After John Lydon formed Public Image Ltd., Sid Vicious died of an overdose and Steve Jones and Paul Cook went into hiding. In 1980 the latter pair reappeared as the Professionals with bassist Andy Allan. The album and its single, "Just Another Dream," were vilified in the English rock press. The East End Oi! movement had been born, and the Professionals went down the middle between the early sound of the Sex Pistols (without the anger) and the Cockney chants of the straps-and-braces Oi! boys. With post-punk and ska in full flower on the other side of the rockist divide, there was simply no room for a straight-up rock band, which is what the Professionals were. Their hair was too long, they wore no costumes, and they simply let it rip with workmanlike tunes crafted by Cook and Jones. Lots of big chords, muddy big beat drums, and chanted rather than sung vocals. The Virgin reissue of the album is straight with nothing extra. It doesn't even sound remastered, and that's somehow fitting. This is plodding, straight-ahead rock music that walked too many lines to establish itself with an identity of its own. It's a relic, and not a particularly memorable one.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo