Retro Spins: Public Image Ltd - Happy?

With the new line-up of John Lydon, John McGeoch, Lu Edmonds, Allan Dias, and Bruce Smith in place, Public Image Ltd. was ready to return to the studio. There was just one hangup. Previous Album producer, Bill Laswell, wanted to replace all but Lydon with session musicians. Unwilling to agree to that, Laswell would ultimately be nixed, and Gary Langan brought in to fulfill his role.

Happy? produced the single, Seattle as well as the abortion-themed single, The Body, a sequel of sorts to the similarly titled Sex Pistols song, Bodies. However, overall, it would suffer on the UK and US charts, peaking at 40, and 169, respectably.

The album saw the band shifting again in music style. Still gone were the roots of punk from earlier releases, and in their place were a continuation of the previous alternative rock, now sprinkling in a fair amount of dance. PiL had definitely reshaped themselves, pushing ever forward to stay relevant with the times.

Happy? is the second album from the group that I actively had on my want list (the second being 1984's This Is What You Want...This Is What You Get). The others all just came with finding them cheap at used CD shops. In particular, I wanted the song, The Body. However, within the first few seconds of hearing Seattle, it too became a must have for me.

Personally, I didn't hear the purported dance. Instead, it was just a solid rock album. Much like my previous listening experience of Album (1986), it's not perfect by any means, but it's rather enjoyable as a whole. In addition to the above noted tunes, I also dug Open And Revolving, Angry, and Fat Chance Hotel. While this was more so for the guitar work on all three, which feature really catchy riffs, Lydon brings an almost haunting vocal to them, especially on the latter.

This is definitely a band, which for me, has gotten better and better as the decade progressed. I'm equally excited to jump into their next album, but disappointed at the same time that it's their last of the era.

PiL would support the album by appearing as the opening act for INXS in 1988. However, tinnitus would impact Edmonds at the time, forcing him to depart. This didn't slow the band down much, as by the end of the year they were back in the studio as a quartet to record their final album of the decade and then set off in 1989 with New Order and Sugarcube, billed as The Monsters Of Alternative Rock. That's my final stop for tomorrow.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.