"Public Image"

In preparation for Friday evening's usual Hippies vs. Punks post, I've been immersing myself in Public Image Ltd's first two albums: Public Image: First Issue (1978) and Second Edition from 1980 (which was originally released as Metal Box -- because its three 12-inch 45s came in a film canister -- at the end of 1979). And by immersion I mean I've listened to both albums several times in a row, falling asleep with my ear buds in while on the train in the morning. I am well versed in Second Edition, having owned and played a cassette tape copy repeatedly over the years. There was one summer at the end of the 1990s where it seemed like that's all I listened to for a couple of weeks. Tremendous album with a vibe all its own, it creates a dark, deep, distant space which I find myself happy to occupy. Jah Wobble, Keith Levene and John Lydon did it right in 1979.

And while Metal Box usually gets the accolades, I've enjoyed Public Image: First Issue just as much. Up until this past weekend I had never owned a copy. But most of the songs are familiar. The album must have been ambiently absorbed; it was widely played when I first arrived at the university in the early '80s. At Rasputin's on Telegraph my freshman or sophomore year I remember seeing the video for "Public Image" on one of those old big projection-screen televisions with the three lenses. Great single. It's probably the closest thing to a Sex Pistols song that PiL ever did: