The Flowers of Romance (album)

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Flowers of Romance is an album by Public Image Ltd, their third collection of original music. It was released in April 1981 by Virgin Records. The title refers to an early punk band in which Keith Levene was a member along with the late Sid Vicious (see The Flowers of Romance (band)). When Warner Brothers released the album in the U.S. and Canada, the title was amended to The Flowers of Romance, although current compact disc releases revert to the original title.

The album is largely centered around drums and percussion, and was described by Levene as "probably ... the least commercial record ever delivered (to a major record label)." [1] Occasional drummer Martin Atkins played on three songs, while band members Levene and John Lydon handled percussion duties on the other tracks. The prominent, and heavily processed, drum sound was influenced by Peter Gabriel's third album, on which engineer Hugh Padgham had processed Phil Collins' drums. Collins, in turn, was so impressed with the sound on Flowers of Romance that he hired the album's engineer, Nick Launay, to reproduce the sound for his own projects.

Throughout the album, musique concrète sounds such as amplified wristwatches, reversed piano, and televised opera weave in and out of the mix. Vocalist John Lydon contributed Stroh violin and saxophone (though he was not known to be trained on any particular instrument) and, according to a Rolling Stone article about the album, simply banged on anything handy for percussion, including the face of a banjo on "Phenagen". Keith Levene's innovative guitar style was stretched even further through the use of reversed tapes and trebly distortion, and his synthesizers drone and burble throughout the album. Several songs (for example "Four Enclosed Walls," "Phenagen") have a Middle Eastern feel.

Bassist Jah Wobble had quit and/or was fired from the band before The Flowers of Romance was recorded, so Keith Levene played bass on the album. Only two songs, "Track 8" and "Banging The Door", include an electric bass. Indeed, several of the songs, including the opening track, almost exclusively feature just percussion and vocals.

The cover photograph is of the band's videographer, Jeanette Lee. [2]

Track listing

  1. "Four Enclosed Walls"
  2. "Track 8"
  3. "Phenagen"
  4. "Flowers Of Romance"
  5. "Under The House"
  6. "Hymies Him"
  7. "Banging The Door"
  8. "Go Back"
  9. "Francis Massacre"
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