PIL : Classic or merely a Placebo

Is there any place one can get a copy of _Metal Box_? I had _Second Edition_ (the CD version), and never really got into it, but I am curious to hear the album as it was intended. (Or is it not that big a deal?)

Psychos path - listened to it once and put it aside. Havent listened to it since. Not very interesting.

Metal Box sounds great- bought it sometime around '84/'85 for 20 bucks which nearly exhausted my booze money.

New song here:

http://thequietus.com/articles/07981-pil-one-drop-new-album

was pretty on the fence the first time I heard that; Lydon's voice has gotten very deep and odd. but it definitely stuck in my head.

Yeah, I think I revived the opo thread, but only because I missed this one in search.

I still like this track, though. And I like that his voice has really changed since last we heard him singing.

The world is better with new music from Mr. Lydon, even if it's not "Metal Box".

The eighties, man.

http://i.imgur.com/my20pdL.jpg

A fb friend's friend shared this photo of himself on one of her posts and I'm captivated.

And yes, apparently those shorts are extremely short.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51lFnL-XRY

https://thequietus.com/articles/29813-pil-public-image-ltd-flowers-of-romance

all about the creation of Flowers of romance and drummer Martin Atkins role

x-post- that's a great live version of "Careering" . Keith Levene sounds great. Footage was shot in part by Ivers and Armstrong, some of whose circa 1980 work is now part of the New Music New York 1980-1986 exhibit at the museum of the City of NY

such an amazing run with the first three albums

"Under the House" is amazing.

This interview with engineer/producer Nick Launay has some interesting PIL-related stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79N28Ye_x2E

X-post - Atkins drums and Lydon’s vocals on that are impressive

Just listened to that hour long Nick Launay interview and it did have some good PIL stories ( though they’re not at the beginning of the interview). Not that his description of “gated” drums and his special technique on “Four Enclosed Walls” made it completely clear how that sound came together.

Metal Box/Second Edition is a classic and I have listened to that one a bunch, but I think the rest are pretty spotty. There are some awesome tracks though through out the rest of the catalog.

Flowers of Romance to me is more interesting than good. Got to think it would have been better with Wobble and Levine. I file that one like most everything I ever heard from Wax Trax, some tracks are amazing but overall to listen to as a record it's annoying unless in the right mindset.

Those couple Ataxia records John Frusciante did with Joe Lally and Josh Klinghoffer are pretty much them cold tapping Second Edition's vibe in a power trio. Pretty good.

Flowers of Romance to me is more interesting than good.

Same. I spent most of the morning listening to it: perhaps the scariest, most inhabited demos ever released as an album. I appreciate it as gesture, as goth album.

the opening drums in “4 walls” or whatever are fucking insane, I could listen to that forever. But when doom sits in gloom in his room it kinda ruins the moment for me.. and yeah most of the other stuff is just too intense for me

I dated a girl back in college that was into all that WaxTrax stuff and Martin Atkin's Pigface was the same, there would be one amazing track in a record of music I would mostly find mostly annoying.

Had to go look it up, but this one I liked...but it is an actual song. There is another one with Atkins playing on a Connelly CD that I always really liked too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFlTFm7i4dU

Best song on Flowers of Romance: "Go Back". Best song-that-isn't-really-a-song: "Track 8".

gotta say that I wholly enjoy flowers of romance as a total listening experience - even though it had a scrappy genesis, the atmosphere is strong and consistent and every song has merit to me

I bought it as a mid-price cassette when I was a teenager and it was one of those ones where you were initially disappointed but persisted because you couldn't get your $12 back

and I feel it was a very valuable listening lesson - to learn to appreciate (nominally) pop music with seemingly perverse instrumentation and absent any easy satisfactions re melody/groove/hooks (although all those things are present in their own way)

definitely a gateway record into some rewarding sonic worlds - both as a piece of art unto itself, but also as probably one of the weirder things it was possible to buy in a suburban music store in 1989 or whenever

2001 ILM OTM here:

People often poop all over "album"/"cassette"/"compact disc", but I think it's a solid piece of work all the way through. Okay, so it's got big-ass Laswell production and thudding Ginger Baker drums...so what? It's got a great dance beat all the way through without being dance music, Lydon snarls his way through the whole thing,

I suppose "Rise" is universally beloved, but the whole album rocks my socks. I love it. BLACK RUBBER BAG!

oops, quote got cut off: and yet it's still ultimately listenable without feeling like you've scraped your brain on broken glass, like Flowers of Romance or like you're riding the edge of sellout (like the still wonderful "This is Not a Love Song".

― Sean Carruthers, Tuesday, July 10, 2001 8:00 PM (nineteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Crawl back in your own dustbin
Crawl back in your own dustbin
Crawl back in your own dustbin
Crawl. back. in. your. own. DUST. BIN
GO CRAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWL