Metal Box

I understand why people do not like this album, but I think it is very interesting. This is way more exciting than their debut and even The Sex Pistols. There are parts here that remind me of what would become Scratch Acid. The bass player here is the obvious standout. Every song has some pretty crazy, kinda funky bass grooves that really hold the album together. Mid 4.

lo escuché hace unos días justo, me encantó, muy buen album pero es para volver a escucharlo y definir una nota real más adelante, por ahora 7/10 casi 8

curti muito não

The album sounds old for '79, but I couldn't get through it, even far in the background.

I was confused on finding this album. Didn't realize that it was called Metal box because its vinyl packaging was a metal package for the first pressing and then can be found under the new name of "Second Edition". The original packaging looks cool. I'm talking about the packaging a lot because the music itself is difficult to describe. They have a variety of 80s sounds with tracks sounding like, Joy Division mixed with The Pixies, or Talking Heads mixed with the Matrix soundtrack. Has really heavy basslines mixed with synth and some punk mixed into it. Weirdly enough, I kinda like it.

"Metal Box" is an uncompromising and challenging post-punk record that at times veers squarely into the avant-garde. Upon its release in 1979, it sounded completely unlike anything that had come before it, nor did it resemble any of its contemporary peers. It is by no means an easy listen, and the mixed scores from critics are entirely understandable. Public Image Ltd, across their seminal first three albums, were instrumental in laying the foundations of post-punk alongside contemporaries such as Wire, Magazine, and Joy Division. That legacy alone justifies the band’s inclusion on this list, as well as this album's place within it. While its historical importance and influence easily deserve a full 5 stars, as a standalone listening experience across every track, it sits just shy of five stars for me. Side One 1 "Albatross" (5/5) 2 "Memories" (5/5) Side Two 1 "Swan Lake" (5/5) 2 "Poptones" (4/5) 3 "Careering" (4/5) Side Three 1 "Socialist" (4/5) 2 "Graveyard" (5/5) 3 "The Suit" (4/5) Side Four 1 "Bad Baby" (4/5) 2 "No Birds" (4/5) 3 "Chant" (5/5) 4 "Radio 4" (4/5) Total - 53 Average - 4.4 452/1001 238/452 albums reviewed were new to me.

Solid album. Definitely avant garde. 5.9/10

As post-punk as you can get

I know I should I this, but for some reason I don't.

I do not think I like this

As angular and cold as the tin is come in.

They're green boxes.

Not sure why this is a must listen before I die....

Okey, entiendo porque está en esta lista, muy buen ritmo canciones muy chulas y un sonido muy novedoso por aquel entonces. La primera canción muy infumable, y las vocales a veces sobran.

A metal case in the style of a 16mm film canister embossed with the band's logo, containing three 12" 45rpm records was designed by Dennis Morris (who is great - check out his Cafe Royal photo book). The album title’s is from the Metal Box Company, who made it, originally based at Great Guildford Street, London Bridge. I remember seeing the factory sign on my way into London. I saw the tin in Our Price and thought it was style over content. They all had a lot of fun creating the tin which was unsurprisingly inexpensive, but also a pain as the vinyl was easily damaged when removing or returning the discs, which in hindsight was a good thing as not removing them meant you didn’t have to listen to this dross. John Lydon is currently in dispute with Dennis Morris regarding ownership of the PIL brand as John says it was all his idea and he has the right to licence the IP to Supreme and make loads of money and not share this with Dennis, which is pretty rotten of him. If only he put the same amount of effort into the music it wouldn’t sound like buttery bollocks.

This album is weirdddd, took me a while to figure out if it was in a good or bad way. It feels like an uncomfortable smoke sesh, some parts are good, some parts make no sense, some parts are very distracting and other parts make you go what the fuck is this do I like this why is this like this holy shit? I think Metal Box needs to be commended for being able to make me question its nature at every turn. It's a bunch of weirdly mixed punk, with wacko moments that kinda meld together, and then it kinda just ends. Okay then, interesting, I'm good leaving it at that I don't need to listen to chant a second time to try and discern all it's intricacies. The weird first impression is enough for me.

ow

1 star

Un poco difícil de escuchar, casi lo quito en la primera canción pero si aguantas esa es un álbum curioso aunque sigue siendo un poco difícil de escuchar, fresco y atemporal.

