Public Image: First Issue

It's not every day you invent a genre, especially only a year after taking punk to the mainstream. I had to drop it down to a 3 as some of the more extreme tracks get on my nerves. Their 2nd album is the classic

Groovy opening and closer. Not a fan of the punk sound.

not really my thing surprisingly

Escuchable, sin más. Original en su composición. Algunos temas más tipo dance, otros algo de punk-rock, un poco indefinible el estilo. Aun así, se deja escuchar, pero no aporta nada especial

With sombre monologues, Lydon touches the bottom of existential depression, wandering aimlessly in the grip of a "deadly boredom" for a universe that has reduced itself to a dark and deserted tunnel. (6/10) FT: Public Image, Fodderstompf

Gaat alle kanten op.

This is the album i've spent longest considering. What is it? Punk meets Richard Branson. Angry, noisy and a hard hard listen. You know it's an important album, and yet you need your ears to have a break.

Rough start, but each track is better than the last. Was “Fodderstompf” intended to be a Monty Python sketch? Being generous with a 3. I liked (3) it today, but not sure I’d be more than indifferent (2) any other day.

Definitely raw and a bit too experimental at times. The religion pair and foderstompf are a bit out of left field, but are interesting. Annalisa and Public Image are strong.

Good

That interview tho.

Has a few good songs. And the rest is interesting but not particularly enjoyable. I wonder what this John would have done with the Sex Pistols?

-Riff from "Theme" sounds sabbathy -I liked "Theme" the most -Singer reminds me of that dude Angus O'Reilly O'Patrick McGinney from "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow - Live" from You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (Live) by Frank Zappa

Early post-punk record with a lot to say. Fierce, eclectic, anti-pop, I still found a lot of moments to enjoy. Favourite track: Public Image

Skipped. Surgery

An album that charted the course of post-punk. "Theme" is fantastic. "Public Image" anticipates Sonic Youth.

solid post punk.

3.5 | Nunca supe mucho sobre la carrera de Johnny Rotten después de Sex Pistols. Sabía que hoy en día he escuchado sobre sus pinturas y algunas instalaciones audiovisuales, he visto entrevistas con él y sé que ahora siempre usa abrigos... sobre su música nunca me metí a conocer. No sabía ni el nombre de la banda pero inmediatamente cuando vi que el autor era John Lydon me dio curiosidad. Para nada lo que esperaba, aunque si se siente por ahí lo que arrastra de los Pistols el disco mucho más experimental y muchísimo más arriesgado quizá de lo que necesitaba en su momento para pegar y llamar la atención; eso se me hace muy respetable. Sobre la calidad, hay cosas que pegan bien y otras que no cuadran mucho. Todo el lado que se oye bastante avant garde agarrando punk y haciéndolo ruidoso agarrando esos pedazos como de Lou y Velvet combinando con la energía y acordes que traía de antes suena bien, esa primera canción deja una impresión buena (aunque quizá no para un público general como elección de apertura del disco). Por otro lado, no tengo absolutamente nada en contra de que metan piezas habladas, poemas y demás en un disco; lo que si no creo tiene caso es recitar un poema y luego dar el mismo poema con música (en Religion I y II), o sea mejor ahí sí sáltate la recitada no tiene caso perder el tiempo si solo lo vas a repetir. Annalisa y Public Image son como las canciones más digeribles o vendibles del disco creo que funcionan bastante decente. Low Life y Attack de manera personal no me agradaron tanto y se me hicieron un poco más repetitivas. Fodderstompf cierra de nuevo en tono experimental en lo que muchos dirán es ruido sin sentido pero para mí se me hace una mezcla interesante de ese ruido con las líneas de funk atrás; de nuevo haciendo algo más interesante y único. No todo el disco funciona pero sí tiene partes que valen mucho la pena en mi opinión. Quizá busque un poco más de Public Image a ver a qué evolucionó con el paso del tiempo.

not my favorite kind of punk album, but i rather enjoyed it. nothing was amazing to me, but a solid performace by Johnny Rotten.

pretty interesting

Cool. Recognized a couple of songs. Not bad

6/10 FT: Annalisa

The good moments are great; there are just too few of them unfortunately.

i think they were onto something…by not releasing this stateside for 30 years

The Good: It’s a first! The Bad: It’s not the last… The Ugly: If this is what a public image should look like… Fuck me that was hard to get through. Then again, maybe it is genius… Then again, maybe not. 2*

I'm only 45 albums in and this is my second Pil record, please be the last. Like their second album, this one is better in the second half but only marginally. Johnny Lydon has no musical instincts whatsoever, he's anti-music. Maybe that's the point? I don't know but I feel bad for the other guys I'm the group doing some cool shit like Fodderstompf and then have it totally ruined by juvenile wailing.

Unsettling songs and dark i see the concept but still 3.2/10

whiney and ranting

some bright spots on here, but kind of obnoxious overall. didn’t see the need to have the spoken word track followed by the same lyrics with music. kind of lessened the impact of the words imo. “Fodderstompf” was kind of fun

This seems like it was a legacy pick just because of how important the Sex Pistols were. This album is mediocre at best.

So generic and so forgettable

Pues entre este y Mtal Box, me quedo con el segundo, por todo. Y entre este y el Real Life de Magazine (mismo año y misma página en mi libro) me quedo con el segundo por todo.

Gets two stars because the boy from The Clash is a class guitarist. Wish Johnny Rotten would stfu so I could hear it.

so bad it's good but it's actually just bad. rough listen

Frustrating listen. The A side is completely skippable with a combination of noise rock and spoken word that is neither engaging nor entertaining. The B side opens with a pair of solid songs, then falls right back into the same pitfalls from the A side. Diverse, sure, but it feels like the best parts are almost accidental. Top tracks: Public Image, Low Life

very mixed album. Two excellent tracks, a few ok and some absolute drivel

Repetitive mediocrity.

