Public Image Limited "Plastic Box" Virgin Records Ltd. PILBOX1 1998
Public Image Limited was founded in 1978 mere months after the chaotic demise of the Sex Pistols. John Lydon started anew with friends Keith Levene and Jah Wobble (arguably the finest PiL line-up ever) as a hybrid punk / improvisational / experimental / dub outfit owing as much or more to Can and Lee Perry than the Pistols or any of the UK punk rock of the previous few years. They continually changed their sound, ideas, image and purpose (not to mention band members, including: Martin Atkins, Steve Vai and John McGeoch) throughout the next 15 years successfully touching on a diverse array of styles: unclassifiable, pop, dance and hard rock/metal, all graced with Lydon's caterwaul vocals. Much of this music sounds as fresh and original as it did then, decades after the fact. "Plastic Box" takes the 1990 "The Greatest Hits ... So Far" best of/singles collection and expands upon it greatly with 64 tracks on 4 packed cds that collect much of the output between 1978 and 1992, including several rarities. Discs 1 and 2 give you all of the debut album "Public Image / First Issue" (save for "Fodderstompf"), all of "Flowers of Romance", about 1/2 of "Metal Box / Second Edition" (PiL's finest moment!), 3 live BBC session tracks from 1979, a rare compilation only track ("Pied Piper") and various 7" and 12" B-sides. Discs 3 and 4 give you all of "This is What You Want ... This is What You Get", all of "Album / Compact Disc / Cassette" (save for "Bags"), various tracks from the less than stellar mid to late '80s pop/dance albums, a soundtrack only song ("Criminal") and 4 more live BBC session tracks ("That What is Not" songs) from 1992. Thankfully, nothing is included from the mediocre "Paris Au Printemps" and "Live in Tokyo" albums. The real treat here is for the hardcore PiL collectors like myself: the BBC sessions and the B-sides which were previously unreleased and previously unavailable on cd, respectively. The BBC sessions aren't too terribly different from the album versions and a bit sloppy in places but they're still worth owning and many of the single B-sides are the strangest, most experimental output ever from PiL. "Plastic Box" is relatively cheap at ~$54 and is definitely best for completists. If you're new to PiL give the easy to find "The Greatest Hits.." a try first. The packaging is really cool: a double thick jewel case with 'plastic box' and PiL logos emblazoned on the front and back (each of the cds has a brightly colored PiL logo as well) in a plastic slip case cover. The 36 page booklet contains band and memorabilia pics, liner notes by Lydon with brief comments on each track and an interesting declaration at the end: "And by the way, this collection represents a comma not a full stop, I fully intend to carry on with P.I.L and there will be MORE IN THE FUTURE." Lydon is currently host of "Rotten Radio" and "Rotten TV" on VH1 and has been promoting a few Sex Pistols documentary films ...
Fodderstompf
- Public Image Ltd. fan page
Public Image
Ltd. fan page
John Lydon.com
fan
page
Where did I get this box set? - mail order via Riouxs Records.