This Is PiL

This is an awesome record! Its got that droning bass back that was gone from PIL's last 3-4 records. Lyrically Lydon is on top of his game, but then he never really wrote crappy songs as far as lyrics are concerned.The album opens up with "This is PIL". essentially it's just Lydon saying over and over in 3 different ways "hey...PIL's back!" and it suits him just well, he has always had a loud mouth so telling us his projects back in this manner is a fitting introduction track. The next track is One Drop which I'm sure all PIL fans have heard by now either via radio, download or Youtube. Deeper water is sung with a sort of stream of consciousness style. The next 2 tracks are typical Post Punk rock songs, Terra-Gate being much quicker paced and more energetic and Human having a catchy quirkiness to it, really nice guitar on the latter's track. I Must Be Dreaming has a more relaxed and funky feel to it, really chill song. It Said That is very spacey, as far as sound is concerned, and an awesome chorus, has a very southern eurpoean flavor to it (it sound like its from another song I just cannot place my finger on at the moment). The Room I am In is very gothic rockish in style, kinda like something you would expect to hear from Peter Murphy or Bauhaus, very personal lyrics with an eastern feel to them. Lollipop Opera is an experimental track, even for PIL's standards, lots of electronics in here, it's a standout track on the record. Fools is very straight forward, nothing really special, a typical PIL track, imo the least interesting on the record, but still not a bad song by any means. Reggie Song is an upbeat song, another rocker, very similar to something you would hear off of "Happy?" in fact. The final track, Out of The Woods, is another great song, probly my favorite off the entire record. Its a 9 min. long epic track with a nice slow build up and incredible chorus, worthy enough to stand up to anything off of Metal Box. The record is very strong, it proves Lydon can steer his crew in the right direction even after such a long hiatus. in fact I would say its a good place to start if you are new to Public Image Limited. Not only would I recommend this to PIL Fans but also to fans of newer music. Why is that you might say? Because on This Is PIL, you can hear Trip Hop, Alt. Rock, Gothic Rock, Industrial and a bit of Electronic.... and you very well should. Public Image Ltd heavily inspired many artists in those genres, in fact one could say Mr Lydon and crew helped reinvent rock when it was becoming boring and stale in the latter half of the 70's and early 80's, becoming the very first (or one of the very first) "alternative" group(s).Its a record I will enjoy putting next to Metal Box or Flowers of Romance....if I can get it out of my car! If "selling out" is doing butter ads to form and fund your own record label and release an incredible comeback album, then by all means Mr Rotten, sell out a few more times for us please!

First of all, the music world has been missing something lately without Johnny. Whether it is his worldview or his vocal delivery, no one does things the way he does. After a 20 year layoff, he sounds vibrant and engaged. He has something to say and is going all-in to say it.As for the songs themselves, the opener/title track is fitting, sort of a modern-day version of Theme. I like the next four songs and even though the lyrics sometimes feel a little forced they aggressively get the message across. Lollipop Opera stands out with its unique beat and bass line. The last two tracks are what make the album special. Reggie's Song does a great job of making you empathize with the subject. Out of the Wood is a real surprise. While I know that the song is about a black Confederate soldier, the story being told isn't completely obvious (and there is no lyric sheet). The thing it that it is such a great track musically that I want to listen to again and again and I am sure that it will eventually make sense.My biggest problem with the album is that it (like most albums of the CD/post-CD era) is too long. Other than Metal Box (which was originally released as a triple EP, not a double LP), all of the rest of their albums have been the length of a traditional 40 minute LP. This time, the songs in the middle get lost in the shuffle and don't make much of an impact. They aren't horrible, they just aren't exceptional. I feel that it has much more of an impact this way with this running order:This is PiLOne DropDeeper WaterHumanTerrorgate---Lollipop OperaFoolReggie's SongOut of the WoodOne last thing, if you think you are likely to like this album, go ahead and buy the deluxe version. The DVD concert is very good.

When I first ordered this package I thought I would get caught up with Mr. Lydon and the current PIL, he would rant a bit, it would be like the old days, and I would put the CD on the shelf. Boy was I wrong, this is a really, really good CD! The band is tight, the songs are good and catchy, and John is in good voice. If there is a downside, some of the songs do run a bit long, but that is my only complaint. If you order the set with the DVD included, and I certainly would, the concert was very recent, the band shows how good they are live, again as with the CD some of the songs do tend do ramble a bit. But there are some old PIL songs included and they are well done.