I hate how much I don't love PiL. It breaks my heart as a Sex Pistols fan.

If this came out today in 2026 it would be considered cheeks, just saying

Why? Why is this fucking shit on here? 0.00

That Albatross song is one of the weirdest I’ve ever heard

I gave the first PiL album 1* but this time I tried a bit harder to get into the mindset of why it's important. The rhythm section is great, particularly the bass, I loved that. I can see why the abrasive guitar playing, free-form structure and lyrics were an example of post-punk moving into experimental territory. I just didn't really enjoy listening to it though, the vocals are so off-putting. I'll give an extra star for Jah Wobble

I don't even know what this is supposed to be. Rock? It doesn't lack musicianship, but it's repetitive and boring.

one presumes that these fellas were engaged in a competition to try and produce the biggest load of shit they could get away with getting released

1. "Careering" 2. "Graveyard" 3. "Radio 4"

Well it was different. Not good, but different. Certainly didn’t need to be an hour

This is wonderfully obtuse. I can hear the dub influences and just the sheer anti corporate fuck you from Lydon and co. I dont love it but i certainly respect it

Top album

John Lydon is a shit human and a shit musician. Absolutely don't get this at all. (I admit Jah Wobble's bass playing is pretty fucking good.)

It's okay. Supposedly this was started from the guy who left the Sex Pistols. I was reading about some people who say they are even better than the Sex Pistols. Meanwhile, it's not really pulling enough to hit a 3 average for me.

2 - TERRIBLE

💊💊💊💊💊 / 💊💊💊💊💊

Love the music, it's Johnny's singing that lowers the score but still he's done well on it so what do I know

Unhörbar! Primitiv! Grottenschlecht!

🫤

I see it's merit but it really didn't do it for me.

Pretty tough listen at times. The instrumentation on a few songs is actually fairly compelling, but it does sound like it was all thrown together without much thought or purpose behind it - which evidently was the case. The most interesting thing about the album is the packaging - which doesn’t seem like a good thing if that’s the case.

Particular album. Sometimes dub, good... sometimes very flat, monotonous. Good album, though. 3,5

Genuinely an awful time. Vocals were just terrible and songs much too long.

Not too abrasive but the first song sure is a chore to hear, at least for me.

I don't get it ._.

this, like the james taylor album earlier in my list, is not one i can rate without the personality of the person making the music overtaking the music, and it's not a personality i like in any way. 1/5

Interesante, lo veo como una continuación de lo último que ofreció Public Image en su First Issue, eso me parece muy sólido de parte de ellos como artistas darle continuidad, darle una línea clara a su desarrollo y evolución, no es el único camino, pero en el caso de ellos fue un muy buen Segway que preparó a su base a escuchar más de esta propuesta La voz de Lyndon es de acostumbrarse, o también en algunos casos te gusta o no te gusta, pero lo que si es sin hecho es que instrumentalmente hablando son maestros De momento no tengo una canción favorita, pero si disfrute del álbum por completo, tiene momentos más etéreos que otros, pero mantienen siempre la línea del concepto construido Recomendable y reescuchable

absolute turd

Depois de ouvir a estréia da banda e achar pouco notável, fiquei bem curioso pra ouvir como seria o segundo trabalho do grupo, ainda mais por esse ser o lançamento mais conhecido deles, até que famosinho em certos ciclos. Ritmicamente é um disco maravilhoso, com grooves fantásticos e imparáveis, mas ele possui uma barreira alta e difícil de conquistar: Os vocais. Eles são… disruptivos, sendo gentil. Mas ao todo, me senti bem investido no disco em diversos momentos de sua longa duração. Gostei. Mais do que a estréia deles. Ouviria mais vezes. 4/5

The hater in me does not want to admit Johnny Rotten made a good album, but this was very cool!

