Disco de Public Image Ltd.: “Flowers of Romance”

This is not a CD for anyone who despises minimalism and dissonance. Pounding drums and Lydon's moans are the primary instruments on this album, and the latter is definitely not for everyone. Track 8 is a hypnotic look at lust, Four Enclosed Walls takes an Islamic perspective of the West, and Under The House is the only song I've ever heard that actually gives me the extreme chills (it seems to deal with a person who has seen a cadaver come out from underneath a house. Lydon's vocal delivery is that of a person whose mind has just been wiped out by such an inconceivable sight and the moans in the background are just disturbing). Francis Massacre is angry and frantic, as is the title track. All in all, this album creates a mood of tension and unfathomable darkness that Lydon has never explored since. Get this and Second Edition and you can boast having two of the most horrific yet beautiful albums ever made in your collection.

These songs are like nightmares committed to tape. Very odd, but I quite like it. One of the strangest albums ever released by a major label. Every bit as good and as influential as Metal Box, although it sounds nothing like it.

First time I heard this album, I was ready to toss it out the window or use it as an ashtray. I put it away - then pulled it out again several months later when I took a third shift job... the punchline is I love this thing!

I can imagine dark streets, flying carpets and industrial wretchedness. Perfect! It sounds like third world music being played on conventional rock instruments. Lots of sprawling, tribal-like drums coupled with J. Lydon's screeching, odd voice - all other sounds fill the gap between the two. Lydon's voice seems more at home on this album more than anything else he has done. "Flowers of Romance" is an aggressive antithesis to popular music of that time. Not surprising. I especially love the track entitled PHENAGEN - beautiful, almost religious chanting.

I wonder if PIL will ever get their due? Maybe one those instances, much like the Stooges or VU before them, when twenty years later someone decides this is actually great music? I'm glad I found out sooner than later...

Was anyone else here besides me at that New York club show, lo those many years ago, when PIL came out behind a screen and started playing "The Flowers of Romance" and a riot with flying bottles, ash trays and what have you broke out. The mob tore the screen down and roadies raced out to protect Johnny and company and got them out with their lives and glass shattered everywhere in the mayhem until the coppers arrived. I was under my table as a protective measure, but, lord almighty, I done saw it all that night. John Lydon just loved to mess with the image of rock star and rile up the populace. Great theater, even if it was real. We never did get to hear the end of the first song. Another one in the memorable loss column.

I love this album for it's multiple uses. Sure, it may not have catchy melody lines, but, hey, there's enough of those to go around. Cutting wails, strange guitar, and superb percussion. I listen to it to relax and make other people leave the room...Francis Massacre is the best track to scare sleeping babies.