This was one of 2 or 3 PiL albums I didn't have on CD, so, now it's burned to my desktop! I have been a fan of PiL ever since I heard "2nd Edition", and have liked every album since!

Let me start by saying I'm a fan of all PIL phases and this recent one is no exception. Having gotten into them in 1984 via Flowers Of Romance I always felt that no matter the Pistols this was the band and creative outled Lydon needed. Regardless the backing line up I have found enjoyment and outstanding music on every release. This Is Pil continues the trend a shocking number of years after the last release. It really is hard to pinpoint best songs due to the fact that I always seem to listen to it from start to finish, each song is unique from the others but each contributes to a flow that's almost mesmerizing. If forced, however, Deeper Water would be a standout among them all.Look, if your a long time fan you may or may not embrace it right away if you disliked certain sections of their career. If you're new to them it won't matter and in some ways you would be lucky you'll be listening free of biases. Either way, it's a triumph as far as I'm concerned and more experimental yet melodic than most artists as long in the tooth career wise as Lydon is.

A1

importでCD+DVD新品979円という品が出品されましたこの値段なら買って損はないと思います筆者は親日家のライドンさんとライドンさんから信頼の厚い東芝EMI（現ユニバーサル）のためにPiLは日本版と決めているので日本版を買いましたがDVD付きがあると知ってimportを買い足しましたしかしそのときは2000円ほどしましたそういうわけでこれは2枚目のCDですこれから買う方はDVD付きimportを買う方が良いでしょうDVDは2012年のロンドンライブのようですロンドンの下町をうろうろしているような分厚くて安っぽいコートを着たおじさんというかおじいちゃんこれが今のライドンさんですオーディエンスににこやかに話しかけ老眼鏡（たぶん）をかける労働者階級のおじいいちゃんかつてParis Liveでオーディエンスに"Shut up"と言い放った彼もおじいちゃんですもうあのJohnny Rottenの面影はないのですが耳のピアスは異様です全身で自らの「老い」をさらすライドンさん高音も全然伸びなくなった歌い方もずいぶん変わったしかしライドンさんはライドンさんだったまさかの"Albatross"や"Chant"なんて曲もやってくれていますそしてこの時点での新譜である"One Drop"「俺はジョンだ」「俺たちはカオスから来た」「誰も俺たちを理解できない」「誰も俺たちを変えることはできない」「これが俺の文化だ」まだ生きているぞ！とライドンさんとPiLは歌い続ける今のライドンさんには批判的な意見もあります「ライドンは変わってしまった」「もうニューウェーブでもパンクでもない」曲は確かにポップで聴きやすくなったでも「俺はまだここにいる」そんなメッセージがこのアルバムからしっかり感じられるCDの方ですがオープニングの"This is PiL"初めて聴いたときは聴き慣れない異音がしましたそしてその音の正体を知って大爆笑ですバンド名をつけた大事なタイトル曲なのにやってくれますこういうことは思いついてもやらないのが「普通」というものでしょうやって許されるのはライドンさんとライドンさんの敬愛するジョン・レノンさんぐらいでしょうか「おまえらは幸せ者だ」「これがPiLだ」「おまえらはPiLの世界に入ってくるんだ」この尊大なlyricsと呪術的な曲を聴けばライドンさんの毒はまだ健在だと思い知らされますアヴァンギャルドやニューウェーブやパンクを置き去りに変わり続けるライドンさんとPiLこれこそがライドンさんのやりたかったことなのでしょうYou are now entering a PiL zone.Welcome To PiL!

quando è uscito, in rete tutti a dire "ah non sono più i Pil di una volta!", senza considerare che i "Pil di una volta" non sono mai esistiti, essendo la band forever changin' per antonomasia. Quel che c'è sempre stato e c'è ancora è lui, mr. Lydon, uno dei più spettacolari personaggi che la cultura pop abbia mai prodotto, qua alle prese con la sua commovente fragilità: un disco emotivo come mai prima, quarant'anni di "angst" raggelata che improvvisamente si scioglie. E poi anche questa nuova formazione sa il fatto suo, poche chiacchiere. Cinque stelle e tutti zitti.

