Tracklist
Four Enclosed Walls | 4:44 |
Track 8 | 3:14 |
Phenagen | 2:38 |
Flowers Of Romance | 2:50 |
Under The House | 4:32 |
Hymie's Him | 3:18 |
Banging The Door | 4:49 |
Go Back | 3:46 |
Francis Massacre | 3:31 |
Credits (5)
Versions (69)
Recommendations
Reviews Show All 19 Reviews
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Gronk73
December 1, 2020
edited 3 months ago
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, CD, Album, RE, RM, CDVR 2189, 5099908801029
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, CD, Album, RE, RM, CDVR 2189, 5099908801029
You've got to deliver an album to the record company, but your "band" consists of only two people: one a vocalist with no formal musical training, the other a guitarist who apparently is losing interest in the guitar. Solution? Get creative, and that's exactly what the remnants of PiL did on "The Flowers of Romance." John Lydon, Keith Levene and occasional guest star Martin Atkins (who would soon become a full-time member of the group as Lydon froze Levene out) cobbled together bits of synthesizer noodling, digital samples and relentless drum rhythms into a coherent, if not always listener-friendly, whole. There's one track on which PiL almost sound like a band again ('Go Back,' which has a live-in-the-studio ambience but was actually tracked, with Levene playing both guitar and drums) and another that's a pretty good facsimile of the dark, claustrophobic "Metal Box" vibe ('Banging the Door')...but the album's masterpiece, and the track most representative of its strange, challenging sound, is 'Under the House.' Layers of frantic percussion topped with a haunted-house lyrical chant, it's four and a half minutes of unrelieved tension that every fan of avant-garde postpunk should hear.
Three stars for listenability; five for making the best use of limited resources.
Three stars for listenability; five for making the best use of limited resources.
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flowerbed
June 22, 2020
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, V 2189, V2189
If I knew how to drive I'd love to blare this on my car stereo with my windows down just to prove a point.
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mcphranklee
November 27, 2019
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, RE, 180, 4M518
Listening to this on a Pro-Ject Essential III through two Sonos Play5s w/sub and it sounds fantastic. Am curious now to hear the 1st press for comparison, but copies are scarce in the US.
amoeba26000
June 10, 2019
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, V 2189, V2189
According to Rate Your Music, the Disky pressing of the CD (VI 646422) was released in 2001.
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Riot_Nrrrd
September 29, 2018
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, V 2189, V2189
I was at an event in Hollywood last night (Sept. 28 2018) with Martin Atkins commenting on his (forthcoming) book about his time in PiL. Nick Launay was there and he said the UK first pressings (5,000 copies I think he said?) do not have the "Thanks to Nick Launay for being a great engineer" text on the bottom middle edge of the back cover. Apparently all pressings outside the UK have the credit. There you go, trainspotters - how to find a UK first press.
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hobo64
May 16, 2018
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, RP, 203 410, 203 410-320
my copy has the bass clef but also "Made in Germany" on matrix (otherwise same matrix number)
rhorhorho
August 11, 2016
referencing Flowers Of Romance, CD, Album, RE, CDV 2189, 0777 7 87469 2 8
My copy has Matrix / Runout: 787469 2 @ 1 1-2-1-NL.
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TimBucknall
May 11, 2016
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, V 2189, V2189
I came across a reference to a promo cassette issued for the 1984/5 Australian tour, anyone know any more?
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CommonGood-Records
June 27, 2015
referencing The Flowers Of Romance, LP, Album, V 2189, V2189
Named after Sid Vicious' group before he joined The Pistols. Fantastic release.
BiT1999
February 15, 2021