Since John Lydon last made an album, he reunited the Sex Pistols and appeared on TV as a Judge Judy litigant, a reality-show contestant and a spokesman for Country Life butter; in short, he's become the punk-rock Kelly Ripa. But This Is PiL proves that the taunting weaponry of his voice is still a delight, as he drawls out syllables like an over-the-top TV villain. It's tough to sharpen a rusty tool, and Lydon's lyrics are often overshadowed by Lu Edmonds' piercing guitar drones. But a few songs are crisply antagonistic, especially "One Drop"; amid a shuffling reggae backbeat, Lydon crows, "You cannot change us," once again finding inspiration in defiance.

Listen to "One Drop":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.