For fans living in the beautiful south, when John Lydon finally appeared at The Brixton Academy on May 27, 1986, it was the first time it had been possible to see him perform since the implosion of The Sex Pistols in 1978. It must, on reflection, have been a revelation for the incorrigible rebel to be confronted at last, in London, with a sizeable audience.To a fault, like a Jimmy Savile or Hurricane Higgins, Lydon craves attention; but the essence of his charisma is that despite these warring compulsions, he is at his best in front of an audience only when he is angry. "Anger is an energy" is his remarkable hymn to the rise of the spirit of vindictiveness that he most values in himself. Aspiring to reach this state, at the Brixton concert, it seemed to me that he wanted to goad his audience. It was not long before he intoned, with his trademark sneer: "Still gobbing after all these years?" He was addressing those Sex Pistols fans, at the front, set upon pleasing him by spitting in his face. There was no room in that hallowed area for me where it seemed, from where I was standing, that everyone was pogoing and having a good time. I was further back, dressed wholly in black leather wearing a hallmarked silver treble clef brooch; and in that disparate company I stuck out like a plain clothes policeman. One oaf scaled one of the enormous black speakers to the left of the stage and dropped his trousers to the world. Bouncers despatched him, with his trousers round his ankles, to fall, probably twenty feet, onto the concrete floor and the audience below. He must have survived, but as the shy poet Philip Larkin said: I nearly died.Once he found his bearings, realising that it might have been worse NOT to have been sodden with the tributes of adulation, I am sure he relaxed. He nodded his head back sharply and hawked demonstratively; and then in the glare of the spotlights let fly the mother of all wads of saliva to make its way to the middle of the room where I was standing; attired as I was, with a good deal of space around me. The integrity of that superstar's aspersion held up until, at the top of its arc, I was privileged to see it become a wishbone as that benediction straddled the air on its way back to earth. Before long John said he would never play London again; but on the same stage not many months later, he opened with "Warrior" dressed in an enormous Day-Glo green suit with a fuchsia lining to showcase "9", his next album. I was there. His powerful cry was uplifting and unforgettable. "This is Pil" starts with a more recent variation upon the clearing of his throat to expectorate once more for his acolytes below. Gobbing is the essence of his spirit. It's beautiful if you are lucky enough to catch it in the spotlight.We ordinary mortals; the ordinary humans that Lydon so often celebrates in his work, know the sound a dog makes when it is hurt. We know from cowboy Westerns and horror films the sound of wolves at night. They are visceral sounds beneath all language. We all know derision and anger and pain; not in the words so much as in the way the words are said; and as coyotes on the skyline, how we look. Overall this album showcases a parody now of his anger. It is preposterous and at the same time entertaining and amazing; but to show he has not changed he manages to scratch even this exuberant offering at the close of "It said that". The childishness is part of the real truth; which is that Lydon wants to hide, not so much that he is an evangelist for chaos and anarchy; but that he is a disciple for understanding, integrity and gentleness. "My name is JOHN. I was born in London. I'm no vulture. This is my culture." is as winning a testament to his endearing ways as there has ever been. Perhaps it is my favourite line of this album just before "One Drop" of James Gleick's chaos invites us to march with him to the same old war where our self-righteous and our animal spirits are borne upon his wolverine howls and barks, the raw display of his ludicrous power and the sentiments and the sheer inspirational power of his songs with musical backing as driving once more as it was for "Warrior". It is so GOOD to walk with the caprice des Dieux. At the end he sees himself as a beleaguered fighter. "From the woods" is about being King of the Castle. "HERE WE ARE!" his mates cry; little John Lydons and Indians running out of the woods of Chancellorsville with Stonewall Jackson, neither on one side or the other.Quentin Crisp, in his analysis of "How to get a life style" pointed out that once you were a pig farmer you could never be a ballet dancer. So we will never accept John Lydon as a poet. He does try in "The Room I am in" where he rhymes "towers" with "bars"; not quite so daring as rhyming "stars" with "reservoirs"; but "like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine". Arriving like a window cleaner who finds himself on stage for The Band's Last Waltz; does Lydon want to be Lawrence Ferlinghetti?"This is Pil" demonstrates an almost Miltonic preoccupation with God, Heaven, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. In these treacherous and religious watersJohn Lydon sees himself as a shark out of his depth. He says:" I will not drown. I will swim to deeper water." It's a sad statement for the great misfit. The religious sense is heightened with oftentimes the joyful churchbell ring of the guitars. It is a carillon of praise that deserves to be heard.