I really can't see the appeal here man

Pretty annoying...punk?

I'm not the biggest fan of John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten when he was with the Sex Pistols). This is a post-punk album and I get that it means there will be a lot of screaming rather than singing and what sounds to a lot of ears like just a lot of noise rather than actual music. I do think there are a few really good songs on this album, but not enough for me to want to listen again. I think the album has a place on this list because of the place Public Image Ltd and John Lydon have in the history of post-punk music, but not because of the quality of the album.

Mostly annoying.

A bit too chaotic for my taste. Honestly the best part of the album was the hour long interview at the end.

Not terrible but mostly just noise

I suppose I was guilty of judging the album by its cover (Johnny Rotten) and thought it would sound like the Sex Pistols. Well, what if John Lydon replaced the members of the Pistols with real musicians? Nah, it still doesn’t sound like good music. What in the name of God was he thinking? A nine minute droning opening number, then a wretched poetry reading? And then the same poem set to repetitive droning? Who the hell is this? At least the Pistols were interesting, if not talented. Expected at least 3.5 stars, am very disappointed. Only bright spot was the bassist’s excellent work. The music improved greatly after the terrible 3 tracks that lead off the record, so not all is lost. 1 star for the rhythm section and 1 for subverting expectations (but not enough to make up for the awful performance of Lydon) and no, I didn’t stick around for the HOUR LONG INTERVIEW. (?) 2 stars

Intro almost feels like Sabbath with the trudging bass. Religion I and II are a pure take down of structured religion. The mood transitions from angry guitars ending with an electronic sound. While the evolution on the album is interesting to hear, I'm not sure I'd go back.

I guess it takes balls to start the debut album of your new punk band with a 9min noise jam, followed by a spoken word piece. I actually liked the jammy opener (really has a Heavy Psych vibe going, and also, give the bass technician a cookie, the bass sound is delicious) and the riff in "Annalisa". Problem is, the voice ruins these good moments for me. And the other problem is, the other pieces are worse, or in the case of "Fodderstompf" much much worse (what the hell?). 2/5 - below average

this is strange not in a good way

Overwhelmingly wanted to give this a 1 throughout my listen. But I have to give it a 2. 2/5

Wieviel mid rock albe muss ich no lose?

„erstes post-punk“-album ever - so what?!

No es mucho de mi agrado, la música está bien pero el canto no tanto.

This is just extremely obnoxious isn't it.

Us people have no taste

What in a child's nightmare was this???

The opening track on a debut album-potentially the first song anyone would ever hear from an artist-should at least be enticing, but instead, it's arguably the worst opening track for any album in this generator. Then, the controversial "Religion" track shows up, and I realize this is an edgy concept album. I ended up finding some joy within this mess, especially with the insanity in the closing track, but this is what happens when "edgy YouTube comments" are an album. Favorite Track: "Fodderstompf".

bleh

Uh... is this what punk rock is supposed to sound like?

Wenz: Hmm, didn’t really get the album and songs….

This is an odd album. In the widest sense it's punk and very raw. The opening stuff is quite annoying and so art the two tracks about religion. "Annalisa" is cooler and the rest is more experimental krautrock stuff that is surely listenable. You really have to sit through the first part.

Did not like it very much.

Just didn't care for it.

Boring topic but interesting for like 3 or 3 songs

This was garbage

similar to the sex pistols but with some of the roughest edges sanded off. still bashy, crashy, yelly, but slightly more melodic at times?

The vocals were so grating that I had to tune myself out of listening to them. The instrumentals were fine, I think, but they were so weirdly mixed together. Needless to say, Americans did not miss much waiting these 35 years for the album to release for them.

Included a very long monologue which was pretty disruptive to the overall vibe and was overall something we wanted to skip through.

Im Dezember 1978, kaum zwei Jahre nach „Anarchy in the UK", veröffentlichte John Lydon mit seiner neu gegründeten britischen Band Public Image Ltd. auf Virgin Records ein Debütalbum, das den Bruch mit dem Punk nicht nur proklamierte, sondern vollzog. Aufgenommen an gleich fünf verschiedenen Londoner Orten – darunter die Advision Studios, die Wessex Studios, die Townhouse Studios, The Manor Studio sowie die billigen Gooseberry Sound Studios, in denen das Geld der Band schließlich ausging –, ist First Issue weniger ein Werk aus einem Guss als eine hörbare Entstehungsgeschichte. Das Label ließ der Band dabei bemerkenswerten Spielraum, den sie konsequent für Experiment statt Kommerzialität nutzte. Das Album lebt vom Spannungsfeld seiner Protagonisten: Jah Wobbles wuchtiger, im Dub verwurzelter Bass trägt das Gros der Songs fast allein, während Keith Levenes Gitarre in dissonanten Bögen gegen jede Erwartung arbeitet. Lydon selbst singt, besser: deklamiert – mal hysterisch, mal fast beiläufig – über Medienmanipulation und Identitätsauflösung. Die Eröffnungsnummer „Theme" dauert über neun Minuten und verzichtet vollständig auf Vers-Refrain-Strukturen; „Public Image", die vorangegangene Single, schlägt in seiner kühlen Wut eine Brücke zwischen dem sterbenden Punk und dem, was danach kam. „Annalisa" und „Religion I & II" zeigen die Band auf der Suche nach einer eigenen Liturgie des Lärms. Die Kehrseite dieser radikalen Offenheit ist die Ungleichmäßigkeit des Materials. Die letzte Seite, unter Zeitdruck und Geldmangel in den Gooseberry Sound Studios eingespielt, klingt entsprechend provisorisch; „Fodderstompf" besteht zur Hälfte aus Gelächter und Improvisation – was man als Witz lesen kann oder als Eingeständnis. Dass das Album dennoch als Wegmarke gilt, liegt weniger an seiner Perfektion als an seiner Haltung: Es klang 1978 nach nichts anderdem. First Issue ist das Dokument einer Befreiung – roh, unfertig und gerade deshalb historisch unentbehrlich.

