The disintegration of Public Image Ltd. into a John Lydon solo project (as is the standard perception) seems inevitable in retrospect especially since it was initially assumed to be a solo vehicle anyway. When that first titular single proclaimed "Public Image belongs to me," can you really blame anyone for assuming just that--even before the assumption was borne out? This album is the living proof of that inevitability, particularly when taken in direct contrast with it's Lydon-approved mirror, 'This is What You Want, This is What You Get'. Keith Levene's presence can be felt all over 'Commercial Zone', in the organic analog synths and splintered funk guitars. I don't think I've read a review of his playing that hasn't used "shrapnel" as a description of these distorted harmonic shards that erupt whenever his plectrum strikes, and there's a reason why: it's a very apt description for most of his playing. Even though 'Flowers of Romance' featured guitar on only a handful of tracks (and even then, never in the foreground), 'Commercial Zone's string section shows a marked evolution from 'Metal Box's by then already well-mined canon. Here, there's a marked pre-punk influence--namely funk and Lou Reed--but Levene manages to keep things sounding fresh by integrating these elements into PiL's larger sonic stew.
Of course, by that point Lydon was seemingly just trying to make a quick buck, and Levene was trying to keep things progressive, which is a recipe for direct conflict. At least, that's the story they've given. Lydon took any and all offers to pour money into the capitol-devouring machine that PiL had always been (acting in "The Order of Death" in Italy, touring Japan with a pick-up "cabaret" band, resurrecting Sex Pistols songs he had sworn to never revisit), then threw Levene out of the studio. Levene then went on to release the tapes on his own, most copies of which Virgin had destroyed, of course. Lydon and Martin Atkins (who by then constituted the creative musical energy in PiL) claim that Levene took the tapes without authority, whereas Levene claims he had the rights to American release. Who really knows? I personally don't care, just giving a little bit of back-story to why I find this album so interesting. It showcases how necessary the tension, stress, and ultimate disintegration inherent in PiL were. The bracing noise kept barely at bay makes it's last stand on this album. The murky funk tracks ("Love Song", "Mad Max", "Solitaire") were tightened up and stripped of their genre trappings for 'This Is What You Want...', perhaps in an effort to make them sound more current or even futuristic. It didn't exactly work.
To my mind, the retro '50s version of the future will always hold more promise than the current view: Technicolor vs. grey scale. 'Commercial Zone' has a quaint retro quality that makes it much more accessible, and not to the detriment of experimentation. For example, on "Solitaire", the ultra-squeaky guitar that shadows the bass on the verses makes for an almost funk-metal sound (is it any wonder that Levene wound up working on an aborted session with the Red Hot Chili Peppers a year later?), while songs like "Bad Night" and "Lou Reed Pts. 1 & 2" take the Velvet Underground influence and subject it to almost-laughable genre twists: amiable country-funk or harsh, stoned bluesy noise.
This album also contains some of Lydon's most deliriously acidic lyrics, whether the hypothermia-in-excelsis of "Blue Water" (eventually released in a slightly-more-polished version as the B-Side to "(This is Not A) Love Song")--which opens with Lydon's factually sing-song-y utterance "Splish, Splosh, Bub-bles!"--or "Bad Night" with it's easy flatness: "I opened my mouth/I let the rubbish flow out". Somehow Lydon comes across as more amiable than usual, the mixes rough and warm. Even the harsh closing instrumental "Miller Hi-Life" manages a strange sort of grace, despite it's dense rhythms and swooping synths. Strange that it is one of two tracks on the album to never see official release of any kind--along with the aforementioned "Bad Night".
Beyond that, these tracks sound like the band are actually enjoying themselves, Lydon laughing up his sleeve after proclaiming "looking out for number one!" on "Mad Max", while the bass capers in unrestrained constant breakdown. Nothing seems over-thought, and while many would describe these as demos, the amount of space in each mix gives crucial breathing room lacking from every PiL album after 'First Issue' (though 'Metal Box' and 'Flowers' would have been profoundly boring albums had they any breathing room). Surprisingly enough, the greatest revelation from these sessions is just how much John Lydon gets in his own way. Taking a step back from the in-your-face vocal antics of 'This Is What You Want...', these tracks show a Lydon fitting into these tracks the way one imagines the Sex Pistols having sounded had Giorgio Moroder produced them instead of Chris Thomas. One gets the sense that this all came together out of group experimentation, not anyone's particular vision. As a result, the musicians' intuitive approach adds an extra focal point that can be hard to pin down at times. Ultimately, everything just FITS in a way that would be very difficult to force (as 'This is What You Want' makes perfectly clear).
