Metal Box [IMPORT] [LIMITED EDITION]

Public Image Limited

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 3, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Limited Edition
• Label: EMI
• ASIN: B000007UDQ
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,552 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"I don't give a fuck about John Lydon ... still, I think he knows what he's doing, and PIL is the proof ... because Metal Box is one of the strongest records I've heard in years." - LESTER BANGS, 1980

"Summons up everything from the unpleasant portentousness of middle-period Jim Morrison to what sounds like the deranged Kaddish of a punk rabbi. This is not, in short, exactly a party record ...the joke, of course, will be on me if fifteen years from now everything on the radio sounds like this. But it wouldn't surprise me too much." - STEREO REVIEW , 1980

The second album by John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols outing Public Image Ltd. was originally released in the UK in 1979 in a limited edition film canister-style metal box containing three 12" 45s. Some copies managed to float across the Atlantic into the hands of a fortunate few, making it a post-punk collectors' holy grail.

Unavailable for almost thirty years, the Metal Box is back as an exact replica of the original, remastered for better sound than the 1979 vinyl!

In Lydon's own words: "Metal Box was hard work. First, Virgin weren't very sure about the metal package, you know, cost, blah blah blah. So we offered to pay for some of it by reducing our advance from them. Obviously the idea of putting a record in a metal box was a bit unusual. The idea came from film canisters. We all thought video and film was the future. Besides, I've always collected vinyl and this was a really good way of stopping it getting damaged." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lydon/Wobble/Levene's Greatest Moment, February 16, 2003

By	M. Aranda "noisemonger" (planet earth, dimension 4) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Public Image Ltd. is a band that went through so many mutations throughout it's career that you really can't compare one era with another. Their first three albums, with the Wobble/Lydon/Levene line up, were dark and brooding, as dissonant as they were brilliant (to varying degree).
PiL's later work (essentially as Lydon's solo vehicle) can be spliced into two eras: '84-'87 and '88-'92. Albums like 1986's "Album" were hard rock with an artistic, commanding attitude while 1989's "9" LP saw Lydon reveling in dance-pop while maintaining a lyrical depth unseen in mainstream pop music.
For all PiL's artistic swings, however, it is Metal Box that stands out as their Crowning Glory. After showing signs of uncertainty with their debut, Metal Box delivered the promise PiL had spouted off about in press interviews: one hour of original, challenging and commanding, forceful proof of life after rock `n roll.
From the first thunderous bass notes of "Albatross" to the guitar-as-weapon assualt whichs drives "Chant," PiL were making sounds never before heard in the context of popular music, all the while setting this hell-fire blaze of chaos to almost-disco power beat of Martin Atkins' drums and Wobbles devilish dub-like basslines. In fact this entire album is dub like; vocals, sythesizers, and other sounds float in and out of the mix, bass and drums always in front and at their deepest.
There is virtually no mid-range on this album; drums and bass are strictly at their lowest whilst Levene's guitar is pure treble.
This was John Lydon's idea of volatile music, and it works perfectly for his voice. He give his most virulent, violent deliveries ever, as well as some of his best lyrics.
This is music both jarring and beautiful,impenetrable and addictively listenable. This is the album that made PiL heroes to generations of kids who believe there can be more to music than top-40 aspirations; there are still new places in sound to be discovered!
Buy this today, hear it now.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UK Metal Box Vs. US Second Edition, July 16, 2007

By	zphage - See all my reviews

UK Metal Box was remastered in 1996 under John Lydon's direction, all the songs are 1-2 seconds longer than US versions. Surprisingly, these longer seconds seem to be apparent in the songs intros; little jangles, noises, and voices.

The track/song listing is different No Birds and Socialist are reversed.

Overall, the UK Metal Box is punchier, and feels more musical. If you are a Second Edition fan I think you will enjoy Metal Boxes nuances.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dubdubdub, September 29, 2000

By	Mr. A. Pomeroy (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The classic PiL album, this is essentially John Lydon moaningover the top of avant-garde dub reggae, and it's fantastic, andunique. A mixture of synthesisers, Jah Wobble's bass lines and some stuttery beats combine to make something that sounds like being sick, but musically, and yet it works as music to listen to. It's alien and strange, and sounds as fresh today as then. The music was re-released as 'Second Edition.'