Metal Box is the second album by Public Image Ltd., released in 1979 by Virgin Records.

The title refers to the album's original packaging, which consists of a metal 16mm film canister embossed with the band's logo and containing three 12" records. The album was reissued in 1980 as a double album titled Second Edition.

A radical departure from their Pil's relatively conventional debut, the avant garde, abstract Metal Box was characterized by singer John Lydon's cryptic vocals, Jah Wobble's propulsive dub reggae-inspired basslines, and a unique, "metallic" guitar sound (guitarist Keith Levene played Travis Bean guitars which have aluminum necks). Metal Box is widely regarded as a landmark of post punk and experimental rock: In 2002, Pitchfork Media ranked Metal Box at #19 on their "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s,, while

Recording Sessions

• March-May 1979: "Albatross" and "Death Disco" were recorded with new drummer Dave Humphrey at The Manor Studio in Shipton-on-Cherwell. During this era, additional tracks were recorded at Townhouse Studios in London, namely "Beat the Drum for Me" (which later turned up on Wobble's first solo album), and a new version of "Fodderstompf" (which became the b-side of PIL's "Death disco" 12" single). Drummer Dave Humphrey left the band around mid-May 1979.
• May-June 1979: "Memories", "No Birds", "Socialist" and "Chant" were recorded with new drummer Richard Dudanski at Townhouse Studios in London.
• Summer 1979: the instrumental "Graveyard" was recorded at Rollerball Rehearsal Studios in Bermondsey, PIL's rehearsal studio, with Dudanski. For the b-side of PIL's "Memories" single vocals were added at The Manor and the track re-titled to "Another". Dudanski left the band around mid-September 1979.
• Summer(?) 1979: "The Suit" was recorded as a solo track by Jah Wobble at Gooseberry Sound Studios in London, vocals and some overdubs were added at The Manor.
• September-October 1979: "Poptones" and "Careering" were recorded without a drummer at The Manor and Townhouse Studios, with Levene playing drums on "Poptones" and Wobble on "Careering".
• October 1979: "Bad Baby" was recorded with new drummer Martin Atkins at Townhouse Studios.
• October or November 1979: "Radio 4" was recorded as a solo piece by Keith Levene at Advision Studios and an unknown second studio. According to Levene, this was the last recorded track.

Packaging

The original metal canister idea caught on a few years later during the compact disc era. By the late 1980s a number of CDs were packaged in metal canisters, including Prince's special edition of the Batman soundtrack. In 1990 the concept came full circle, with the compact disc release of Metal Box employing a smaller version of the original metal canister, containing a single disc and a small paper insert.

The Second Edition sleeve art consists of distorted photographs of the band members, achieving a funhouse mirror effect. (The front cover is a photo of Keith Levene.) The lyrics are provided on the rear cover; these were originally printed in a magazine advertisement and not included with Metal Box. The band initially wanted the album released with a lyric sheet but no track titles; the United Kingdom version of Second Edition appears as the band intended, with lyrics on the back cover, but no titles, and "PiL" logo labels on all four sides of the vinyl. The American edition of Second Edition has track titles both on the back cover and the labels.

Personnel

• John Lydon - Vocals
• Keith Levene - Guitar, Synthesizer
• Jah Wobble - Bass Guitar

A paper insert lists PiL's members as "John Lydon - Keith Levene - Wobble - Jeanette Lee - Dave Crowe," though the latter two individuals were the band's videographer (though no videos were produced for the album) and accountant, respectively. Lydon also talked about Public Image Ltd. as a company in interviews. PiL didn't have a permanent drummer at the time of recording, so the drummers are uncredited. Later interviews with the people involved have established the drummers as David Humphrey (tracks 1 and 3), Richard Dudanski (2,6,7,10,11), Keith Levene (4,12), Jah Wobble (5,8), Martin Atkins (9).

Levene played all instruments on "Radio 4".

Track listing

Metal Box

1. "Albatross"
2. "Memories"
3. "Swan Lake"
4. "Poptones"
5. "Careering"
6. "No Birds"
7. "Graveyard"
8. "The Suit"
9. "Bad Baby"
10. "Socialist"
11. "Chant"
12. "Radio 4"

"Swan Lake" is an alternate version of the earlier PiL single "Death Disco".

"Graveyard" is an instrumental version of "Another", the B-side of the "Memories" single.

Second Edition

Side one

1. "Albatross"
2. "Memories"

Side two

1. "Swan Lake"
2. "Poptones"
3. "Careering"

Side three

1. "Socialist"
2. "Graveyard"
3. "The Suit"

Side four

1. "Bad Baby"
2. "No Birds"
3. "Chant"
4. "Radio 4"

The Second Edition configuration inserts pauses between some tracks, whereas Metal Box did not.

Notes