I punk album I assume was influential in the UK punk / early alt rock scene. A little too hard on the dissonance for me- not bad, but didnt really enjoy it

🎧Why? (I mostly ask this in response to Fodderstomf, but much of the rest of this album too)

Weird

This starts off as just straight screeching noise. Then there's Johnny Rotten doing... poetry?? Annalisa is a decent track, a little more classic punk. The title track is OK too, but this one's far too on the experimental side and not enough on the good side.

I'm a pretty cynical dude, admittedly. John Lydon has a set of stones on him to create this album and this band in general. The band's name is making fun of his own previous band's name, but there is zero irony or self awareness there. I think a lot of this album's lyrics were probably pretty transgressive at the time, but the conversation has moved on. There were more important punk bands doing more important work at this time. Lydon's lyrics are infantile, even by 70s standards. The music is pretty one note and boring, save for what little noise-adjacent sounds they play with throughout the album. Genuinely a tough album to rate. I wasn't there, nearly 5 decades ago. I can't speak to whether or not this was received well by people who actually knew what the fuck they were talking about. A lot of the punk ethos of the 70s and 80s have been rightly dismissed as ineffectual young men lashing out at whatever institutions they could. In the case of Public Image Ltd., this is a broken clock situation. The christian theocracy is a huge problem worldwide, but John Lydon is a nonce, so you're probably better off listening to any of the music that he accidentally inspired over the years.

I was just a bit too young to be a proper punk (and to be honest, I was a weedy, speccy nerd so Elvis Costello was more my thing) but I enjoyed that glorious jubilee summer of punk vicariously. After all the filth and fury had faded, nobody was quite expecting this album from John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten). It opens with an existential howl of distorted guitar feedback before a two part screed against religion that is so fierce it makes Richard Dawkins look like a church mouse in comparison. After the ranting track Annalisa, the eponymous lead single brings a bit of focus to the album and establishes exactly what post punk was going to sound like with Keith Levene’s slashing guitar, Jah Wobble’s god like bass and Jim Walkers Motorik drums suiting Lydon’s sneering vocals. Critics hated this at the time and it also went down like a cup of cold sick with former punks wanting more cartoon antics. It’s more interesting now to look back on this as an avant Garde experimental piece with some standout moments (Jah Wobble’s bass on the final track Fodderstompf is hypnotic) rather than a coherent album. Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

I mean I get it, not an enjoyable listen though

Nothing good to say about this one then

fav song: fodderstompf minimal, uneven, raw 40/100

no se por qué pero logré conectar con este album después de la canción public image (temazo btw) ahora que termine este album me puse a escuchar otros temas de ellos, che muy buenos

Not a fan of the first few songs, gets better in the second half

Punk production values, prog self-indulgence levels

oh THAT guy again

Have to give some credit to John Lydon for balls to release this kind of album after Sex Pistols. He could have selected an easier path to continue his rise to rock stardom, but decided to piss off everyone. Not a very good album tho...

Repetitive and boring

Pretty raw recording. I do dislike that on its face and I do like outsider music but this droned on on spots. Pretty similar to pere ubu in some ways. I didn't hate it but I likely won't engage with it again.

El grupo de Johnny Rotten post Sex Pistols pretendía ir más allá y ciertamente la propuesta era otro rollo. Tan otro rollo que no le gusto a casi nadie. Aun así se las arreglaron para seguir con en la dirección deseada y sacar mucho más álbumes. Personalmente, este trabajo me resulta incómodo, frío, pesado. No los había escuchado antes, pero más allá de la sorpresa inicial, el poso que me queda és algo agrio. De lo más positivo es el posicionamiento radical en las letras como en la polémica “Religion”.

I mean, I guess that is punk. Punk doesn't mean enjoyable, man. Sex Pistols-ey but boring init.

Inutile.

not really my cup of tea

This is a frustrating album to listen to, the melodies are actually really good for the most part but the vocals (and often the lyrics) are just, really not my cup of tea.

Post punk Religion ii Public image

This isn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. The song Public Image is good enough. It's still pretty bad.

Poor lyrics, music & attitude

Kind of uninteresting. Another post-punk album that mostly lands flat. 2/5 Won't listen again

There are some decent moments sprinkled throughout this. The fact the group went for shock-value is unfortunate, because this had the chance to be great.

As someone who typically enjoys punk, Johnny Rotten can be ANNOYING sometimes. There are good parts, but the majority of this album is too repetitive and… unpleasant.

Favorite Song: Public Image

I'm gonna be honest, I really didn't like this. Punk is not really my genre and this felt like particularly "dry" punk. It was mostly noise with an okay bassline underneath. Two stars.

Noise. A lot of it!

Not really my bag..

It might be an historical record of a genre that I quite like but I found it boring nevertheless Favorite Songs: Annalisa

it's cool but it's not my thing

Ones enough. And we’ve had this. I love public image. Jah wobble! But this is not their best anyway. I feel it’s here because us critics wanted to cock their snoot at those listeners who couldn’t hear it at the time.

Public Image

One great track, the rest not that much.

Complete trash. Horrible songs, horrible singing, horrible production. Saying that, at least 2 songs are pretty iconic so I’ll give it a 2 based on that and that alone. I have a complicated relationship with music sometimes.

8 songs. 2 are ok or pleasant. The rest of it is quite annoying, soulless punkrock

This is alright, but JR is a wanker. I feel like I might like it more if it wasn't him doing it

This album sounds like it is trying to annoy me which is most apparent on the final track Foddestompf which just sounds like a bunch of British Muppets yelling at you. Did not really enjoy this and would not listen to again. The British bias hits again. Favorite Track - Public Image Least Favorite Track - Fodderstompf ⭐️⭐️

So much better than the other Public image album. Still didn’t like it that much but much better

Not awful, really. I, however, cannot stand the repeating x10. I get it.

