouxsie & the Banshees), drummer Bruce Smith (the Pop Group and Rip Rig & Panic), and muscular Yank bassist Allan Dias are a solid unit, forming something of a post-punk supergroup. The Blind Faith of the '80s? Even more radio friendly than Album, Happy? is increasingly entrenched in dancefloor-type fare. Lydon isn't his full-blown postal self, but he's still continents away from being rosy. Though the music might be too dated for most ears years later, Lydon's riffing on unplanned pregnancy ("The Body"), sheep mentality ("Angry"), and false national pride ("Hard Times") still holds together lyrically. McGeoch and Edmonds' sparkling work comes a little too close to stadium-bound for comfort (paging Mr. Edge...), but it's a good turn away from Album's brainy metal-wank fireworks. Just when the band sounds as if it's approaching standard issue 1987 chart fare, it fiddles with the arrangements and structures enough to make sure the songs don't qualify as such. If PiL was trying to remain accessible and challenging at the same time, the band fell just short of its goal; given the conspirators involved, Happy? is not quite as distinct as it should have been. But as far as PiL outings are considered, it was Lydon's best in six years.

Track listing
1. "Seattle"
2. "Rules and Regulations"
3. "The Body"
4. "Save Me"
5. "Hard Times"
6. "Open and Revolving"
7. "Angry"
8. "Fat Chance Hotel"/"Save Me" (unlisted instrumental)

Personnel
* John Lydon - vocals
* John McGeoch - Guitar
* Lu Edmonds - Guitar, keyboards
* Allan Dias - Bass Guitar
* Bruce Smith - drums

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Public Image Ltd - This Is What You Want... (1984) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd  - This Is What You Want... (1984)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 260MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
PiL's fourth album took three years to reach fruition for a number of reasons. The initial recordings included the nucleus of John Lydon and Keith Levene; Martin Atkins was asked to stay, bringing bassist Pete Jones to help out. After those sessions and a few shows, both Levene and Jones exited. Lydon recruited a lounge act spotted at a New Jersey hotel and took them on tour. Upon re-entering the studio, Lydon and Atkins wiped the departed members off the tapes from the prior recordings, employing faceless session hacks to fill in.
This resulted in one of Lydon's worst outings, the most tentative and least powerful of PiL's recordings. A thin, shrill, wheezing horn section replaces much of Levene's guitar, and the basslines sound dreadful. "This Is Not a Love Song," though accessible enough for the charts, is best left in the year of its origin. Surprisingly for Lydon, the colorful tune has a simple beat and is easy to dance to, but lacks guts. "The Pardon," like a couple other songs on the record, sounds like a bad Flowers of Romance outtake with "modern" production. With Atkins' relentless clippity-cloppity drums and Lydon's bite-free stream-of-consciousness rambling, it eventually fades into the background as a nagging drone. Closer "The Order of Death" saves the record from being a total wreck, a moody instrumental with a repetitive vocal hook and a creepy synth line. Levene, who at that point owned half of the Public Image Limited name, released the version of This Is What You Want... with him and Jones present as the pseudo-bootleg Commercial Zone, on the short-lived PiL Records. It actually preceded the official version's release by months, and a second issue followed later in the year with a slightly different track listing.

Track listing
1. "Bad Life"
2. "This is Not a Love Song" (Re-recorded Version)
3. "Solitaire"
4. "Tie Me to the Length of That"*
5. "The Pardon"*
6. "Where Are You?"
7. "1981"*
8. "The Order Of Death"

Personnel
* John Lydon - vocals, Bass Guitar, Violin, Synthesizer, keyboards, percussion
* Colin Woore - Guitar
* Louis Bernardi - Bass Guitar
* Richard Cottle - keyboards
* Gary Barnacle - brass
* Martin Atkins - drums

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Public Image Ltd - Flowers of Romance (1981) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd - Flowers of Romance (1981)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 360MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
As opposed to the axis of throbbing bass and guitar slashings of Metal Box, The Flowers of Romance is centralized on razor-sharp drums and typically haranguing vocals. No dubwise grooves here -- bassist Jah Wobble was kicked out prior to the recording for ripping off PiL backing tracks for his solo material. And growing more disenchanted with the guitar, Keith Levene's infatuation with synthesizers was reaching a boiling point. His scythe-like guitar is truly brought out for only one song. Stark and minimal are taken to daring lengths, so it's no surprise that Virgin initially balked at issuing the heavily percussive record. "Four Enclosed Walls" opens with something of a mechanical death rattle and John Lydon's quavering warble, framed by backwards piano and Martin Atkins' spartan, dry-as-a-bone drumming. His rapier-like drums seem to serve a similar purpose to Levene's guitar on Metal Box. An unsteady drum pattern and fragile, wind chime-like guitar from Levene shape "Track 8," a bleak look at sexual relationships. Lydon adds color with pleasant imagery of Butterball turkeys and elephant graves. "Under the House" and "Francis Massacre" are the most violent tracks due to Atkins' machine gun firing and Levene's chilling atmosperics. Lydon lashes out at zealous fans on the only bottom-heavy tune, "Banging the Door": "The walls are so thin/The neighbors listen in/Keep the noise down." Perhaps the band's most challenging work (in the avant garde sense), it's just as "love it or hate it" as Metal Box; it'll either go down a treat or like a five-pound block of liverwurst. [The UK version adds three bonus tracks: an instrumental version of "The Flowers of Romance," "Another," (essentially "Graveyard" with vocals) and "Home Is Where the Heart Is." The latter two can be found on Plastic Box.]

