Public Image Ltd – Metal Box

Hailed as a landmark of post-punk, Metal Box pushed the Public Image Ltd sound forward into avant-garde punk territory with dark imagery from ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon, dub-inspired basslines by Jah Wobble, a manic “metallic” guitar sound developed by Keith Levene, and Prophet synthesizer. The feeling of dread, forward propulsion, and freeform experimentation is heavy here, which draws comparisons to the German krautrock scene and CAN. Besides the groundbreaking music, the presentation of the was also quite unique as it was originally released in limited quantities housed in a metal tin before the gatefold standard “second edition” was released. Lydon: “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.”

Join us for a post-punk dub listening session next week at Zizou.