Really cool band name. But I wasn't too sold on the whole... spoken word part of things. 'Religion I' was just a long monologue, and then it kind of continued in 'Religion II', even though that had a pretty cool riff. In the end this was too punky for me, and it sounded pretty bad (especially 'Attack', just a mid-range and high end mess).

70s rock. Post-punk. Johnny Rotten. Very influential. Meandering punk tracks with loads of talking and screaming. Experimental.

This album was like a pizza cutter. All edge and no point.

John Lydon can suck it.

Kom aldri helt inn i det. Et groove her og der som er kult, men det blir litt tynt.

Noen høydepunkt her: Low life, public image. Men fyfaen! Det her e det jævligste siste sporet av ei plate i he hørt noensinne. For å gjøre vondt verre så e faen me låta 7.48 minutter lang.

Åpningssporet e fullstendig krise. Første kvarteret e fullstendig krise. Tar sæ jo opp i andre halvdel, men ikke nok til å vippe opp til tre stjerne.

Hater det. Virker så utrolig low effort.

hard one to rate. The single is great, the band is great, it's musically really innovative, but Rotten is a shit singer and the lyrics are stupid. But without Johnny the band doesn't exist and we miss a stepping stone into post punk. They have better albums.

Very mediocre, noisy and shallow.

3/10

Having THAT as the first track is a choice. If you don't dig that, you're likely not going to dig the rest of the album. Me? I'm still here because I'm a masochist I guess. Bass playing is good here at least.

Boring as fuck. Sorry. Not sorry.

Promising instrumentals all ruined by the whiny-screamy vocals. I think Punk is not for me.

70’s Punk ⭐️

i don’t really like it

The wiki blurb for this album said that upon release this album got a 2/5 from a publication. That seems like a fair rating for this album. It has a horrendous start but gets redeemed towards the middle starting with Annalisa through Attack. On Fodderstompf Lydon sounds like Mort from the movie Madagascar so that made me chuckle. "Yay I'm a sacrifice!" 2/5

How did this make the list? So boring.

Nice proto-punk sort of sound (I think that's what this genre is?). I don't really love it though, it's kind of harsh in ways that I didn't really want. Maybe it's this subgenre itself that doesn't always dance with me but one thing that stands out is that the music tends to drone on an idea for a while.. which is fine, but if the vocals don't do something on top that pulls me in then I'm kind of listening to the two big sound puzzle pieces and not finding joy in either. Cool album cover though, I'm sure at the time it really stood out as his facial expression is really provoking.

Je sais pas pourquoi j’écoute les albums de cette liste le matin; quand j’en pogne un comme celui-ci, ça affecte négativement le reste de ma journée. Pis qui veux commencer sa journée avec le ptit Johnny Rotten qui te beugle dans les oreilles? Honnêtement? Y’avait rien de mieux qu’un album solo du pourris en personne à mettre dans cette liste?

Having this album and the next one (Metal Box) included on this list is a major head scratcher. I get it: Lydon really wanted to separate himself from the Sex Pistol association, and he does so with this next venture. But, outside of the song Public Image, it’s just not that good. There are much better post-punk albums than this. And it really isn’t until the albums This Is What You Want…, Album, and Happy? where PiL really start to come into their own with a stronger and more unique sound.

A droning 8 minute song into a track devoted to the reading of a poem is a hell of a way to start an album… this did not do it for me

The Public Image song was pretty good, but the rest was not really what I would want to listen to.

Not really for me.

2.3 That was pretty shit, and very disappointing after firstly quite enjoying the other PiL album on here and secondly reading the blurb about this beforehand. Track by track it's just not very good. First track, intro, fine, goes on quite long, interesting concept but not really one to come back to. Religion(s) grated me, I like Lyndon's voice usually but he can put on 'that' voice which sounds quite annoying, this track is full of it. Analisa and public image fine, not terrible. Next two are similarly ok, even less memorable. But the album closer, Jesus Christ. Done with it.

If there's anything that really tanks this album it is the opening track "Theme" and the closing track "Fodderstompf" and usually two tracks won't totally tank an album but as bad as those were in the fact that they take up almost half the album i don't think I'd ever want to listen to this as a whole again. Which is kind of sad because I really like "Annalisa", "Public Image", and "Low Life", which all kind of have a closer relationship to *Nevermind the Bullock*, with a bit of a Post Punk twist. I really like the overall groove of "Religion II" as well, but I don't like Johnny Lyndon's kind of monotonous delivery. It doesn't really do much for me. And I really didn't care for "Attack" at all, but considerably more listenable than the opener and closer which is the real headache of the album. (5.55) ★★½

Not my thing, but a lot better than the other Public Imagr Ltd. album on this list. 2.5 stars

2.5

Not good. One or two songs reminiscent of the pistols. Rest the ranting of a teenager who isn’t as clever as he thinks he is

3 constants in this world: Death, Taxes, and Lydon can't sing for shit in any band. Rest of the band sounds great

stupid

An interesting record... May not listen again but somehow glad it was here

2/5

This is one of the few records in this whole project that actively made me not want to keep listening. I understand what it’s doing, and I understand why it matters historically, but that understanding doesn’t translate into enjoyment for me at all. The sound is deliberately abrasive and confrontational, and while I can respect that intent, it feels like ideology first and music a very distant second. The repetition, the hostility, and the lack of any real groove or melodic payoff make the experience feel punishing rather than provocative. It’s not challenging in a way that pulls me in. It’s challenging in a way that dares me to stick around, and I don’t feel compelled to accept that dare. I’ve been pretty generous throughout this list, even with albums that didn’t resonate deeply, but this is one of the rare cases where I actively disliked the experience. I can acknowledge its influence and its place in post-punk history, but that doesn’t obligate me to enjoy it. This lands firmly in the 1–2 range for me, and it joins a very short list of albums here that I genuinely wouldn’t want to revisit under any circumstances. Respect for the impact, but zero connection on a listening level.

