History Music / PublicImageLtd

* IAmTheBand: Following Levene's expulsion, Lydon took over as de-facto band leader and the only constant member.

* AntiLoveSong: Effectively averted with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aumejrcEHs "This Is Not A Love Song"]], which is more of a double-edged TakeThat at the music biz ''and'' fans accusing Lydon of selling out. Probably.

* EpicRocking: At least two examples, both from ''Metal Box''/''Second Edition''. "Albatross" is 10:32, while "Poptones" is 7:46.

* HiddenDepths: Who'd have thought that [[Music/SexPistols Johnny Rotten]] was a fan of ProgRock?
** The people who read that [=Malcolm McLaren-pissing-off=] interview where he mentioned Music/{{Can}}, Music/VanDerGraafGenerator and Music/CaptainBeefheart as influences?

* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], possibly [[DoubleSubversion twice]], in "Like That" (aka "Just Like A Woman"), with the "Just like a woman/and every man" refrain.
* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: ''First Issue'' is still fairly straight(ish) punk/new wave, except for two longer, strung-out experimental pieces, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPSGJPg-tCU "Theme"]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzn3_NEek4M "Fodderstompf"]]. These turned out to be better indicators for the next few albums, especially ''Metal Box'', than any of the more "accessible" tracks. Around ''This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get'', the sound took a turn for the more "commercial", to variable fan-reaction, and has changed again a few times since. Lydon has cited Music/YokoOno, Music/{{Can}}, and Music/VanDerGraafGenerator among his influences.

* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], possibly [[DoubleSubversion twice]], in "Like That" (aka "Just Like A Woman"), with the "Just like a woman/and every man" refrain.

* NewSoundAlbum: All. The. Fricking. Time.

* RevolvingDoorBand: PlayedForLaughs with "We are a company" as a justification.
* ReligionRantSong: Fairly heavily featured in the early work, often {{Anvilicious}}ly ("Religion I", "Religion II", "Annalisa").

* {{Sampling}}: a loop of John Lydon singing "no future", taken from the Music/SexPistols' "God Save The Queen", shows up near the end of "Acid Drops". And one extended remix of "The Body" uses the oft-sampled drum machine beat of Schoolly D's "PSK (What Does It Mean?)".

* ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion: Something of a running theme, especially in the early work, rather unsurprisingly given Lydon's Irish Catholic London working class background. Expect digs at the Catholic Church (see also ReligionRantSong, above), and the British class system. Notably, on ''Metal Box'', "Careering" and "The Suit" come with a side of AmbitionIsEvil, while "No Birds", "Chant" and "Careering" (again) make digs at the middle classes. (From "Chant": "It's not important/it's not worth a mention in ''[[BritishNewspapers The Guardian]]''... the likes of you and me are an embarrassment". From "Careering": "Both sides of the river/there is bacteria".)

* WeUsedToBeFriends: A recurring lyrical theme, even if it seems mostly to be a subtrope of JL's fondness for {{Take That}}s in general ("Disappointed", "FFF" ["Farewell, my Fairweather Friend"], possibly "Albatross")

* TakeThat: It's a band led by Johnny Lydon. A ''lot'' of things and people get on his nerves. The music industry ("This Is Not A Love Song"), religion (see ReligionRantSong), UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and its hotels ("Seattle"), Music/LouReed ("Where Are You"), broadsheet newspapers ("Chant"), UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush ([[FunWithAcronyms "U.S.L.S.1"]]), intrusive fans ("Banging The Door"). Every so often, for variety, he has a go at himself, too. And quite a few songs are {{TakeThat}}s taken to a level of abstraction where you're definitely sure he's having a go at ''something'' or ''someone'', even if you're not sure exactly what or whom.

* TakeThat: It's a band led by Johnny Lydon. A ''lot'' of things and people get on his nerves. The music industry ("This Is Not A Love Song"), religion (see ReligionRantSong), UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and its hotels ("Seattle"), Music/LouReed ("Where Are You"), broadsheet newspapers ("Chant"), GeorgeHWBush ([[FunWithAcronyms "U.S.L.S.1"]]), intrusive fans ("Banging The Door"). Every so often, for variety, he has a go at himself, too. And quite a few songs are {{TakeThat}}s taken to a level of abstraction where you're definitely sure he's having a go at ''something'' or ''someone'', even if you're not sure exactly what or whom.

* FlowersOfRomance: The TropeNamer. "Flowers Of Romance" deals with an imminent breakup:

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Some of the band's members gained this reputation, not helped by an urban legend that alleged one of them tried to set Music/TheFall's drummer Karl Burns on fire during a recording session.

* TakeThat: It's a band led by Johnny Lydon. A ''lot'' of things and people get on his nerves. The music industry ("This Is Not A Love Song"), religion (see ReligionRantSong), UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and its hotels ("Seattle"), LouReed ("Where Are You"), broadsheet newspapers ("Chant"), GeorgeHWBush ([[FunWithAcronyms "U.S.L.S.1"]]), intrusive fans ("Banging The Door"). Every so often, for variety, he has a go at himself, too. And quite a few songs are {{TakeThat}}s taken to a level of abstraction where you're definitely sure he's having a go at ''something'' or ''someone'', even if you're not sure exactly what or whom.

* {{SelfDeprecation}}: "We only wanted to finish the album with a minimum amount of effort, which we are now doing very successfully!"

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: ''First Issue'' is still fairly straight(ish) punk/new wave, except for two longer, strung-out experimental pieces, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPSGJPg-tCU "Theme"]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzn3_NEek4M "Fodderstompf"]]. These turned out to be better indicators for the next few albums, especially ''Metal Box'', than any of the more "accessible" tracks. Around ''This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get'', the sound took a turn for the more "commercial", to variable fan-reaction, and has changed again a few times since. Lydon has cited YokoOno, Music/{{Can}}, and VanDerGraafGenerator among his influences.

