PIL's last album before a two decade hiatus was this one which owes more to heavy rock than punk. I'm not sure where I picked the CD up, and I'm not sure I remember ever playing it, but I'm happy to see ex-Magazine and Banshee John McGeoch handing guitars, and his contribution is a big plus on this album.
It opens with Acid Drops, a Lydon rant about censorship, which samples the Pistols' God Save The Queen, followed by Luck's Up, in which Lydon berates us about the dangers of hard drugs, kids. And throughout, there's a strong rock beat, with Lydon shouting his thoughts over it. And by three or four numbers, I find myself missing the sparse, reggaefied chops of Keith Levene, which did as much as Lydon's vocals in giving PIL their distinctive sound on the first couple of albums.
And there's nothing in Lydon's vocals which display the anger of a younger Johnny.
That said, if you forget that it's a PIL album, and just listen, it's not bad. Very little stands out, but there's an energy in the music, which certainly owes more to rock/metal than it does to punk, and while not wholly my thing, it's quite listenable.
But apart from a big of McGeoch guitar, there's not much here to persuade me to listen again. It certainly feels like Lydon had run out of ideas.
2* - Lydon and PIL going through the motions, then deciding to call it a day.
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