John Lydon (Photo: Joanne Ostrowski / Live4ever Media)
As Public Image Ltd. prepare to release the comeback album ‘This Is PiL‘ next week – their first for two decades – the band’s frontman John Lydon has attacked his former record companies for creating ‘a state of mental starvation’ during the long gap between albums.
“Not my choice,” Lydon declared in an interview with Reuters when asked about the delays.
“The record company and contract obligations kept me in a state of non-recoupment and I had to outwait them.”
“It was a very difficult time for me, almost like a state of mental starvation. You’re gagging at the bit to work, and music’s my life. But I found that the law worked against me, all the corporations and accountants. So I had a very negative view of business-as-usual.”
Lydon also found time to criticise music reality shows such as The Voice and the X Factor for ‘dragging us back into Las Vegas wannabes’. Later in the interview, the former Sex Pistol highlighted the air of ‘humiliation’ which he believes permeates the shows. “They’re dragging us back into Las Vegas wannabes,” he said.
“And there’s the painful tone of humiliation, the smirking at who gets voted off. And people now think that’s the universe of music. That’s utterly corrupting too.”