The 500 - #461 - P.I.L. - Metal Box

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan (amended). 

• 1 or 2 records per week & at least 2 complete listens.
• A quick blog post for each, highlighting the important details and a quick background story.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation.

Album # 461

Album Title: Metal Box  aka: Second Edition
Artist: Public Image Ltd. (PiL)
Released: November, 1979
My age at release: 14
How familiar am I with it: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Poptones selected by Claudio

This post will be my 40th on my journey through the Rolling Stone list. This bears mention because there has been a typographical error on the first sentence of the last 39 posts I have failed to notice a hundred times. Clearly, this is not a big deal but, simple, avoidable errors always generate a feeling of anxiety and embarrassment for me. Consequently, every one was fixed within minutes of this discovery; so you will find no evidence of my transgression. A clear advantage for blogging over print media.

"What was it?" you ask.

I called the host of the podcast I listen to Josh Adams Meyers rather than his actual name...Josh Adam Meyers. I know his name is Josh Adam Meyers (he says it on every podcast). Clearly, I just mistyped - likley channelling a John Quincy or Samuel Adams vibe.

There is a good lesson to be had here. A writing tip statement frequently shared with the young writers in my classroom: 

"When re-reading our own work we tend to see what we "think we wrote" not what we "actually wrote". Consequently, it is important to read your work aloud or, better still, have a good, peer editor."

I have a great editor: my father. He is a retired journalist who wrote (and edited) for decades. Unfortunately, he had no idea that Josh's middle name wasn't pluralized or if it was, perhaps, a non-hyphenated dual surname. Additionally, I always tell him to skip over the introduction because it is just a preamble to set up the narrative. I guess I'll find out when he edits this post (although he'll probably suggest I remove this sentence). He did...I didn't.

This is the second album by Public Image Limited (abbreviated as PiL) and it has two names, "Metal Box" and "Second Edition". When first released, the band made the audacious decision to put three 12" 45 RPM records in a 16 mm film canister. 

The rationale fit with the band's anti-rock, post-punk rebellious nature. The absence of album art actually made the production less expensive, so much so that the record company demanded the band return 1/3 of its advance. In addition, because of the playing speed, each side contained only one or two of the album's 11 tracks. As a result the listener had to make frequent trips to the turntable to hear the album in its entirety. Furthermore, the tight packaging and thin sheets of paper placed between the records made them difficult to remove and easy to scratch. It was as if they were actively discouraging their audience from hearing the record. There was even a debate about putting a coating of sandpaper on the outside of the can so that it would scratch the cover art of any other record shelved beside it.

There is something devilishly cheeky I admire about this attitude toward their art because it was done in 1979 when glitzy discotheques and over-the-top arena rock spectacles were the norm. I spent a lot of time thumbing through records in my teens and album cover art was at its zenith, full of... 

• fantasy or science fiction landscapes
• mythical creatures
• bleak, totalitarian dystopias
• provocative imagery
• scantily clad women (often at the feet of machismo musicians)
• or abstract, avant-garde art

Just a quick sampling of a few that came to mind.

I wanted to like this record listening to it under a variety situations. Usually a fan of the unusual, I adore the works of Frank Zappa, King Crimson and even the early stuff by Pink Floyd. However, there wasn't much to embrace in Metal Box. Singer Johnny Lydon's cryptic lyrics sung muddily over a bed of repetitive, improvised guitar arpeggios with a bass track so thick even my best speakers struggled to avoid distortions. 

That said, I don't mind a couple of tracks and happily put Claudio's choice Poptones on my Spotify mix. It's just not a record I am likely to listen to again...even though modern technology has removed the inconvenience of a metal case and six sides.