I was terrified when I first heard this album as a child, and it still scares me now to an extent. It so perfectly evokes the smog-filled skies and looming council blocks of London, not to mention that weird sense of isolation and distrust that living in that city brings with it, that it's sometimes difficult to believe that it's the work of human beings, let alone a man who just 18 months previously was still fronting a band whose entire repertoire consisted of sped-up, distorted Chuck Berry riffs. A completely transcendent work of art, and one that - despite many copycat attempts - sounds like nothing else I've ever heard.

I like it but it lacks the psychotic energy of First Issue resulting in it being quite dull at times.

t comes in a tin. It is simply amazing. A landmark in post-punk music.

'Metal Box' was arguably the first album of its kind that defined the psychedelic dark-punk/post-punk sound. The album, could, more accurately, be described as a groundbreaking amalgam of punk chamber music and acid rock that incorporates elements of African, Middle-Eastern and Jamaican 'dub' influences. The atmosphere is a sinister one in which fear, isolation and anxiety within a post-industrial landscape are heightened by vocalist John Lydon's incessantly mournful and psychotic tones.

One day I will own it in the metal box.

...but it's worth it none the less :)

It's a hard pill to swallow..