This is pretty good but also kind of boring. Maybe post punk avant garde is just not my thing

Never really graduated from PIL curious to actually engaging with them. Bought one of their later albums, listened to it once, and ... eh. The real story is the first phase, when Jah Wobble and Keith Levene were still involvedAnd I've never checked out those records. This album is very good. I can see how it would be a touchstone for all sorts of arty-dissonant bands. The songs are long, and it's challenging to stick with this for an hour. But this stuff is legit. Careering sounds remarkably akin to Gang of Four. (Graveyard, too.) The bass is strong throughout, which is appreciated. Socialist is an especially notable example of that. The bass grounds the noise and gives it a flow. I'm more familiar with Keith Levene from his work with the On-U Sound label, which shows how niche listening can really skew your perspective. Since he's obviously much better known as the PIL guitarist. Kind of amazing to read about his career on wikipedia -- he was a founding member of the Clash, and loved prog rock, having come to the punk scene in London fresh off a stint as a roadie for Yes (at age 15! Close To The Edge tour -- He's quoted saying Steve Howe is The Best Guitarist). That is a singular human being. Speaking of On-U Sound, Levene played on the first Singers and Players record, War of Words, and Bad Baby has a similar dense, compressed sound to the songs on that album. That's intriguing. But a superficial glance at the credits doesn't reveal any overlap in either the studios or engineers involved. Word association is funny -- when this album popped up as the album of the day, I immediately went from Public Image Limited to a brief review in the Rolling Stone Record Guide, which lodged in my memory forty years ago, give or take: I immediately thought, "It's hard to believe Jah Wobble was kicked out of PIL for taking these tapes" ... the text in question is, "Hard to imagine that Wobble was really expelled from Public Image Ltd for appropriating these particular tracks (which Messrs. Lydon and Levene still claim were corporate property). Maybe it's just that what Wobble uses to overlay the basic doom-rock of PIL's conception isn't very interesting. No reason for any but complete PIL fanatics to hear this." (The Jah Wobble entry in this 1983 publication consists simply of this 3 star review of his 1980 release, The Legend Lives On: Jah Wobble in Betrayal.) The human brain is wacky. I can't have looked at that for 35 years at least. And there's no reason I should have read it at all ... there's nothing else on that page that I was particularly interested in, and I had no idea who Jah Wobble was in the mid-80s.

Wow I did not like this at all. I don't know why I thought I would. Lydon's voice is so unpleasant.

The more I listen to these albums on this list the more I believe that post punk is the most obnoxious genre of music created.

An excruciating slog through discordant crap

This was a big drain to listen to. If it was a bit shorter it may have got a bit more.

Probably being overly harsh, but this is a horrible first album to listen to after 4 weeks away from the office

Masters, a fundamental game changer

How is this from 1979? Insane. Sounds like Killers meets 90’s U2. Brilliant album.

A hard album to rate because artistic merit and enjoyment very much do not align. Ultimately, I don't enjoy albums that are actively hostile to their audience. Like everyone else has said though, isolate the bass and it's a pretty sick dub album.

Sigh, just no

Some parts were a bit boring, some felt stressful to listen to (I know this is what they are going for) and the super repetitive bass part felt never-ending... I appreciate what this is and what they were going for, but really didn't get any listening enjoyment out of it.

I want to like this more than I do. Normally, I love avant-garde and post-punk music, but this one just doesn't quite hit the mark for me. I do really enjoy the dub bass and a lot of the guitar work, but John Lydon's singing just doesn't fit and some of the tracks go on a bit too long. This is another album that I respect, but just don't think I'll be returning to it.

Amazing bass sound. The more abrasive bits are a harder sell for me though.