Track listing
1. "Four Enclosed Walls" – 4:44 *
2. "Track 8" – 3:15
3. "Phenagen" – 2:40
4. "Flowers of Romance" – 2:51
5. "Under the House" – 4:33 *
6. "Hymie's Him" – 3:18
7. "Banging the Door" – 4:49 *
8. "Go Back" – 3:46
9. "Francis Massacre" – 3:31
10. "Flowers of Romance (Instrumental)" – 2:5
11. "Home Is Where the Heart Is" – 7:34
12. "Another" – 3:51

Personnel
* John Lydon – vocals, Stroh violin, saxophone, percussion
* Keith Levene – guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, cello, piano, percussion
* Martin Atkins – drums on "Four Enclosed Walls", "Under the House", "Banging the Door" and (uncredited) on "Flowers of Romance"

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Public Image Ltd (PIL) - Discography (lossless) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd (PIL) - Discography

alternative | EAC rip | Logs | covers

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Biography(AMG):
Public Image Ltd. (PiL) were originally a quartet led by singer John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten, born January 31, 1956) and guitarist Keith Levene, who had been a member of the Clash in one of its early lineups. The band was filled out by bassist Jah Wobble (John Wordle) and drummer Jim Walker. It was formed in the wake of the 1978 breakup of Lydon's former group, the Sex Pistols. For the most part, it devoted itself to droning, slow-tempo, bass-heavy noise rock, overlaid by Lydon's distinctive, vituperative rant. The group's debut single, "Public Image," was more of an uptempo pop/rock song, however, and it hit the U.K. Top Ten upon its release in October 1978. The group itself debuted on Christmas Day, shortly after the release of its first album, Public Image. Neither the single nor the album was released in the U.S.

Metal Box, the band's second U.K. album, came in the form of three 12", 45-rpm discs in a film canister. It was released in the U.S. in 1980 as the double-album Second Edition. (By this time, PiL were a trio consisting of Lydon, Levene, and Wobble.) The third album, not released in the U.S., was the live Paris au Printemps (1980). Lydon and Levene, plus hired musicians, made up the group by the time of The Flowers of Romance (1981), the much-acclaimed fourth album, which reached number 11 in the U.K. In 1983, PiL scored their biggest U.K. hit, when "This Is Not a Love Song" reached number five. By this time, however, Levene had left, and the name from here on would be, more than anything else, a vehicle for John Lydon (though with a comparatively steady lineup). A second live album, Live in Tokyo, appeared in England in 1983.

The following year saw the release of This Is What You Want...This Is What You Get, only PiL's third album to be released in the U.S., though by now the group had six albums out. It marked the start of Lydon's move toward a more accessible dance-rock style, a direction that would be pursued further in 1986's Album (also called Cassette or Compact Disc, depending on the format), notably on the hit "Rise," as well as on Happy? (1987) and 9 (1989). In 1990, PiL released the compilation album The Greatest Hits, So Far, and in 1991 came the new album That What Is Not. After completing his memoirs in late 1993, Lydon decided to put PiL to rest and pursue a solo career. The career-spanning box set Plastic Box arrived in 1999, but otherwise the band seemed truly dead until 2009 when Lydon announced he was reviving the project for a short set of gigs in the U.K. The new PiL, featuring Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth, and Bruce Smith, were so warmly received in their homeland that a U.S. tour followed in 2010.

1978 - First Issue

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1979 - Second Edition (Metal Box)

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1981 - Flowers of Romance

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1984 - This Is What You Want...
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1986 - Compact Disc (Album)

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1987 - Happy?

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1989 - 9

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1992 - That What Is Not

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Live 1980 - Paris au Printemps

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Live 1983 - Live In Tokyo

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Public Image Ltd - Second Edition (Metal Box) (1979) (eac-flac-cover)

 

Public Image Ltd - Second Edition (Metal Box) (1979)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 415MB

