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Public Image - now less Ltd.
Back in seventh or eighth grade, growing up in Nowhere, VA, I remember my friend and punk rock-mentor Laura S. telling me about the second album by Johnny Lydon (né Rotten) and his cohorts in Public Image Ltd., Metal Box. It came packaged as three 12-inch, 45 RPM discs nestled in a film canister, she said, and was (allegedly) nigh impossible to open without scratching at least one disc. (The packaging was, among other things, a sly homage to German musical innovators Can.) This experimental punk-dub touchstone was subsequently repackaged as the simple gatefold double-LP Second Edition, and original copies of Metal Box now fetch anywhere from $50 to $200 on gemm.com. Well, lo and behold, on June 27 the vinyl version is being reissued (via Runt Distribution’s excellent 4 Men With Beards label)… in the original metal box.
Hooray! Because the only thing geekier than being an obsessive record collector (and I say that as a proud one myself) is an obsessive record collector with a fetish for esoteric design and packaging.
Comments
"Johnny Lydon (né Rotten)", should be Johnny Rotten (née Lydon), as née means "born" in French. Lydon is his real name.
speaking of cans of records...I have the 3LP Status Quo Can. it's painted blue, natch! but instead of scratching the wax, the the can gave the LPs an annoying dish warp. my Pil Box (?) is the double LP version. I wish I had the Big Black Bag...anyone have that? I forgot which record came out in the bag...it had some awful photos of after the fact shotgun blasts to the head!
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About time! You will never hear a bass as deep as Jah Wobble's is on Metal Box. Vinyl is the only way to really hear this album.