This album was described as New Wave/Post Punk/Art Rock/Experimental. Tell me I'm going to hate your album without saying I'm going to hate your album. This is album 252 of this project for me, and it feels like album 52 of New Wave/Post Punk/Art Rock/Experimental (oh, and 48 of 52 are British). Then you're going to lead off with 9+ minutes of something and follow that up with spoken word poetry. Ugh. And yes, I know it's Johnny Rotten and Keith Levene; I just wish I didn't know that. Influence 3. Quality 2. Intangibles 3. Hits 1. Please. No more New Wave/Post Punk/Art Rock. Please. 1.

Previously rated: #868 - Metal Box (1/5) ***************************** Album #1,022 I couldn't remember what I thought of this band until I went back and read my last review. Seems like others didn't like that album either. I hope this one is better. Starts off pretty awful, he starts ranting about religion with and without music. Has one good song, Annalisa, then back to the super repetitive crap. I did not bother with the bonus track.

This was tastefully abstract and had deep meaning with numbing rock. Favourite tracks: Religion I, Religion II

Some of it was good. None of it was great. The last song was unlistenable.

This is an album that is included for its historical worth and not because it is enjoyable to listen to. One of those sneer at the world message albums. Only got away with making it because of the Sex Pistols. That said, I do like Jah Wobbles bass. 2⭐️

whatever

4/10… uk post punk / new wave / *1978

Erfitt að hlusta sorry

lots of religion comments

As for post punk. Its there, underneath experimental and noisey spoken word passages. But its there. No precisely my cup of tea when it comes to the genre. Much more enthusiastic over the Buzzcocks and others. But there's at least two inconic songs on here.

I am a punk fan, but this whole album feels like i am 15 and this deep.

not my cup of tea

There were a few tracks on here that i liked a fair bit, but the opener and the two "Religion"s were a slog, and the final track, long for the sake of a record contract track, was too.

Yeah, not good. Unique enough to deserve a place on the list. 2/5.

John Lydon looks like Arthur Weasley.

Turgid with only a couple of songs of note in Public Image and Lowlife, otherwise a painful slog. Metal Box is far superior.

2.0

Interestingly, this album and Feeding of the 5000 by Crass were recorded at around the same time. I looked this up because John Lyndon’s spoken word track “Religion I” made me think of the track “Asylum” that leads off the Crass album, both being spoken pieces highly critical of religion. Seems like there wasn’t any influence in one direction or the other if we’re going on timeframes. Listening to them side by side though, the Crass one gives me shivers even though I’ve heard it countless times; the PiL one, on the other hand, affirms Rotten’s/Lyndon’s snarling “terminal boredom” at the end of “Theme” just before getting into his anti-religious tirade. Which, as compared to Crass’s and its railing against Christian gynophobia and warmongering, is largely about money. Because of course it is. It’s provocative, sure, or at least was at the time, but it all feels like a boy pushing buttons out of boredom to get a reaction. And yeah, I get it, punk rock, but cynical nihilism isn’t the only path here. Which is a shame because when PiL is good, they’re really good. The song “Public Image” is excellent. Overall, I much prefer the bass and drum led rhythm heavy approach of PiL to the rock n roll of the Sex Pistols, just too bad both had a crappy singer.

Did not vibe with this

Though I deeply respect what they are trying to do I did not care for this album.

They're onto something but execution is lacking

Prescient stuff. The run from Theme to Public Image is absolutely banging. Amazing bass playing. But, what the fuck was that last track?

theme- 3 or 4 religion i- 4 religion ii- 4 annalisa- 4 public image- 4 low life- 3 or 4 attack- 3 or 4 fodderstompf- 3 or 4 stfu ❤️

I wasn't expecting much with Public Image Ltd. because I had their follow-up album six months ago and hated it. First Issue (a cute name for a debut album) wasn't so avant-garde and was just normal, brash post-punk music. Much of it was too abrasive and not to my liking, but I enjoyed the spoken word of "Religion I." Go off, John Lydon. Anyway, turns out I know the song "Public Image" because of Alphabeat's electropop cover. Oh and I didn't know Johnny Rotten was in this band either (except I guess he's a bigot?). What a big day I had.

Not my favourite album

In a way I don't think they made the album to be liked.

Not a bad album. I can understand its influence. However, nothing really drives me towards another listen. Perhaps in a particular mood, I would revisit it, but overall, it was just not for me.

John Lydon annoys me to be honest. Pretty tedious. I understand now why Apple Music didn't bother putting it on there.

how about no you crazy dutch bastard

i don’t know really

Johnny Rotten tries to become a serious musician. Fails.

Well, this was definitely more listenable than ‘Metal Box’ to me, but I still didn’t love it. Post-rock is a hard pill for me to swallow and this might’ve been the first of its kind. Bass work still rocks though. I’d give it a 2.5 if I could.

Never heard this album before today. I thought it was not great even though the singer is famous and all that. It's still kind of a genre of music that I don't really like that much and never go into. Don't regret listening to it but I don't care to hear it again.

new wave is already such a challenging genre to get people to take seriously why would we do this

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠤⠐⠂⠀⠈⠉⠉⠀⠒⠂⠤⣠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡤⠔⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣉⣒⣄⣀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠠⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠒⠄⠀⠀⣼⣿⠿⢿⣷⣕⢄ ⠀⠀⡐⠁⣤⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣠⣤⣾⠀⢠⠇⠀⠀⡿⠁⠀⠀⠀⠙⠊ ⠀⡰⠀⠀⠀⡀⠭⠛⠉⠉⠉⠛⠫⢍⠁⠀⠈⠀⠀⠀⠃⠀⣠⠖⠀⠒⢌ ⢠⠁⠀⡠⠊⢀⣠⣤⣤⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠑⢄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣰⣥⣤⣄⠀ ⢼⠀⠰⢡⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠈⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡀ ⢸⠀⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⠀⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠁ ⢸⠀⢃⠹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠏⠀⠀⠀⢠⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⠻⠿⠛⠁⠀ ⠀⡆⠈⢢⡀⠉⠉⠋⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⡠⠂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠓⢄⣀⣀⠌ ⠀⠘⡄⠀⠈⠒⠤⢀⣀⣀⣀⠠⠔⠈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀ ⠀⠀⠘⢄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠎ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠒⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠔⠁ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠑⠤⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠱⣄⠀⠀⠀⡜⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠐⠂⠤⠤⠤⠤⠤⠄⠒⠒⠓⠂⠊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This… but not Enya….?

