Public Image Limited - Commercial Zone Limited Edition
Ripped from a vinyl album released on PiL Records Inc. (XYZ 007) in 1984 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio. Viewed by many as the last true PIL album, Commercial Zone was released by the departing Keith Levene on his split from the band. The review of the album in Melody Maker upon release sums it up perfectly and is copied below....
THIS is not a bootleg, this is the real alternative to that other record, a private view of the Public Image, a strictly import-only insight into the way they were. This record sets the record straight from the Keith Levene point of view, a collection of original PiL ephemera which puts the tin lid on Levene's involvement in the band up to the acrimonious parting of the ways last summer. Five of the eight tracks on This Is What You Want... appear here in embryonic form, accompanied by one or two Levene works and a couple of apparently unreleased Lydon/Atkins/Levene efforts.
Of the exclusives, Bad Night (no relation to Bad Life) is the most intriguing item, Levene owning up to his Velvet's influence and Lydon wailing in a particularly discordant, yet peculiarly appealing manner. And doubtless the faithful will make the sacred pilgrimage to the local disc relic of PiL history, featuring as it does an authentic sounding Public Image, the last of the real McCoy before the advent of the last cynical studio bound release.
The Slab is a moody instrumental worthy of Irmin Schmidt which surfaced on This Is What You Want as Order Of Death. Mad Max evolved into Bad Life, and Lou Reed Part 2 became Where Are You - all different enough in execution to warrant a listen if only out of curiosity. Commercial Zone is not such a bitter PiL to swallow - perhaps this is what you want?
Andy Hurt - Melody Maker (August 1984)
For penguinflight.
Gone in two weeks...
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/#!DYB2TBgC!7e0xg0jHdbugtyOSSeGgn7_3bZn6POA-gTO4z-2DjAY
A few years back I drove 3 hours to a friends house to get my copy of this digitized. If I'd only waited...
ReplyDeleteMost excellent. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLevene & Wobble - so much talent.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Wobble appears on this one. I think he had gone by then.
DeleteVery significant to me this. I'd managed to overlook it completely until one day early in the century, whilst listening to TIWYW..TIWYG, I read online about the original version.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went looking for a decent copy I ended up buying it for cash from a guy in Canada. In one of those ridiculous squiggles of life it took three days from door to door. Whereas the same week a 1st class letter I sent took ten days to make it from east London to west London after repeatedly being sent to the wrong district mail office by sorters...
Always loved the bare-facedness of calling the Velvets-a-like track Lou Reed. And the lyric-free, strummy/picky guitar version of The Slab makes a fine intro to the synthetic Order Of Death.
https://soundcloud.com/critical-mess/public-image-ltd-the-slab-of
Keep this one off social media.
- Penguinflight
Ha ha yes. I did read somewhere that somebody is contemplating an official licensed release of this on CD. There are bootleg CDs out there already.
DeleteI also understand this is was perfectly legitimate release in the USA, as a certain Mr Branson admitted to Mr Levene at the time, when Keith tried to flog him the masters for a UK release in 1984.
There is still much rumour and supposition over this release it is difficult to know what to believe, but one thing for sure, actually make that two things....
1. It's a better record than WYS...IWYG by far
2. JL isn't too good at keeping friends. Maybe KL isn't too!
Thank you so much. This is easily my favourite Lydon-related long form release, other than Metal Box. Perhaps I'm among friends.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I heard this, it was on public radio in Australia back in 1984. Within moments I launched a withering consumer offensive to locate a copy, reaching levels of doggedness that even adolescent students can rarely achieve. I recall the radio announcer who played it (the legendary Stephen Walker from Melbourne's 3RRR-FM, for those familiar with him) drily suggesting that Levene was right, and this was the record that Lydon should have released in 1984. Walker was right too.
I'd also like to thank you for including Andy Hurt's review, which I've never read. I particularly like the reference to Irmin Schmidt.
Just so much right, and all in one post!
I've never heard it before. Another great post in this fantastic blog!
ReplyDeleteMad Max is far superior to Bad life I think
ReplyDelete