Plastic Box

PLASTIC BOX contains album tracks, 12 inch versions, B-sides and previously unreleased radio sessions.
Includes liner notes by John Lydon.
Anyone looking for a rounded overview of Johnny Lydon's post-Sex Pistols career will find this the only place to begin. Thrown fortuitously together as P.I.L. with fellow punk fallouts Keith Levene and Jah Wobble, Lydon swapped his trademark vitriolic rasp for a harrowing wail. The trio, plus assorted drummers, delivered two groundbreaking albums in FIRST EDITION and METAL BOX, with Levene's critical guitar squall underpinned by Wobble's dub-influenced basslines. Even as that group inevitably fell apart, FLOWERS OF ROMANCE, a percussion-heavy experiment, proved an engaging set. A succession of session players came and went, either side of an association with Bill Laswell for ALBUM. P.I.L.'s later output then slipped into a somewhat repetitive, though highly competent cycle of techno-rock. PLASTIC BOX also includes a clutch of rarities and radio session recordings from Lydon's early days, and it's for those that fans will find this collection worth revisiting.