Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd., commonly known as PiL, were one of the most influential, unprecedented bands to emerge from England in the '70s, doing more than any other group to kickstart the post-punk scene, even though they always stood apart from any movement. After The Sex Pistols crashed and burned, singer John Lydon wanted to move beyond punk and create an entirely new sound. Joining with Keith Levene (guitar/synthesizer), Jah Wobble (bass), and Jim Walker (drums), he founded PiL, a band whose angular, unconventional style seemed to incorporate the influences of dub, minimalism, and krautrock while still sounding utterly fresh. The band released its first album, Public Image: First Issue in 1978. For all its seeming non-commerciality, the album bore a Top 10 U.K. hit, "Public Image." Walker subsequently left, and on the follow-up, 1979's Metal Box, Martin Atkins, Richard Dudanski, and David Humphrey play on various tracks. Challenging the very format of an album, it was originally released in an actual metal canister containing three 12" 45s, and was subsequently reissued as Second Edition in a standard double-LP format. The record came to be regarded as the ultimate post-punk milestone, influencing countless artists for decades to come. Lydon always claimed that PiL was not a band but a company, and by the time of their third album, 1981's The Flowers of Romance, the company consisted of Lydon, Levene, and Atkins with Jeanette Lee on visuals. Levene then left PiL, and subsequent albums featured Lydon with a revolving door of personnel and a relatively more mainstream alt-rock approach. 1984's Bill Laswell-produced This Is What You Want This Is What You Get contained the No. 5 U.K. hit "This Is Not a Love Song," and "Rise" from 1986's Album hit the charts in both England and the U.S. After 1992's That What Is Not, Lydon disbanded PiL. He reconvened the band in 2009, with bassist/guitarist Scott Firth and previous PiL members The Pop Group's Bruce Smith on drums and The Mekons' Lu Edmonds on guitar. Two albums with this lineup followed: 2012's This Is PiL and 2015's What the World Needs Now.