John Lydon brings the reformed Public Image Ltd. to North America
By Anthony Faccenda, 23rd Apr 2010 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutCelebritiesMusic
After a nearly twenty year absence John Lydon has reformed PiL and has his sights set on conquering America.
PiL
After a nearly twenty year absence Public Image Ltd. (PiL) are returning to the United States. Subsequent to breaking up in 1992, PiL reformed last year and went on brief seven date tour of the UK. Following the success of the 2009 tour which spawned the live album AliFE, the band recently announced a North American tour which currently features twenty-four dates.
Following the break up the Sex Pistols in 1978, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) formed Public Image Ltd. along with Keith Levene (guitar), Jah Wobble (bass) and Jim Walker (drums). The band released nine studio albums before breaking up in 1992. PiL was a great departure from the raw punk sound that was the Sex Pistols. The sound of PiL can be best described as post-punk, experimental, avant-garde and ever evolving.
The band’s chameleon like sound varied from album to album beginning with the release of First Issue in 1978. The album featured elements of progressive rock, dub, noise and atonality (music which lacks tonality and central key or scale). The band’s second album Metal Box featured an even more experimental sound centering around Levene’s “metallic sounding” guitar. The metallic sound came from the Travis Bean aluminum neck guitar which Levene played on the album. Metal Box appears on both the Rolling Stone list of the top 500 albums of all-time and Pitchfork Media’s Top 100 albums of the 1980s.
By the time the band’s third album Flowers of Romance was released the sound shifted once again due to the departure of Wobble and Levene’s decision to ditch the guitar for the synthesizer. By 1986, Lydon had surrounded himself with all new members and a new sound which focused on world dance and pop. Following the release of PiL’s last album That What Is Not in 1992 Lydon disbanded the group in favor of pursuing a solo career. In addition to wanting to pursue a solo career, the fact that Lydon had to pay for PiL’s 1992 tour out of his pocket due to Virgin Records refusal to pay, heavily weighed on his decision.
The current PiL lineup includes Lu Edmonds (The Damned), Bruce Smith (The Pop Group and The Slits) and Scot Firth. Both Edmunds (1986-88) and Smith (1986-1990) were previously in PiL, while newcomer Scott Firth has collaborated with Steve Winwood and Elvis Costello. Lydon recently called the current lineup the “best gel of personalities for the music.” In the same 2009 interview with The Scotsman, Lydon stated that compared to the Sex Pistols, PiL “is a more in-depth approach.”
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