Wer hätte das gedacht? Public Image Limited veröffentlichen nach rund 17 Jahren, in denen sie oft totgesagt waren, ein neues Studioalbum und es ist schlichtweg genial!!!Wie jede Bewertung ist auch diese natürlich rein subjektiv und ich höre in Gedanken schon die nörgelnden Kritiker, die (wie an jedem PIL-Album) diverse Schwachstellen auszumachen meinen.PIL spalten die Hörerschaft, das war schon immer so. Alles andere wäre tatsächlich enttäuschend. Aber nun zu diesem Album:Musikalisch halte ich es für das ausgereifteste, das PIL jemals vorgelegt haben. Ja, es klingt professionell und das ist für PIL durchaus nicht immer typisch gewesen. Aber PIL sind nach wie vor weit entfernt vom Mainstream, sie sind diesem tatsächlich Meilen voraus.Jeder Song auf diesem Album ist geradezu unerhört neu und individuell. Die Musik überraschend eingängig, aber von Anfang bis Ende faszinierend. John Lydon quängelt sich durch seine bissigen, aber leider nicht abgedruckten, Texte wie zu seinen besten Zeiten. Ja, vielleicht ist tatsächlich dies seine beste Zeit! Die Dynamik jedes einzelnen Songs ist schlichtweg phänomenal. Auch wenn Kult-Bassist Jah Wobble keinen Bock hatte, mitzumachen, ist es John Lydon nicht zum ersten (und hoffentlich auch nicht letzten) Mal gelungen, exquisite Musiker für sein Projekt zu gewinnen. Das hört man, ohne Ausnahme, in jedem einzelnen Song.Das Artwork des Albums, ebenfalls von Lydon gestaltet, stellt sämtliche frühere Alben in den Schatten.Ich habe die Deluxe-Edition (oder wie immer sich das nennt) mit Bonus-DVD. Dieses Package ist einfach wunderschön und mit Liebe zum Detail gestaltet.Die zusätzliche DVD liefert nicht etwa nur langweilige Making-Off-Spaßereien, die niemanden interessieren, sondern einen sage und schreibe zweieinhalbstündigen Konzertmitschnitt (tatsächlich das gesamte Konzert!) vom 02. April 2012 in London.Andere Bands hätten solch einen eindrucksvollen Mittschnitt als eigenständige DVD auf den Markt geschmissen. Bei PIL gibt`s das einfach mal so dazu! Das Konzert bietet neben neuen Songs auch eine Vielzahl alter Klassiker von "This is not a lovesong" über "Albatross" bis "Warrior".Wer sich dieses Album zulegen möchte, bitte unbedingt die Deluxe-Version mit Bonus-DVD bestellen, es lohnt sich garantiert!Für alle, die mit PIL noch nicht so vertraut sein sollten: Dieses Album eignet sich vielleicht besser als jedes andere der Band zum Einstieg, da der experimentelle Anteil sehr gering ausfällt.In gewissem Sinne klingt "This is PIL", als ob Lydon & Co. irgendwo angekommen seien. Reifer, ernster aber kurioserweise auch verspielter als man es aus der Vergangenheit kennt.Meiner Meinung nach, ist es jetzt schon mindestens das Album des Jahres, wenn nicht gar des Jahrzehnts. PIL waren kommerziell nie von großer Bedeutung, aber künstlerisch, ja sogar musikhistorisch, haben sie unglaublich viel bewegt. "This is PIL" demonstriert eindrucksvoll, das auch der "alte" Lydon einem Großteil seiner Mitstreiter auf dem Markt der Musikkunst weit voraus ist.Einziges Manko für jeden, dessen Muttersprache nicht Englisch ist, sind die fehlenden Lyrics. Lydons brillanten Wortwitz und intelligente Textinhalte nachvollziehen zu können, erfordert hier wirklich einige Arbeit. Gedruckte Texte wären dabei sehr hilfreich gewesen.