This album is like a box of goo. There’s a lot of really great goo but there’s also plenty of goo that is a little too unfocused with bad vocals

absolute punk bullshit to write a 10 minute song about an albatross

# Album Name: Metal Box # Artist: Public Image Ltd # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Didnt enjoy this at all. I dont mind longer tracks at times but this just seemed to go on for no purpose. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

Good but not my thing

No. 429/1001 Albatross 2/5 (2x) Memories 2/5 Swan Lake 2/5 Poptones 2/5 Careering 2/5 No Birds 2/5 Graveyard 1/5 The Suit 2/5 Bad Baby 1/5 Socialist 2/5 Chant 1/5 Radio 4 2/5 Average: 1,77 Don't like the voice, don’t like the music.

Nope, not for me. Solid but extremely repetitive bass and drum tracks, with shrill, dissonant guitar noises and inexplicable shouted lyrics layered on top.

I weirdly really enjoyed this

Yeah cool, reminds of Baxter fury without the vocals, some bits dreary, too many James that could have been cleaned up but that's punk innit

Decent listen

driving bass, whiny Lydon vocals

Have I listened to this album before No How familiar am I with this album Completely unfamiliar How do I feel about this artist? I don’t know them Pre-Listen Thoughts: More punk, could go either way Favorite track(s): N/A Post-Listen Thoughts: This is the first album that I have honestly sort of suffered through. I kept wanting to turn it off but forced myself to stick it out. I think punk is always better when it’s short and sweet and this was not that.

What was bro yapping about? Weird and vocally bad. Gets bumped up to a 2 because the music, while as repetitive as the lyrics, is actually not that bad and has some genuinely good parts.

I mostly hate post-punk, but there's something about this that has taken my curiosity this morning. We have to address the fact that his vocals are genuinely awful; deliberately droney and awkward and weird - but it somehow doesn't grate too much for me. Somehow it kind of works for the overall vibe. The music and bass and grooves I'm genuinely into. There's something of the Velvet Underground about them - that kind of murky, subdued, drowned-out, background jamming kind of vibe. It creates a genuine atmosphere. Special shout-out to the bass which is great throughout. Weirdly, I'm going 3/5!

It was an ok album. Not very exquisite but its not bad…

Sad and odd

Not for me. Too much droning vocals

Liked this, especially Poptones and Bad Baby. A little weird to end on Radio 4, the most forgettable song on here. 3.5

First listen Saved 0/12

This was totally up my alley once upon a time. Just completely discordant, yet ultimately groovy, dark, twisted, industrial post-punk. It's been a long time since I've listened to this, and I did still enjoy it this time around, but it definitely takes its toll on you, given its hour-long length and atonal nature. The bellowing and wailing nature of Johnny Rotten's unpredictable vocals don't help either; they're frightening and sound less like punk vocals and more like the ramblings of a madman trapped in solitary confinement. The vocals add a lot to this album's nightmarish feel, and occasionally sound like a decomposing fusion of Ian Curtis and Mark E. Smith. Just a super neat album once you get over how difficult it is by nature. For as overwhelming as the cacophony can be, a song like 'Swan Lake' manages to mesh all its twisted little elements for a pretty euphoric and tangible finish. There's a Sonic Youth element to the very subtle beauty in the cacophony - like, I don't know if my brain was fried by this point in the album, but there was something genuinely gorgeous buried in the squealing guitars of 'No Birds'. And the hypnotic and fuzzy arpeggio guitars over Rotten's spoken-word piece on 'Poptones' are about 20 years ahead of their time, an absolutely mind-blowing moment. And, just like so much of this album, it's oddly unsettling. 'Careering' and 'Graveyard' do some interesting electronic fuckery that also just sounds years ahead of its time, like twisted EDM-punk and industrial bangers from a hell dimension. And the closer, 'Radio 4', is the most sobering thing here, like a slow but necessary decompression and breath of fresh air after such a claustrophobic album, with its gorgeous blue-sky pads and synth leads. This album is just an experimentalism warehouse; each song has some new cool thing to show off. The bass is maybe the most iconic thing on this album, given it's the only normal-sounding instrument here and is the very strong glue keeping this album from completely falling apart. It also just kicks ass; the grooves the rhythm section establishes on this album are insatiable, my favourite being the instrumental 'Socialist'. I mean, it's easily the best thing Johnny Rotten has done; I've always connected with this group more than the Sex Pistols. But It's such a stubborn album, with it just being so difficult to understand and fully unlock; I still haven't figured it out after all these years. I guess it really does feel like an eternally sealed metal box in that sense.

