PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Commercial Zone (1984)

I don't have space to document the childish events surrounding the release of Commercial Zone (Wiki has info), it's easier to say that it's guitarist Keith Levene's alternative version of the This is What You Want... (1984) album. Five of the eight tracks appear on TiWYW, but with a distinctly different mix. CZ got a semi-official release in America, but it still sounds like a half-finished demo leak. PiL fans will want to track it down, but be prepared for it to split opinion and incite argument as to the legitimacy of inclusion in the band's official discography.

Songs of Note: ...  (I'm not going to start that debate.)

2½ sandpaper editions out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / This is PiL (2012)

This is PiL, literally. Lydon has assembled a band tighter than he's had for decades. It's percussion-heavy, meandering but focussed, has the dub reggae style arrangements, the political stance, the bass, the chimes, the nostalgia, the spoken word, etc. It's all like it should be. The first half is flawless. The second half takes a little more time to drop into the consciousness. In my opinion, it's the best PiL release since Album (1986), and if it turns out to be the last thing Lydon ever releases under the PiL name, then it's a hell of a worthy swansong.

Songs of Note: One Drop; Terra-Gate

4 looks across the great divide out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Plastic Box (1999)

If you already own the PiL albums, then you may have overlooked Plastic Box, thinking it a worthless Best Of… It kind of is(n't). It contains 4 discs, which is most of the first five albums minus half a dozen tracks (with some tracks from album number 2 replaced by the 1979 Peel Sessions - they're superb). The later PiL albums are less well-represented but they aren't very good anyhow. Elsewhere, you get some alternate 12" mixes, B-Sides, a few tracks culled from compilations and a film soundtrack, and finally the 1992 Mark Goodier Live Session. The early stuff is remastered and sounds fantastic. If you're new to PiL, it's the perfect place to start. If you're an existing fan, it'll have rarities throughout that'll make you very happy, but paying twice for stuff you already own is never fun.

5 enclosed walls out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / One Drop E.P. (2012)

Age hasn't dulled Lydon's voice, literally nor politically, and he's once more tapped into his store of avant-garde attitude. He isn't bored anymore. Or he needs money again and is giving us something in return for taking ours. I can live with that. Split equal parts experimental and safe, the E.P. is hopefully a bite-sized taster of what's to come. I hope the forthcoming album is as daring.

Songs of Note: One Drop; The Room I Am In

3½ lollipops and chaos out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / That What is Not (1992)

The last PiL studio album was neither very good nor very bad. It sits somewhere in the middle, ignored most of the time by everyone. It's dogged by the curse of almost every song sounding the same. It's the sound of a band with nothing left to give, perhaps as a consequence of the earlier experimentation, Lydon had nothing left to say. The Public image has passed into the realms of the bland. It's for the best that he put it to rest after this. Death is a project... Do yourself a favour and go back to the very beginning.

Songs of Note: God; Acid Drops

2 unfucking lucky you, boo hoo out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / 9 (1989)

From Avant-garde art to Pop to Dance… I have to give Lydon credit for having a career so diverse, but this incarnation of PiL leaves me bored and unsatisfied. It's a half-breed dribbling poodle, not a pedigree wolf with bite that it used to be. It's almost the same line-up as the previous album, which was a first for the revolving door band, and while it's better than that previous effort, it's still sub-par for the PiL name. Expect bland Pop tunes that no longer stand apart from the norm, with the exception of Lydon's voice.

Songs of Least Fail: Disappointed; Happy

1½ invented friends out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Happy? (1987)

PiL used to create art. Then they made pop art. This is as close to regular boring Pop as you can get and still be Lydon. And it really sucks. Lydon still sounds like the kid that doesn’t get picked for the school choir (that's a good thing) but the music is generic, bland, devoid of innovation and above all, safe. PiL shouldn't be safe. There are hints of the old buried in the mix, Save Me, and the bass line of Fat Chance Hotel, but not enough to sustain any lasting interest. Happy? No, I'm not!

Songs of Least Fail: Save Me; Fat Chance Hotel

1 there is no art anymore out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Album (1986)

aka: Compact Disc / Cassette

PiL's 'Pop' album (not to be confused with the 'crap' album, that came later) is their most accessible and most forgiving for new listeners. It's of course percussion-based as always, but less sparse and empty than before - it actually got airplay on the radio. It's essentially a John Lydon solo album, because the usual PiL members were absent, replaced by session musicians and some guest performers (Ginger Baker, Steve Vai, Ryuichi Sakamoto and jazz drummer Tony Williams, among others). It's Pop but it's not, because Lydon's voice could never be accused of fitting completely into that pigeon hole. It's vibrant, full of rousing anthems and is simply a classic 80's album. If Steve Vai had been forbidden from wanking his guitar like he always does, it'd have been a perfect 5 out of 5.

Songs of Note: Rise; FFF

4½ people who need people are the stupidest of people out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / This is What You Want... This is What You Get (1984)

It's PiL but it's different… again. It's a lot more musical and full of Funk than before (after the previous album they had nowhere else to go in the non-music direction) with sax, keyboards, violin and the bass again to the fore; it's an interesting sound. It spawned a few classics that pleased long-time fans, but suffers from the absence of Jah Wobble. I view it as a kind of transition album between what came before and the Pop sensibilities of what would come after.

Songs of Note: This is Not a Love Song; The Order of Death

3½ then the bastard dropped me out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / The Flowers of Romance (1981)

I didn't think PiL could go any more experimental than their previous albums had managed, but they did with Flowers of Romance, a landmark release. It's mostly percussion-based songs with John Lydon doing his weird voice thing over the top of unusual and/or repetitive drum beats. The percussion is provided by both Keith Levene and the masterful Martin Atkins, so it never sounds less than amazing. There are occasional jangly guitar moments and keyboards as well. I can imagine the record execs panicking like gazelles when it went to press.

Songs of Note: Flowers of Romance, Under the House

5 chocolates instead out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Metal Box (1979)

PiL's second album pushed the boundaries even more of what experimental music could be. Jah Wobble's bass was again to the fore but was this time accompanied by Keith Levene's fully aluminium guitar, both of which helped lift John Lydon's vocals to something truly unique. Pretentious art students and music theorists loved it. It sounds as unique today as it did back in '79.

The original packaging was a 12" metal film can (pictured) with three vinyl records inside. When it was reissued in regular packaging (double vinyl, gatefold) the name was changed to Second Edition. Years later, a CD edition paid homage to the original design, packaged in a CD-size metal tin. I have it. It's sexy.

Songs of Note: Albatross; The Suit

4 they love you until they know you out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / First Issue (1978)

Public Image Ltd was a highly stylised percussion based band that was both experimental and challenging. Aided by a prominent bass sound from the wonderfully named Jah Wobble, the music was the perfect fit for front-man John Lydon's unusual voice. It's the musical equivalent of an art student with a paintbrush and clinical ADHD. It's not passive listening, you have to engage with it to appreciate it. The first album, First Issue, is considered a classic by many folks, and looking back now it's clear that PiL was years ahead of its time.

Songs of Note: Public Image; Annalisa

4 bibles full of libel out of 5