Once you get past religion it’s a decent punk album. 2.5 stars.

Really boring, not a post punk fan and this was some of the most boring of that genre I’ve ever heard

Some of this was interesting.

2.13

Angry blokes

Songs sound the same. Not my style

2.5 stars. Not sure if this genre is for me

actually sort of found myself grooving along at some point. not really my thing.

Can’t believe this is from the Sex Pistols guy.

Struggled with this one. Haven't gone for a one as there were some ok elements to it, but clutching at straws.

I went in expecting something a bit more "Sex Pistols"esque, but that was not to be. Opening track sounded like protosludge, but then the next track went a bit off the rails. Not my favourite punk album...

It’s just not for me. No hate!

This butter ain’t slick

*yawn*

This one didn't do it for me. I like some of Public Image Ltd.'s music, but I was not impressed with this album.

This has some chaotic songs but the tin-y guitar was very prominent. I didn't love it.

So this is where some of that post-rock I was into for a while came from 🤔

It was allright. Musically was marginally better than the vocals, which were bad. 2/5

Ме. Но не отвратительно

I think it's a joke. I gave 1 star extra for the last song 'Fodderstompf' because this is a theme playing in my head when I think about this game called life on Earth I'm in.

This sounds exactly like something a couple of high schoolers would record for fun while practicing but then one of them would accidentally tape over it, get sort of pissed off, but ultimately it wouldn’t be a huge deal. The difference here is that a few twats said it was somehow one of the best albums ever made and now it’s preserved, mislabeled as meaningful art, for generations of curious people to get completely disappointed by. Yeesh!

Nah

Kind of crap but kinda interesting. I liked the song that was a poem and then the next song was just that poem w music. I accidentally listened to the wrong one and tbh that one was way more captivating it was Johnny rotten singing 80s pop

Kinda mid and unfoetunately british

I get why this is on the list. They’re some sort of weird, punk supergroup. And they suck.

This is “interesting” enough I guess to not get a 1, but I really really thought about it

i like the instrumental and i like the concept i just do not like the singer that much or the rugged garage feel cowboy song fr ruined my whole rating that shit sucks hard i do like public image ranking of all songs theme: too long 7/10 religion I: this is an interlude essentially ?/10 religion II: this is good 7.5/10 annalisa: pretty alright 6/10 public image: probably best song on the album 8/10 low life: 5/10 attack: 3/10 fodderstompf: 8.5/10 cowboy song: 0/10

Pretty weird overall. There was a cool song near the end of the album that I didn't think fit the vibe at all, but was probably the best song. Not a big fan of this album much

This album was the equivalent of performance art in a musical format. From the poetry to crazy sounding chords and musical elements, to the fucking 52 minute interview tagged at the end. Like you're really gonna interview this guy about this? There was one song that kinda sounded like gorillaz and the poem about religion was actually kinda decent lmfao

I swear some of these songs were part of soundtracks to disturbing videos Brian made me watch.

Nie grzeje mnie to. Taki klasyczny brit pop z lat 90., który brzmi jak wszystko inne. 2/5

я понимаю сентимент, но за исключением песни public image это просто невозможно слушать..

I think Religion I, Public Image and Low Life are worth hearing at least once. I'm removing a star for Fodderstomph since the lyrics admit that it's a zero effort waste of time and I'm trying to find music worth hearing before I die.

Eh. A little too artsy for me. It doesn't have a lot of soul or feeling in it to me.

𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦: 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦 isn’t without ideas, but it often teeters on the edge of being unlistenable. John Lydon’s sneering vocals and the jagged, repetitive instrumentation push the post-punk experiment into abrasive territory, making it more interesting historically than enjoyable to hear. As a starting point for post-punk it’s significant, but as an album to sit down and enjoy, it falls short.

Pretty Blech

This was like post rock music without actually doing any of the buildup and release that the genre is known for. The one track that didn't follow this formula was the big hit, Public Image, and it's a fairly decent punk or post/punk song. This got really repetitive for no good reason. If you’re gonna play the same riff for a long time it should be a good riff.

Really wished I enjoyed this more

Apparently I am not disenfranchised enough to fully appreciate this album though I found some of it interesting and the comments even more so

I was torn on this. really dug the grungy-ness of it but hated the self absorbed singing and lyrics. great example of how someone's voice and content can ruin what is actually a really cool sounding record.

Was the political aspect of this cool? A little bit. Is the album good? Well, no. There's not much in the way of vocals. More yelling out slam poetry for a quarter of the album and kind of singing (still mostly yelling) for the rest. If that's your thing, I suppose you will like this. I will say that the actual music (instruments backing the yelling) sound pretty good, but overall the album was repetitive and just not generally enjoyable.

