Public Image by Public Image Ltd.

I was just a bit too young to be a proper punk (and to be honest, I was a weedy, speccy nerd so Elvis Costello was more my thing) but I enjoyed that glorious jubilee summer of punk vicariously. After all the filth and fury had faded, nobody was quite expecting this album from John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten).

It opens with an existential howl of distorted guitar feedback before a two part screed against religion that is so fierce it makes Richard Dawkins look like a church mouse in comparison. After the ranting track Annalisa, the eponymous lead single brings a bit of focus to the album and establishes exactly what post punk was going to sound like with Keith Levene’s slashing guitar, Jah Wobble’s god like bass and Jim Walkers Motorik drums suiting Lydon’s sneering vocals.

Critics hated this at the time and it also went down like a cup of cold sick with former punks wanting more cartoon antics. It’s more interesting now to look back on this as an avant Garde experimental piece with some standout moments (Jah Wobble’s bass on the final track Fodderstompf is hypnotic) rather than a coherent album.

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

https://album.link/gb/i/714686395