Anger Is An Energy: New Public Image Ltd. Box Set Forthcoming

June 4, 2018 By Joe Marchese — 2 Comments
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John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten’s post-punk band Public Image Ltd. turns 40 years old in 2018.  The anniversary was anticipated by a cheekily-titled documentary film, The Public Image Is Rotten, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival.  A 36-date tour is currently underway of Europe and Japan.  Now a box set is due on July 20 from UMC (U.K.) anthologizing the band which has notched five U.K. top 20 hit singles and five top 20 albums.  The Public Image Is Rotten (Songs from the Heart) will be available as a 5-CD/2-DVD box as well as in 6-LP and digital versions.  It offers snapshots of PiL’s entire history, including the period of 1978-1992 and then the band’s resumption after a 17-year hiatus beginning in 2009.

The first disc is a self-explanatory 18-track collection, Singles 1978-2015.  That’s followed on CD 2 by the 17-track compendium of B-Sides, Rarities and Radio Sessions.  The third disc has thirteen 12″ Mixes and Dance Tracks, and CD 4 offers fourteen Unreleased Mixes and Tracks.  Finally, the fifth CD presents a July 16, 1989 concert at New York City’s Ritz.  The first DVD in the package presents 21 promotional videos and another live show (Live at Rock Summer Festival, Tallinn, Estonia from August 26, 1988).  The second DVD has six clips from BBC television broadcasts dating between 1979 and 1989, as well as a third concert: Live at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia (April 10, 2013).

The Public Image Is Rotten (Songs from the Heart) arrives on July 20.  The 6-LP vinyl version, due the same date, has the complete singles on two LPs; nine highlights on one LP from the B-Sides and Rarities disc; the complete 12″ Mixes and Dance Tracks on two LPs; and ten of the Unreleased Mixes and Tracks on one LP.  You can peruse the tracklisting of the CD/DVD box below along with pre-order links!

The Public Image Is Rotten: Songs From The Heart (UMC (U.K.), 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Singles 1978-2015

  1. Public Image
  2. Death Disco
  3. Memories
  4. Flowers of Romance
  5. This is Not a Love Song
  6. Bad Life
  7. Rise
  8. Home
  9. Seattle
  10. The Body
  11. Disappointed
  12. Warrior
  13. Don’t Ask Me
  14. Cruel
  15. One Drop
  16. Reggie Song
  17. Out of the Woods
  18. Double Trouble

Disc 2: B-Sides, Rarities & Radio Sessions

  1. The Cowboy Song
  2. Half Mix/Megga Mix
  3. Another
  4. Home is Where the Heart is
  5. Blue Water
  6. Question Mark
  7. Selfish Rubbish
  8. USLS1
  9. Turkey Tits
  10. Pied Piper
  11. Criminal
  12. Poptones (John Peel Session 1979)
  13. Careering (John Peel Session 1979)
  14. Chant (John Peel Session 1979)
  15. Cruel (Mark Goodier Session 1992)
  16. Acid Drops (Mark Goodier Session 1992)
  17. Love Hope (Mark Goodier Session 1992)

Disc 3: 12″ Mixes and Dance Tracks

  1. Death Disco (12″)
  2. This is Not a Love Song (12″)
  3. Flowers of Romance (instrumental)
  4. Rise (Bob Clearmountain Mix)
  5. Seattle (U.S. 12″ Remix)
  6. The Body (U.S. 12″ Extended Remix)
  7. Disappointed (12″)
  8. Happy (U.S. 12″ Remix)
  9. Warrior (Extended 12″ Mix)
  10. Lollipop Opera
  11. Shoom
  12. Death Disco (Original Monitor Mix)
  13. This is Not a Love Song (12″ Remix)