The best examples of this are "Solitaire" and "Where Are You", both songs that received lively mixes the first time around, with Lydon sounding playfully catty on the former, excoriatingly chastising on the latter. The remakes take all the fire out of the band instrumentation and leave the vocals sounding so much more serious. The barely audible perma-bubbling sequencer that underpins everything with a wonderfully bracing inconsistency in the 'CZ' version is gone, replaced by an unvarying EBM-type pulse. Then there are the vocals: when Lydon sings "Solitaire, but only for life" on 'CZ', he acknowledges the ridiculousness of his terminal moralizing--allowing the listener to take it as irony, sarcasm, or humor rather than superficial whining. It's an obviously bitchy thing to say, but he managed an offhandedness that makes it sound like a FUN bitchiness, not bitterness. "Where Are You" has the opposite problem: the earlier version is just about the most monolithic straight-ahead ROCKING thing PiL ever recorded, and yet it's totally overwhelmed by the sense of dread and longing in Lydon's voice. Supposedly written for erstwhile bandmate Jeannette Lee, who never returned to the band after the "Order of Death" film shoot in Italy, the vocal delivery is almost as harrowed as that of 'Metal Box's "Death Disco"--itself a eulogy to Lydon's mother. However, on the officially released version, Lydon just sounds vaguely irritated, as though he's fumbling for cigarettes.
The few tracks that actually do better on the official release are an odd assortment. There's really nothing to compare "The Pardon" to on 'CZ', and it's odd, wiggling bass 'n drum combo does go some interesting places (not to mention Lydon croaking "this body beautiful"), but ultimately doesn't amount to much. "Tie Me to the Length of That" is a menacing stumble of a song, with Lydon cooing odd utterances ("Oh my baby, baby, pretty baby") over a sinister bass line and drums that sound disarmingly simple (they're not). I find this piece a good demonstration of Lydon's ability to make good use of sparse surroundings--or in other words, his constant role as PiL's make-or-break factor. While it's not the best track on the album, I can think of no vocalist who could sound half as compelling as Lydon reciting these lines.
The two tracks on 'This is What You Want, This is What You Get' that prove most successful are the last two: "1981" and "The Order of Death" (the latter known on 'CZ' as "The Slab"). "1981" was apparently a 'Flowers of Romance' outtake, and makes for an intriguing vocals-cum-drum-breakdown song, with odd horn embellishments and harsh rhythm all around. Like much of this album, it is disorientingly clean sounding, but with lots of little aural spikes. "The Order of Death" presents an all-synth take on the previous version's mostly acoustic soundscape, and trades in sparkling Spaghetti Western-style glory for moodiness. It also features a vocal loop of John Lydon repeating the album title, with barely audible moaning underneath. This creates an illusion of movement within a stable framework. The drums and vocal loop are static, but the synths and murmurings undulate just enough to be completely arresting.
With that last bit said, I really don't want this review to seem like a championing of 'Commercial Zone' as 'This is What You Want''s better, since I'm personally not convinced that it is. 'CZ' has a fullness of sound and vision that puts it beyond Lydon & Virgin's uncharitable "demos" description--which is the reason for this piece in the first place--but 'TiWYWTiWYG' manages a fullness of scope that ends more satisfyingly. 'CZ' contains the better readings overall, but 'TiWYWTiWYG' has a certain air of refinement that identifies it as a cohesive finished product. However, if it's cohesion at the cost of ambition (i.e. lowering the bar to fit the lowest common denominator comfortably), how much value is there? Levene's tenure in PiL was plagued by the type of ambition that cannot always be carried through. Once he left, it seems Lydon considered it his job to exorcise those bits of bracing artistry into something more easily marketable. To sum it up:
"'This is What You Want' is just me giving orders and them receiving them. There was no feedback. If I had a crap idea, the crap idea would go onto vinyl almost immediately." - John Lydon
