December 8, 2016

Public Image Ltd's debut album was released in the UK on this day, December 8th, in 1978.

Though now considered one of the groundbreaking moments for the post-punk movement, a lot of reviews weren't kind to it when it came out. It seems a lot of the critics wanted the Sex Pistols part two and were a bit perplexed as to what they were hearing. When asked about the record in an interview at the time, John Lydon referred to the sounds as "Anti-Rock."

Warner Brothers, the band's North American label, deemed the record too uncommercial for US consumption audience at the time. It didn't see a proper US release until 2013.

It's one of those albums that permanently etched itself in my mind when an older cousin of mine played me his import copy to a preteen me back in then. Eventually, he gave me that copy which I still own today. Picking that one song from a definitive album (without picking the most obvious one) can a tough decision at times. I spun "Annalisa" (a song inspired by story of Anneliese Michel) on my radio show the other night so we'll just go with that one again this evening.

What are you listening to tonight?

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