The album starts off strong, but as I kept listening it gradually lost me. I really like the overall concept, but some of the tracks just weren’t for me. Maybe with another listen on a different day my impression will change, but for now the opening stayed the highlight. Top tracks: theme, fodderstompf

Second PiL album from the generator. Better than Metal Box but still, it just shows that John Lydon isn't that interesting as a person and 50% of Sex Pistols success was just good marketing and shock value. Still, this album has the song Public Image by the band Public Image Ltd. from their album Public Image: First Issue and I quite like this one 2/5

The band says that they are 'Widely considered to be one of the most innovative bands of all time.' in their Spotify profile. I mean I know it's PR and maybe being over the top is their thing? I don't know. The music is not interesting. I'm far removed from the context in which it was released but I'm fairly certain I would not like this at any age at any time.

why is this young putin face so angry

# Album Name: Public Image First Issue # Artist: Public Image # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Wow, this was a shocker. Most of it was rather unlistenable. Annalisa was the first "song" on the album. If the album has more of this and public image then it would have been much better imo. Theres a couple of tidbits of sounds which are interesting, like on Fodderstompf, but over this wasnt my thing. The two stand out songs save this dross from a 1. # Top Tunes: Public Image / Annalisa # Would I listen to it again? No

Just couldn’t get into this. Not my style I guess

A mostly unpleasant listen.

Terminal boredom indeed

This was just not doing it for me. It was just loud and angry, it made it hard to focus.

So this was a lot. The bass is kinda dope. For some reason, this is kinda working for me. Religion is kinda dope and I also suspect that 9 times out of 10 I'd hate an artist who tried this shit. It also kinda sucks and is insufferable. No I will not explain. 2.5 Stars, Rounding down.

There are some half-decent bursts of a sort of post/punk rock but it gets long forgotten after a lot of John Lydon screaming and wailing and just a load of random half-realised noise. 'Public Image' could just about be deemed a song. 'Annalisa' might have been if someone had kindly faded it out three minutes sooner. This has been a terrible week so far.

Yo que se

not a big fan

I quickly lost interest in this album. Despite its historical importance as a groundbreaking post-punk release, it just doesn’t connect with me at all. The songs feel dull and unengaging, and instead of drawing me in, the record left me bored. Not for me. 2/5

I like it in the same way I like Tom Waits. That is, I don't

Don’t get why this is so lauded. Obnoxious sloppy punk.

One would think that leaving the corporate stuffiness of Sex Pistols and moving into experimentation would brighten John Lydon’s perspective and give him some freshness. No, Johnny Rotten is as snarky and cynical as ever, and it makes this album exhausting after continued repetition and hammering over the head. What salvages some horrid screeching is the band, which is great and powerful in its post-punk efforts, pushing a funk bass sound with tin guitars. But god is it annoying as hell to deal with Johnny Rotten.

first song was kinda cool then it got completely insufferable

Alsof Sex Pistols en the Cure een baby hebben gemaakt. Klinkt oké, maar ik ga dit nu niet per se opleggen in de auto ofzo. 2.4

snore...

Should've named the band John Lydon and the Dumb Idiots

I liked the more traditional punk tracks. But on certain songs Lydon's lyrics are just plain wordy and, at times, inarticulate.

You won't believe who Johnny Lydon really doesn't like: religious people, psychiatrists, Malcolm McLaren, his former bandmates, the generic "you" of a million bad nu-metal lyrics a generation later, his record label (how dare they expect him to turn in a full album when he specifically contracted and was paid to do so!). I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the average church would be better off without the sort of person who finds "Religion I" or "Religion II" (same stuff, just chanted in rhythm and a different cadence, with zero recognition of the irony) convincing. Shame about John - he's not terrible when he can get out of his own way ("Public Image"). But he's in his own way an awful lot.

Bem fraquinho mesmo. Ainda trás muito da agonia e confusão do Punk. Os de 1986 (Álbum) e de 1989 (9) eu gosto, especialmente este último. Pro de hoje dou 2 *… pela sequência razoavel de Annalisa, Public Image e Low Life.

They figured it out with their next album, though many of the pieces are in place on this one. Johnny's pretty insufferable here, though.

Not that great lol

I got a few songs into this album before I thought to myself "Man, this singer really sounds like Johnny Rotten...I wonder if he did anything before the Sex Pistols...nah this is just an imitation, a band that heard the Sex Pistols and wanted to pick up the mantle after their breakup. That's gotta be it." Nah it's Johnny alright. And it's not great. While I don't disagree with a lot of what he has to say here, it's delivered in a package that feels performative and not completely sincere. He clearly has something he wants to say, so why didn't I care? This isn't what the Sex Pistols were like. Gone is the sneer, the middle-finger-laced vocals, the raging guitar, the feeling that the whole thing could implode at any moment (much like the band themselves...). It's all replaced with this self-importance and the sense that he's just taking himself far too seriously. The only tracks that don't feel that way are the best two in "Annalisa" and "Public Image," though even those aren't enough to save the album as a whole. This feels like a deliberate attempt to do two completely contradictory things. It feels like it was meant to be a statement, an attempt to one-up his work with the Sex Pistols and make us all forget about them, while also still delivering something akin to that. The result is this album, one that at times takes itself too seriously and then also brings back some of that Pistols energy were all know and love. I don't really know what he was going for here, and I wish it was better. Two sad stars. Standout Tracks: Annalisa, Public Image

2 not great and the songs were way too long

Yawn

Nope

Not a fan of the intro to this album. AnnaLisa was also a chaotic song with no direction. The guitar is fantastic of course but so is all the rock/prog instrumental in this late 70s era. And after listening to the outro this is a 4/10 album. Just don’t like the vocals and the themes. There’s no direction but the instrumental is pretty good

Respect the idea just too cliche with the religion stuff and not enough tracks to make this album a listen through

Bunch of nonsense noise

“Sssssborin’ Sidney.”

Too noise punk for me.

Boring

It has the echoes of being something I really enjoy but I think I ultimately hate it

Vafan, det här igen! Men gillade detta album lite mer än det förra.

Punk...

Decent music but Lydon is a bastard

зачем дрочить 4 грязных аккорда по 6 минут?

