Public Image Ltd.- What the World Needs Now...

Public Image Ltd. is definitely a band that does not get the credit it deserves, as it was pretty influential in the field of post punk in the late 1970's. Most people are familiar with front man John Lydon's previous project, the Sex Pistols, but rarely do I ever hear PiL get mentioned in conversation, and if I do, it's only about their 1979 album Metal Box. I got into them a few years ago, and enjoy their formula a pretty good deal. On a PiL album, one can expect noise, experimental musical structures, and John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) spewing angry stream of consciousness rants.

As for the ranting and noise, they are definitely present, though the music is a little more straight forward than in other releases. The band seems more than comfortable playing steady grooves and recycling guitar riffs for a bed to lay Lydon's vocals upon. I don't really find this to be a bad thing, as Lydon's vocal theatrics and insane things he says are more the reason to come to a Public Image Ltd. record than anything else.

Sometimes, the band will overstay its welcome, but for the most part, the album is pretty enjoyable. After all, you can only loop a guitar phrase so many times before it becomes a little tedious. Though the droning patterns are acceptable, I do kind of miss some of the off the wall instrumental things they were doing on past releases.

That is not to say that Lydon and crew still don't have it. This album definitely plays to their strengths, which are Lydon's status as punk royalty and his unique personality that he brings to a track. The band is playing Pittsburgh soon, and I'm definitely considering seeing the insanity in a live forum.

Out of a total of five stars, I give this:

Check back soon for more of my opinions on albums. What was your opinion on What the World Needs Now... ? Next time, I'll be doing a double review of David Gilmour's new record, and the new Dead Weather.

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