!!PublicImageLtd provides examples of:

** The title ''Second Edition'' is a PunnyName on several levels. It's the group's second album, it's the second edition of the album (originally released as a set of 12" singles in a metal film canister as ''Metal Box''), and it's the second edition of the band itself (with original drummer Jim Walker replaced by a variety of session players).

Public Image Ltd. ([=PiL=] for short) are a PostPunk band (and possibly a UrExample of the genre/aesthetic) formed by John Lydon in 1978 after his departure from the Music/SexPistols, a move that freed him to pursue his interest in experimental music, dub, prog rock and various other types of music that were ''non grata'' in the world of late 70's PunkRock that the Pistols had helped cultivate. The group has gone through a bewildering range of changes of [[RevolvingDoorBand personnel]] and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly musical styles]], and occasional hiatuses, and at this point effectively consists of [[FaceOfTheBand Lydon]] and whoever else is in the band at the moment.

Public Image Ltd. (PiL for short) are a PostPunk band (and possibly a UrExample of the genre/aesthetic) formed by John Lydon in 1978 after his departure from the Music/SexPistols, a move that freed him to pursue his interest in experimental music, dub, prog rock and various other types of music that were ''non grata'' in the world of late 70's PunkRock that the Pistols had helped cultivate. The group has gone through a bewildering range of changes of [[RevolvingDoorBand personnel]] and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly musical styles]], and occasional hiatuses, and at this point effectively consists of [[FaceOfTheBand Lydon]] and whoever else is in the band at the moment.

The band split in 1992, and Lydon attempted a solo career (that only resulted in a single album, ''Psycho's Path'', which bombed) and then reunited The Music/SexPistols. In 2009, Lydon reunited PiL with a lineup consisting of Lydon, former members Lu Edmonds and Bruce Smith, and multi-instrumentalist Scott Firth. A new album, ''This is [=PiL=]'', was issued in May 2012.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: Quite a few bits, notably the Muriel Spark reference in the band name, and also the way "Careering" plays on the double meaning of its title.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: A recurring lyrical theme, even if it seems mostly to be a subtrope of JL's fondness for {{Take That}}s in general ("Disappointed", "FFF" ["Farewell, my Fairweather Friend"), "Albatross")

Public Image Ltd. are a PostPunk band (and possibly a UrExample of the genre/aesthetic) formed by John Lydon in 1978 after his departure from the Music/SexPistols, a move that freed him to pursue his interest in experimental music, dub, prog rock and various other types of music that were ''non grata'' in the world of late 70's PunkRock that the Pistols had helped cultivate. The group has gone through a bewildering range of changes of [[RevolvingDoorBand personnel]] and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly musical styles]], and occasional hiatuses, and at this point effectively consists of [[FaceOfTheBand Lydon]] and whoever else is in the band at the moment.

The group has at various points included, among others, Jah Wobble and Keith Levene (founder members), [[Music/{{Cream}} Ginger Baker]], Steve Vai, and {{Music/Magazine}}'s John [=McGeogh=].

The band split in 1992, and Lydon attempted a solo career (that only resulted in a single album, ''Psycho's Path'', which bombed) and then reunited The Music/SexPistols. In 2009, Lydon reunited Public Image Ltd. with a lineup consisting of Lydon, former members Lu Edmonds and Bruce Smith, and multi-instrumentalist Scott Firth. A new album, ''This is [=PiL=]'', was issued in May 2012.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: A recurring lyrical theme, even if it seems mostly to be a subtrope of JL's fondness for {{TakeThat}}s in general ("Disappointed", "FFF" ["Farewell, my Fairweather Friend"), "Albatross")

The group has at various points included, among others, Jah Wobble and Keith Levene (founder members), [[Music/{{Cream}} Ginger Baker]], Steve Vai, and Magazine's John [=McGeogh=].

Public Image Ltd. are a PostPunk band (and possibly a UrExample) formed by John Lydon in 1978 after his departure from the Music/SexPistols, a move that freed him to pursue his interest in experimental music, dub, prog rock and various other types of music that were ''non grata'' in the world of late 70's PunkRock that the Pistols had helped cultivate. The group has gone through a bewildering range of changes of [[RevolvingDoorBand personnel]] and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly musical styles]], and occasional hiatuses, and at this point effectively consists of [[FaceOfTheBand Lydon]] and whoever else is in the band at the moment.

* TakeThat: It's a band led by Johnny Lydon. A ''lot'' of things and people get on his nerves. The music industry ("This Is Not A Love Song"), Religion (see ReligionRantSong), UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and its hotels ("Seattle"), LouReed ("Where Are You"), broadsheet newspapers ("Chant"), GeorgeHWBush ("U.S.L.S.1"), intrusive fans ("Banging The Door"). Every so often, for variety, he has a go at himself, too. And quite a few songs are {{TakeThat}}s taken to a level of abstraction where you're definitely sure he's having a go at ''something'' or ''someone'', even if you're not sure exactly what or whom.

Public Image Ltd. are a PostPunk band formed by John Lydon in 1978 after his departure from the Music/SexPistols, a move that freed him to pursue his interest in experimental music, dub, prog rock and various other types of music that were ''non grata'' in the world of late 70's PunkRock that the Pistols had helped cultivate. The group has gone through a bewildering range of changes of [[RevolvingDoorBand personnel]] and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly musical styles]], and occasional hiatuses, and at this point effectively consists of [[FaceOfTheBand Lydon]] and whoever else is in the band at the moment.