Fuck Johnny Rotten. Having a lot of trouble separating this from how hypocritical/terrible he is but I’ll try. Elements of this first track are really cool and beckon to a lot of the music I love now, although 9 minutes is a bit much. The spoken word poetry was lame but I liked it better in song on the third track, but still not a great song. Annalisa is the first song on here that I could see myself relistening to but even then we're pushing it. More mediocrity until Fodderstompf, an unbearable, terrible album ender. Bonus track cowboy song is bad too I really don't get it. I think this album is a cool little experiment for 1978 but it didn't land for me at all and I'm tired of albums relying solely on historical context for their inclusion on this list.

This guy is definitely NOT going to heaven. Does he seriously expect that he cannot disrespect Jesus Christ and still be saved? uh I HOPE Not! This album was a little too weird for me. I think the production was interesting and there were some compositional elements that I liked, but overall wasn't a huge fan. Something was telling me that this guy might want to die. 2/5

I get that this is ahead of its time and one of the first post-punk music being made but I would rather just listen to Big Black's Songs About Fucking. Had to call it during Fodderstompf. Annoying track

Punk is supposed to be abrasive and off-putting. So…mission accomplished?

Yeah, this kinda sucks. Not a Sex Pistols fan and, if this is any indication, I'm not a fan of the whole post-punk genre.

There's a couple of decent songs on here, but those first few tracks really do not help the album as a whole.

Angry and strange

Love the title track. Rest is a bit overindulgent and immature. Much prefer Metal Box.

Not for me, but I can see the appeal, especially considering the backstory of the album. 4/10

Just noise

I don’t find punk too interesting when it’s a group of angry white Cis men.

I'm not a noise guy but I do think this pushes music to places other people don't do as much. There's expression here and that's important but it's not something I want to listen to.

According to Wikipedia this was influential in the post punk space which I can understand, but as a listening experience it falls short. The best songs were just ok. High 2.

Not very good. Too self indulgent

I can't really argue with the critics that initially hated this album. It feels designed to irritate at every turn, which I can respect, but it's tough to enjoy much of it. And yes, I hear it's influence on post-punk, which I can also respect. Thankfully there are plenty of those artists I'm happy to listen to instead of PIL. I might like it more if it were just instrumentals, though I did enjoy the lyrics on "Religion". Weird that John Lydon wound up like he is given the way he started out, but the upside is it makes it even easier to not support his work. Especially when I'm not into it as is the case here.

Post-punk sounds the same as punk with deeper lyrics and longer songs.

Real highs and lows. Mostly lows to be fair; but Religion II feels like such a big high it almost drags it to a three star rating. But mostly, it's Horrible John Lydon talking over fairly industrial and unpleasant music.

Instruments were cool. Vocals made it hard to get through

Not my doubd

2.5

Another album that sounds like all the other rubbish punk rock type sound. They're all the damned same. All rubbish. Why are they on this list?

It got better but not sure I enjoyed 4/10

Well, Theme didn’t start me off on the right listening foot. Religion sounds like a kid forced to make a presentation in front of the class but he really REALLY doesn’t want to. It’s almost as if The Clash and the Sex Pistols purposely disassembled and tried to create weird 80’s bands far removed from their original sound. The problem was, the Clash guy did it right with their band that I can’t think of the name. Johnny here just falls flat on his face. Choice cut: Fodderstompf

Alldeles för konstigt. Tvåa

Perhaps, the original negative reviews were correct....

Post-Punk. Truly awful pretentious crap, especially "Religion I", although "Annalisa" and the eponymous "Public Image" aren't too bad.

Fav: Low Life Least Fav: Fodderstompf For 3 songs, you’re reminded that John Lydon can create decent music, only for the final 2 songs to question whether you were right to believe that

I was previously not familiar with the artist or album. Overall this was an interesting listen. It has some elements that I do like, namely the first track sounds like it is way ahead of its time, but other elements that I don't like, especially the vocals in the last track. The instrumentation is interesting, but not enough to bring me back. I don't see coming back to this one.

Must have been quite something when it came out. Uncomfortable atmosphere. Completely intentional, probably. Very repetitive. I don't like it.

It was long and had a lot of noise in it.

Instrumentally it's fine, but the vocals range from uninteresting to annoying.

I did not use a private session on Spotify for this one. Never cared for Rotten's voice, his poetry/lyrics weren't working for me either. I didn't have any trouble finishing this album, but I won't be going back for another listen.

I'm an atheist and I hated this. I see the incredible influence on post-punk, and for my money, noise, crust, sludge metal as well. But the problem.is this album sucks. The message is tired, the ideas don't develop amd there is no flow whatsoever

Didn’t finish not my vibe

Absolut inte en angenäm lyssnarupplevelse men ändå tillräckligt udda och omväxlande för att vara intressant. Mer känslor och poesi än musik men jag kan nog ändå tänka mig att lyssna på det igen.

Man, John sucks. His voice ruins this album. One of the good things about this process is turning from a hater into an educated hater. I was previously a hater, but now I know the music is actually pretty good and it's just John ruining it. Even on the last song after I had been warming up to the album, John shows up to sing like a grandma. That song had really interesting, pretty good music too. But it also had John

Angry music that was a little tough to listen to on a Monday morning. Aside from that, it was decent punk rock

First song is a good listen throughout. Long and repetitive but fun to listen to. Didn't enjoy 2-4 very much. Five is a good song, especially loved the guitar work. Overall, listening to it doesn't make me like Lydan's voice and presence. 6 is nice aswell. With the best vocals so far. 7,8, not much. 8 especially isn't great and doesn't seem like a good way to end the record. Underwhelming listen, I must say. Not much more than that. It's probably a 1.5 but I'll be generous because there are some vibes on it.

This album feels like a bunch of kids trying to be edgy. At the age of 13, my friends and I started playing instruments and got really into Nirvana. We ran high gain, chorus pedals, flangers, and the like. We sucked and sounded just like this album. I guess we were too late to make it big by being bad.

2.5 The more I read about and listen to sex pistols and co the more they seem contrived. I liked the song theme as a post punk offering