De-Flowering Romance

 

Public Image Limited - The Flowers Of Romance [YX-7291-AX JPN 1982 24-Bit FLAC]

Described by Keith Levene, at the time, as the least commercial album ever handed over to a major record label. I suppose Virgin Records were known for being fairly adventurous. The Flowers Of Romance was recorded after Jah Wobble departed with Martin Atkins on drums and John Lydon taking on the somewhat limited bass parts. 

This album is not an easy listen to say the least. You would assume from subsequent Lydon & Leven interviews that this was a deliberate act of blatant uncommercialism - they certainly set out to make a difficult album following the critical acclaim of Metal Box. One of the most remarkable tracks is Hymie's Him with it's orchestral almost film soundtrack qualities - this track surely had an influence on neo-classical industrial acts such as In The Nursery. Banging On The Door reflects more upon the bands earlier work with brooding bass over thumping rhythms and Levene's innovative guitar effects. 

Things were going to change for the next PIL album, we should all know by now what happened next, so I've just ripped the follow-up as a reminder to the un-initiated and for those who want to hear how it sounds ripped on my upgraded rig.

A1 Four Enclosed Walls
A2 Track 8
A3 Phenagen
A4 Flowers Of Romance
A5 Under The House
B1 Hymie's Him
B2 Banging The Door
B3 Go Back
B4 Francis Massacre

Comments

  1. Blogmeister17 August 2021 at 17:40

    https://mega.nz/file/CdIgQZqI#15ICnCScfvUWscjGV7h_TF9TBU6r-JZ9R5dBh4EykFU

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  2. Bryan17 August 2021 at 20:14

    Thank you very very much; one of my favourite records. I actually prefer it over Metal Box (which I love!). So I just wonder what the "next album" will be - Commercial Zone or This Is What You Want?

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  3. Echorich17 August 2021 at 20:17

    Flowers Of Romance is a mountain of sound, with wailing mysticism, motorik drums, proto-industrial rhythms...and the feeling of fear, walls closing in. Some of the songs are like recurring nightmares come to life. It's still exhilarating to listen to.

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  4. gnihtytterp17 August 2021 at 20:50

    Masterpiece, many thanks!

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  5. Leper Lord17 August 2021 at 21:07

    Brilliant share matie

    This and PTV , we are so spoiled

    This is quite an easy listen for me, but not for my thug/greasers, across the drive neighbours when this was released.

    i did not start it with my windows open on purpose, but they hated anything different ,including me and my friends. They would chase us in half ton trucks thru parking lots swinging bats and shot pellets thru our windows ,and crank dreadful AOR rock telling us "This is real music punks".

    So naturally when this was released, my windows were wide open and i cranked it. Their small minds exploded lol

    It was a dangerous time for anyone that appeared different back then.

    Cheers for a great rip n share mate, and the memories. i had the Japan press back in the day as well



    Cheers

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  6. apf18 August 2021 at 04:12

    Thank you so much!

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  7. A-Mfan18 August 2021 at 05:17

    Thank you. I'm looking forward to hearing this on vinyl. Great great album

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  8. konrad18 August 2021 at 13:40

    I find it very apropos that for this album, the final two characters in the download code are "FU". :)

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  9. Anonymous22 August 2021 at 05:04

    Have not heard this in quite a while... looking forward to it! Thanks

    Brian

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  10. Nexist25 August 2021 at 13:58

    I have loved this album for so long....

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  11. cabeadelica4 January 2023 at 00:34

    Any chance for a re-up of this?

    ReplyDelete

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