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Product Description
Classic Rock magazine, October, 2007
Band members Jah Wobble, Keith Levene and original PiL drummer Jim Walker tell their tale with panache.
Simon Reynolds, Frieze Magazine, Nov-Dec, 2007
Strongman's account of the `good years' is rich in new data.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Mr Lydon is not interviewed in this book. Maybe it will provoke him to write a follow up to his own tome. Anyone expecting a full analysis of PiL's music could be disappointed, but for inside information and dealing hefty blows to some of the myths surrounding PiL and the people surrounding PiL -- this book is great. It is also good to see PiL's creative director: Dennis Morris getting a few words in for once, as well as some of his early photos. The original members of the group are interviewed, as are casualties from later incarnations of PiL.
Good book -- great band -- innovative music. But one thing for sure -- being a part of PiL seemed to be a nightmarish experience for all involved -- apart from the boss. Come on John Lydon, we want to read your side of the story!
Good book -- great band -- innovative music. But one thing for sure -- being a part of PiL seemed to be a nightmarish experience for all involved -- apart from the boss. Come on John Lydon, we want to read your side of the story!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
...if there is one.
This book is about as thorough as possible with regards to the story of Public Image Ltd without the input of it's longest-lived member, John Lydon. Therefore, much of it's anti-Lydon spin must be taken with a grain of salt. However, since the vast majority of the other contributors, which are impressively well in excess of 50% of the people involved (Keith Levene, Jah Wobble, Jim Walker, etc.), it can't be ignored either. This isn't to say it is bash-Lydon book, because it isn't. Let's just say former band members had some significant problems with him.
A book by Lydon would be very welcomed to balance all that is contained within this volume, however, whether or not he is a 'nice' person or not is irrelevant... it's the music that matters. The true value of this presently reviewed title does not lie in the personality conflicts beyond how they might have impacted that final product. It's real worth lies in the fact that it is the first title to attempt an in-depth look at one of post-punk's most important bands, Public Image Limited. The fact that much of it's contents are from interviews with former members yields an authenticity to it not found elsewhere. There are details regarding how and why songs were written, under what circumstances the tracks were recorded, who was involved, and as importantly, who not and why. After reading this, I learned more about this band than I've known since 1978 when I first heard and started collecting PiL albums... quite an achievement.
This book also includes a good discography of PiL and solo material from 1977 to 2004 as well as some rarely seen photographs of the early members.
Highly recommended with the one caveat that Lydon's input is missing. But considering who and what it does contain, certainly there is much truth within. And for sheer entertainment value, it is well-assembled and hard to put down.
This book is about as thorough as possible with regards to the story of Public Image Ltd without the input of it's longest-lived member, John Lydon. Therefore, much of it's anti-Lydon spin must be taken with a grain of salt. However, since the vast majority of the other contributors, which are impressively well in excess of 50% of the people involved (Keith Levene, Jah Wobble, Jim Walker, etc.), it can't be ignored either. This isn't to say it is bash-Lydon book, because it isn't. Let's just say former band members had some significant problems with him.
A book by Lydon would be very welcomed to balance all that is contained within this volume, however, whether or not he is a 'nice' person or not is irrelevant... it's the music that matters. The true value of this presently reviewed title does not lie in the personality conflicts beyond how they might have impacted that final product. It's real worth lies in the fact that it is the first title to attempt an in-depth look at one of post-punk's most important bands, Public Image Limited. The fact that much of it's contents are from interviews with former members yields an authenticity to it not found elsewhere. There are details regarding how and why songs were written, under what circumstances the tracks were recorded, who was involved, and as importantly, who not and why. After reading this, I learned more about this band than I've known since 1978 when I first heard and started collecting PiL albums... quite an achievement.
This book also includes a good discography of PiL and solo material from 1977 to 2004 as well as some rarely seen photographs of the early members.
Highly recommended with the one caveat that Lydon's input is missing. But considering who and what it does contain, certainly there is much truth within. And for sheer entertainment value, it is well-assembled and hard to put down.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This tome covers the excessive trials and tribulations of all the members of one of the true original pioneers of a musical landscape that would otherwise have been half as shimmering without their output.
Fortunately nay a word is uttered by the execrable John Lydon. His input into pil was no more than celebrity profile. For some inane reason he supposed that he had the creative fortitude to continue this enterprises integrity without those with such. More fool him. As has been borne out since the forced departure of messers Wobble, Levene, Lydon has been incapable of delivering diddly squat on a par the former pair were able to sustain sponge Lydon with.
I respect anything Wobble, Levene and Walker have to say about their involvement with the torturous undertaking that was pil. (For a glimpse of the imperious psychosis they would've had to deal with in the form of one Lydon, catch the Tom Snyder interview with Lydon and Levene on YouTube; kids will find it amusing and "rebellious", but Lydon really is an imperious nothing of a nobody that should never have been.)
I do not have an ounce of regard for any of the forked tongue rot that issues from John Lydon's irrational mouth. He is a very poor reproduction of his hero Malcolm Mclaren. He thinks he's a McLaren protoge of sorts but comes off as an ignorant dilequent for naive halfwits to worship. Lydon proclaims with insistence what complete honesty he speaks. He is a charlatan, phoney, fake and first rate poseur. McLaren was a genius.
All in all this book is essential for those who are fans of the essential early pil (first three albums). It helps elucidate why such magnificent beauty was destroyed ala Dorian Gray, ie: the ugly souless filth at the centre of it all.
Fortunately nay a word is uttered by the execrable John Lydon. His input into pil was no more than celebrity profile. For some inane reason he supposed that he had the creative fortitude to continue this enterprises integrity without those with such. More fool him. As has been borne out since the forced departure of messers Wobble, Levene, Lydon has been incapable of delivering diddly squat on a par the former pair were able to sustain sponge Lydon with.
I respect anything Wobble, Levene and Walker have to say about their involvement with the torturous undertaking that was pil. (For a glimpse of the imperious psychosis they would've had to deal with in the form of one Lydon, catch the Tom Snyder interview with Lydon and Levene on YouTube; kids will find it amusing and "rebellious", but Lydon really is an imperious nothing of a nobody that should never have been.)
I do not have an ounce of regard for any of the forked tongue rot that issues from John Lydon's irrational mouth. He is a very poor reproduction of his hero Malcolm Mclaren. He thinks he's a McLaren protoge of sorts but comes off as an ignorant dilequent for naive halfwits to worship. Lydon proclaims with insistence what complete honesty he speaks. He is a charlatan, phoney, fake and first rate poseur. McLaren was a genius.
All in all this book is essential for those who are fans of the essential early pil (first three albums). It helps elucidate why such magnificent beauty was destroyed ala Dorian Gray, ie: the ugly souless filth at the centre of it all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Metal Box
I was very surprised that this book was titled Metal Box especially as there was a lot of info and stories that were just nothing to do with it. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2010 by D. L. Humphrey
The whole story . . . or as much as we need.
I know Lydon personally, and he's had things his way for far too long. So it's about time that a warts-and-all expose of the drama queen that is John Lydon (and the low-rent freak... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by Paul
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