The vocals took 2 stars away.

Currently, the worst album on this list I've heard.

вроде вайбово, но слушать не оч приятно.

I just wanted to keep poking this album and telling it to do something. Jah Wobble drives this whole thing though. Does Albatross really need to be 11 minutes long?

Was really surprised by this album. Hated the first track but different parts of other tracks were amazing. Not a fan of the experimental stuff, but I get that they probably helped pave the way of other bands that tried it. Some tracks reminded me of Arctic Monkeys, Modest Mouse and Nirvana. Tracks I dug were: Swan Lake, Poptones, Radio 4 and Careering

I struggled with this album. 2 stars for me.

- Thanks to the reviews on this site I now know that there is a re-recording of this material from 2021 by Jah Wobble .... I need to find that so, thanks to the reviewer. Anyway, sure it's a tough listen but we need that or this would all just devolve into populist pap that exists only for sales and profit and we have enough of that already. I'll say it once more; this whole idea starts out from the need for human beings to make something; that's what art is. Our mission is to NOT forget that. Having said it, it's not a perfect result so, in an effort to inject some sense into this rating system, I gotta go 4. Now, go make some fuckin' art. then you can talk about how shitty this is .... -

Incredibly unenjoyable sounds. I don't know if I'm just not cool enough to get this album but it felt like audible punishment to me

Took a minute to find. It’s reissued as 2nd edition. Opening track is great. This whole album is fascinating. The metal box thing alone is brilliant. 60,000 sold. There can’t be many left. I wonder how many of the ones on eBay are forgery? Musically it’s a good album. I would not seek this one out. But then again I might. It was fresh and weird. And the concept of three 12” singles is brilliant.

Kinda noice pollution. Low 2

I have to be honest, this album was a bit annoying to listen to at times, because it sounded like the instrumentals were just making noise in the background, and the singing was just shouting random stuff. I am not a huge fan of these songs, although it is relatively bearable to let it play in the background while you're doing other things, but those shouldn't be anything too serious, because this music creates the illusion of urgency and that things aren't going well and it's just irritating.

Like it. Would listen again.

Que cosa tan espantosa...

I coulda been a drummer. This album is labelled "post-punk", but really it's more "anti-punk." Sometimes trying to be too clever just makes you a pretentious twat.

Halloween ass music

This sounds like when somebody tells you "Don't go see them live because they are all drunk and high" and you do not heed their warning and then yeah they sound drunk and high the whole time

Maybe I just don't like post-punk.

Man, I tried. I simply could not.

Many people hate this album because it's unlistenable anti-music. There is also a handful of people who think that if you don't like this you should just give up listening to music entirely. Ok buddy Christgau! "Albatross" really is hot garbage. The guitar tone is annoying as shit, but then when it changes chords for the first time to a completely wrong chord..... yeah that's a no from me, boss. And I get that it's supposed to be "challenging." Counterpoint - if you extend the punk ethos a bit, the idea that "we don't need to know how to play to make music," and you've already made it "big" with a foundational punk band, you might start to think, "how badly can we play our instruments and still get people to pay us for it," or even "how long can we make people listen to absolute shit before they turn it off?" So - it isn't challenging, it's awful for awful's sake. PIL is mocking you for thinking there's even an artistic statement to make, you dweeb. Yes, I, too have been in a late-night studio jam session, and I can tell you that just because you're playing live in the studio doesn't make it good. There is a reason you don't blow your entire budget on the album packaging. You goof. Anyways. This sucked. "Careering" is the least terrible so far. Let's see if we can get at least one good song out of this thing. The good news is, the songs get shorter as this thing progresses. Thank God. "Socialist" and "Graveyard" aren't horrible, but - "Bad Baby" and "Chant" more than make up for it. Wow. I did not enjoy this. ONE STAR