Columbia | rar +5% recovery

AMG
PiL managed to avoid boundaries for the first four years of their existence, and Metal Box is undoubtedly the apex. It's a hallmark of uncompromising, challenging post-punk, hardly sounding like anything of the past, present, or future. Sure, there were touchstones that got their imaginations running — the bizarreness of Captain Beefheart, the open and rhythmic spaces of Can, and the dense pulses of Lee Perry's productions fueled their creative fires — but what they achieved with their second record is a completely unique hour of avant-garde noise. Originally packaged in a film canister as a trio of 12" records played at 45 rpm, the bass and treble are pegged at 11 throughout, with nary a tinge of midrange to be found. It's all scrapes and throbs (dubscrapes?), supplanted by John Lydon's caterwauling about such subjects as his dying mother, resentment, and murder. Guitarist Keith Levene splatters silvery, violent, percussive shards of metallic scrapes onto the canvas, much like a one-armed Jackson Pollock. Jah Wobble and Richard Dudanski lay down a molasses-thick rhythmic foundation throughout that's just as funky as Can's Czukay/Leibezeit and Chic's Edwards/Rodgers. It's alien dance music. Metal Box might not be recognized as a groundbreaking record with the same reverence as Never Mind the Bollocks, and you certainly can't trace numerous waves of bands who wouldn't have existed without it like the Sex Pistols record. But like a virus, its tones have sent miasmic reverberations through a much broader scope of artists and genres. [Metal Box was issued in the States in 1980 with different artwork and cheaper packaging under the title Second Edition; the track sequence differs as well. The U.K. reissue of Metal Box on CD boasts better sound quality than the Second Edition CD.]

Track listing
1. "Albatross" (10'32)
2. "Memories" (5'05)
3. "Swan Lake" (4'19)
4. "Poptones" (7'45)
5. "Careering" (4'32)
6. "Socialist" (3'09)
7. "Graveyard" (3'07)
8. "The Suit" (3'29)
9. "Bad Baby" (4'30)
10 "No Birds" (4'43)
11. "Chant" (5'01)
12. "Radio 4" (4'22)

Personnel
* John Lydon - Vocals
* Keith Levene - Guitar, Synthesiser
* Jah Wobble - Bass Guitar

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Public Image Ltd - First Issue (1978) (eac-flac-log)

 

Public Image Ltd - First Issue (1978)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 300MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

AMG
Like it or not, Public Image Limited's First Issue (aka Public Image) was an album that helped set the pace for what eventually became known as post-punk. In England a vacuum had opened up in the wake of the breakup of the Sex Pistols in January 1978, and many punk fans and rival groups were impatient to see what ex-Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon aka "Johnny Rotten" was going to roll out next. Disheartened owing to events in his legal proceedings against the Sex Pistols management company Glitterbest, and disgusted by the punk scene in general, Lydon was determined to create something that was neither punk nor even really rock as it was known in 1978. Working with ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene, first-time bassist Jah Wobble, and Canadian drummer Jim Walker, Public Image Limited produced an album that represented the punk sound after it had shot itself in the head and became another entity entirely. Embracing elements of dub, progressive rock, noise, and atonality and driven by Lydon's lyrical egoism and predilection towards doom, death, and horror, First Issue was among a select few 1978 albums that had something lasting to say about the future of rock music. And not everyone in 1978 wanted to hear it; contemporary critical notices for First Issue were almost uniformly negative in the extreme.

Track listing
1. "Theme" – 9:05
2. "Religion I" – 1:40
3. "Religion II" – 5:40
4. "Annalisa" – 6:00
5. "Public Image" – 2:58
6. "Low Life" – 3:35
7. "Attack" – 2:55
8. "Fodderstompf" – 7:40

Personnel
* John Lydon - Vocals
* Keith Levene - Guitar
* Jah Wobble - Bass; Vocals on "Fodderstompf"
* Jim Walker - Drums

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Public Image Ltd - Compact Disc (Album) (1986) (eac ape covers)

Public Image Ltd 1986 - Compact Disc (Album)

alternative | 1cd | eac-ape-cue-log-cover | 275MB

Virgin | rar +5% recovery

Album (also known as Compact Disc or Cassette depending on the format) is the fifth studio album by English rock band Public Image Ltd., released on February 3, 1986 (1986-02-03). It features John Lydon backed by a group of musicians assembled by producer Bill Laswell, including Steve Vai, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tony Williams and Ginger Baker.

Track listing
1. "F.F.F." (John Lydon, Bill Laswell) – 5:32
2. "Rise" (Lydon, Laswell) – 6:04
3. "Fishing" (Lydon, Jebin Bruni, Mark Schulz) – 5:20
4. "Round" (Lydon, Schulz) – 4:24
5. "Bags" (Lydon, Bruni, Schulz) – 5:4
6. "Home" (Lydon, Laswell) – 5:49
7. "Ease" (Lydon, Bruni) – 8:09

Personnel
* John Lydon – vocals
* Tony Williams – drums on 1 2 6
* Ginger Baker – drums on 3 4 5 7
* Bernard Fowler – backing vocals
* Ryuichi Sakamoto – Fairlight CMI on 2 3 5 7
* Nicky Skopelitis – guitar on 1 2 3 4 6
* Steve Vai – guitar
* Jonas Hellborg - bass

Additional personnel
* Shankar – electric violin on 2 4
* Bernie Worrell – organ on 1 4 6, Yamaha DX7 on 3
* Malachi Favors – acoustic bass on 3 5
* Steve Turre – didjeridu on 7
* Aïyb Dieng – chatan pot drums on 4

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