Disc 4: Unreleased Mixes & Tracks

  1. Annalisa (“New Mix” – Townhouse 1979)
  2. Albatross (“Monitor Mix” 1979)
  3. Careering (Live Paris 1980)
  4. Banging The Door (a.k.a. The Door) (Alternative Mix – Townhouse 1980)
  5. Vampire (Townhouse 1981)
  6. Nineteen Eighty One (Original Version – Townhouse 1981)
  7. Bad Night (Park South 1983)
  8. Things in E (a.k.a. Ease) (Alternative Laswell Mix 1985)
  9. Can You Feel The Fours (Instrumental – Farmhouse 1987)
  10. Spy Thriller Open and Revolving (a.k.a. Spy Thriller) (Alternative Mix – Farmhouse 1987)
  11. Kashmir (Renovations Instrumental Mix 1987)
  12. Cajun (Bill Laswell Instrumental 1988)
  13. Worry (“Ruff Mix” – Advision 1988)
  14. Think Tank (“Outtake” – Eldorado 1991)

Disc 5: Live At The Ritz, New York City – 7/16/1989

  1. Intro/Warrior
  2. Happy
  3. This Is Not a Love Song
  4. Home
  5. Round
  6. Brave New World
  7. Same Old Story
  8. The Body
  9. Open & Revolving
  10. Rise
  11. Disappointed
  12. Public Image
  13. Seattle
  14. World Destruction

DVD 1

Promo Videos

  1. Public Image
  2. Death Disco
  3. This Is Not a Love Song
  4. This Is Not a Love Song (Live In Tokyo)
  5. Bad Life
  6. Rise
  7. Home
  8. Seattle
  9. The Body (Uncensored)
  10. Disappointed
  11. Warrior
  12. Don’t Ask Me
  13. Cruel
  14. Covered
  15. One Drop
  16. Reggie Song
  17. Out Of The Woods
  18. Lollipop Opera (Unreleased)
  19. Double Trouble
  20. Bettie Page
  21. The One

Live At Rock Summer Festival, Tallinn, Estonia – 8/26/1988

  1. Intro/Public Image
  2. FFF
  3. Seattle
  4. Home
  5. Bags
  6. Rise
  7. Hard Times
  8. Religion
  9. Rules & Regulations
  10. Angry
  11. Open & Revolving
  12. Holidays In The Sun
  13. The Body
  14. World Destruction

DVD 2

BBC Archive

  1. Death Disco (Top of The Pops, 1979)
  2. Poptones/Careering (The Old Grey Whistle Test, 1980)
  3. Flowers of Romance (Top of The Pops, 1981)
  4. Rise (Top of The Pops, 1986)
  5. Home/Round (The Old Grey Whistle Test, 1986)
  6. Disappointed (The Late Show, 1989)

Live At The Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia – 4/10/2013

  1. Four Enclosed Walls
  2. Albatross
  3. Deeper Water
  4. Memories
  5. Reggie Song
  6. Disappointed
  7. Warrior
  8. Flowers of Romance
  9. One Drop
  10. Death Disco
  11. This Is Not a Love Song
  12. Public Image
  13. Out Of The Woods
  14. Rise
  15. Open Up
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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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2 thoughts on “Anger Is An Energy: New Public Image Ltd. Box Set Forthcoming”

  2. elektrolad

    I went ahead and ordered the set with the hope of getting a signed card.
    I have this PiL stuff many times over so why not buy it again. After Commercial Zone it started going downhill.
    Been waiting for this movie for a long time. It was promised since No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs in 1994. Suppose I have a long wait until that gets around to my area.

    Adding Commercial Zone would have been preferable to all of that live material.
    I saw PiL back in 2010 and they are a highly polished show band. Nothing shocking here. You can almost anticipate when Mr Lydon will let an f-bomb fly.

    This set is worth it for the video material. Especially the BBC stuff. Most of the promo videos have been released before.
    It’s funny how this collection builds on previous compilations, Greatest Hits So Far, Plastic Box, British £1 Notes (cd & dvd)… (Gold not being counted as it’s a standard Universal compilation that contains no unique material). And now this.
    Let’s see how they can top it in five years or perhaps a condensed version will be released…

    Reply

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