I wrote the Bollocks review and said we would never see the Pistols again. To be fair we won’t but Frank Carter stepping in for Lydon no one saw and even Lydon must have been surprised. I have said he bores me, find his lecturing tone annoying but that must have been a bit of a further kicking after a sad few years personally. What cannot be denied is his contribution to music.
Many people want to be involved in a classic album, he has one with Bollocks here is the second classic of his career.
Metal Box in its unique packaging (I’ll never own one, how bloody expensive are they?) is a landmark post punk record but it would be unfair to say its wonder lies solely with Lydon as Jah Wobble and Keith Levene are both still part of PIL and they are both equal to Lydon on this record.
Let’s start a record with eleven minutes of tuneless wallowing from Lydon on Albatross but a hypnotic bass from Wobble and Levene has decided to just scratch along. I thought it was dire when I first listened, but I’d bought it back in the day on CD as Second Edition and with not much money I had to persevere and slowly these bizarre songs (are they songs?) wormed their way into my head.
One minute and thirty seconds into Memories the four elements voice, bass, drum and guitar come together and Lydon may have never sounded better and Poptones has a recurring riff from Levene that goes round and around and then you realise you have missed Wobble’s bass and the band decide a bit of synth may help Careering, it does. The template does not really change, and I would not say the instrumentals are essential listening and neither are The Suit and Bad Baby, its more the drums that I am interested in than the actual songs.
No Birds could be the most conventional song on the record although Lydon is all over the place vocally, but the guitar sound is solid from start to finish and Chant is appropriately titled and spectacular drumming from Richard Dudanski.
This is not a cheer yourself up album before you head out you need to listen, think bugger that, then go back, say I was right bugger that, then try again and then its slowly draws you in but not an easy listen but it is essential.
8.75/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Memories
Comentários