Sold Date: January 19, 2020
Start Date: December 4, 2019
Final Price: £159.00 (GBP)
Seller Feedback: 5348
Buyer Feedback: 18

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD (PiL) Metal Box 1979 UK VIRGIN ORIGINAL & COMPLETE MINT PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED
Metal Box

UK VIRGIN (METAL 1) *COMPLETE* PRESSING (November 1979)
AN OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL COPY WHICH LOOKS UNPLAYED AND SOUNDS LIKE NEW
*TECHNICALLY THE SECOND PRESSING AS THE FIRST A1/B1/C1/D1/E1/F1 JUMPED SO BADLY IT WAS QUICKLY WITHDRAWN

Matrix Record One: METAL 1 - A - 2 TIM - CBS / METAL 1 - B - 1 TY - CBS
Matrix Record Two: METAL 1 - C - 2 TIM - CBS / METAL 1 - D - 1 TY - CBS
Matrix Record Three: METAL 1 - E - 1 TY - CBS / METAL 1 - F - 2 TIM - CBS

PiL managed to avoid all boundaries and Metal Box is undoubtedly the apex of their vision.
It's a hallmark of uncompromising, challenging post-punk, sounding unlike anything else.
There were touchstones - the bizarreness of Captain Beefheart, the open and rhythmic spaces of Can, and the dense pulses of Lee Perry's dub productions - but what they achieved with their second record is a completely unique hour of avant-garde noise.
Originally packaged in a film canister as a trio of 12" records played at 45 rpm, the bass and treble are pegged at 11 throughout, with nary a tinge of midrange.
It's all dubscrapes, supplanted by John Lydon's caterwauling about such subjects as his dying mother, resentment, and murder.
Guitarist Keith Levene splatters silvery, violent, percussive shards of metallic scrapes onto the canvas, much like a one-armed Jackson Pollock.
Jah Wobble and Richard Dudanski lay down a molasses-thick rhythmic foundation throughout that's just as funky as Can's Czukay/Leibezeit and Chic's Edwards/Rodgers.
It's alien dance music. Metal Box might not be recognised as a groundbreaking record with the same reverence as Never Mind the Bollocks, and you certainly can't trace numerous waves of bands who wouldn't have existed without it like the Sex Pistols record. But like a virus, its tones have sent miasmic reverberations through a much broader scope of artists and genres.

Metal 1.1: Albatross
Metal 1.2: Memories / Swan Lake
Metal 1.3: Poptones / Careering
Metal 1.4: No Birds / Graveyard
Metal 1.5: The Suit / Bad Baby
Metal 1.6: Socialist - Chant - Radio 4

LABELS: MINT
An immaculate set of labels without any spindle traces or any signs the set has ever been played
VINYL Visual: MINT
All six surfaces are unmarked and shine like new
VINYL Audio: MINT
Plays as-new throughout with nothing to fault.
No clicks, ticks, pops, perfectly clean and definitely no jumps.
Fantastic copy
BOX: NEAR MINT
Apart from the normal tarnish the metal tin is in great condition without any dents
DIVIDERS: NEAR MINT
The four white dividers are clean and unmarked
INSERT: EXCELLENT
Slight bumps to the corners which is to expected as it moved around inside the tin otherwise unmarked with just some soft creasing

POST & PACKING:
THE CONTENTS OF THE TIN WILL BE SECURELY PADDED TO PREVENT ANY MOVEMENT DURING TRANSIT (ALL THREE RECORDS WILL BE PLACED IN NEW ANTI-STATIC LINERS) AND THE SET WILL BE SECURELY BOXED
UK: £5.00 (Recorded Delivery)
UK: £11.00 (Royal Mail Special Delivery Next Day by 1pm)
EUROPE: Airmail: £15.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £20.00 (International Signed For delivery)

Combined Post: Additional records £1 (UK) £2 (Europe including Russia) £3 (International)
Guarantee: All records are unconditionally guaranteed (including sealed and/or unplayed) and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Thanks  _gsrx_vers_856 (GS 7.0.20 (856))