Metal Box: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:13, 31 March 2005

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{{Album infobox |

{{merge}} [[Super Mario 64]]

Name = Metal Box |

Type = [[Album]] |

Artist = [[Public Image Ltd]] |

Cover = PiLMetalBox.jpg |

Background = Orange |

Released = [[November 23rd]], [[1979]] |

Recorded = [[1979]] |

Genre = [[Post punk]] |

Length = 60 [[minute|min]] 29 [[second|sec]] |

Label = [[Virgin Records]] |

Producer = [[Public Image Ltd]] |

Reviews = <ul><li>''[[Allmusic.com]]'' (5/5) [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ybxuak2khm3c link]</li></ul>|

Last album = ''[[First Issue]]'' <br /> ([[1978]]) |

This album = ''Metal Box''<br />([[1979]]) |

Next album = ''[[Second Edition]]''<br />([[1980]]) |}}

'''''Metal Box''''' is an [[album]] by [[Public Image Ltd]] released in [[1979]] by [[Virgin Records]]. The title refers to the album's packaging, which consists of a metal [[can|canister]] (similar to a [[16 mm film|16mm film]] canister) embossed with the band's logo and containing three 12" 45 [[Revolutions per minute|rpm]] [[Vinyl records|records]].

[[Image:SSBM-MetalBox&Pikachu.png|275px|thumb|right|Left: Metal Box. Right: Its effect on Pikachu]]

A '''Metal Box''' is an green cube in the [[Super Mario Bros.]] series that has appeared in several [[video games]]. It makes its first appearance in [[Super Mario 64]] and contains the Metal Cap, which can turn Mario into metal. This has the effect of making him heavier than normal, allowing him to perform actions such as walking on the sea floor, and withstanding wind gusts. It appears again in [[Super Smash Bros. Melee]] as an item able to turn characters into metal, except that there is no Metal Cap because the box itself activates the transformation.

The music is famous for its huge bass sound, derived from [[dub music]], of which the band members were professed [[Fan (aficionado)|fans]].

{{cvg-stub}}

==Packaging==

The ''Metal Box'' packaging was innovative, but prohibitively expensive. After an inital release of 60,000 units, the album was re-released in [[1980]] as ''[[Second Edition]]'', a double-LP in a gatefold sleeve.

The original metal canister idea caught on a few years later during the [[compact disc]] era. The smaller size of CDs required less material, and so this type of packaging could be made more cheaply. By the late [[1980s]] a number of CDs were packaged in metal canisters, including [[Prince (artist)|Prince's]] [[Single (music)|single]] "Batdance" from the [[Batman (1989 movie)|Batman]] soundtrack. In [[1990]], the concept came full circle, when the compact disc release of ''Metal Box'' employed a smaller version of the original metal canister, holding a single disc and small paper insert inside.

==Personnel==

A paper insert lists the album's personnel as "[[John Lydon]] - [[Keith Levene]] - [[Jah Wobble|Wobble]] - [[Jeanette Lee]] - [[Dave Crowe]]," though the latter two individuals were the band's [[Music video|videographer]] and accountant, respectively. There are at least three uncredited [[drummer|drummers]]: [[Martin Atkins]], [[Richard Dudanski]], and [[David Humphrey]]. The credits also do not mention that Lydon was the vocalist, Levene played [[electric guitar]] and [[synthesizer]], and Wobble was the [[bass guitar|bassist]].

==Track listing==

The track listing for the original release is as follows:

#"Albatross"

#"Memories"

#"Swan Lake"

#"Poptones"

#"Careering"

#"No Birds"

#"Graveyard"

#"The Suit"

#"Bad Baby"

#"Socialist"

#"Chant"

#"Radio 4"

==External link==

[http://www.fodderstompf.com/DISCOGRAPHY/LP/3MBLP.html Fodderstompf] (fan-based site with extensive discographical information)

[[Category:Public Image Ltd albums]]

[[Category:1979 albums]]