Metal Box
by Public Image Ltd.
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Public Image Ltd. bestography
Metal Box is ranked as the best album by Public Image Ltd..
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Metal Box track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Metal Box rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | TroutMaskGreg | Top 34 Music Albums of 1979 | 2/34 | 5 |
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 61/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 19/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  O.T. | Top 52 Music Albums of 1979 | 18/52 | 3 |
| 2026 |  covecove | Top 50 Music Albums of 1979 | 9/50 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Amirkhosro | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 93/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | martintho | Top 88 Music Albums of 1979 | 84/88 | 0 |
| 2026 |  Graeme2 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 58/100 | 9 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1979 | 16/100 | - |
| 2026 |  slatsheit | Top 59 Music Albums of 1979 | 16/59 | 4 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 379 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,014 | |||
Metal Box collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 153 members
Metal Box ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 431 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/13/2026 10:40 |  djrodo | 1,020 | 81/100 |
| ! | 07/22/2026 02:44 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 05/31/2026 00:13 |  Repo | 2,234 | 85/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.1/100, a mean average of 75.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.5.
Metal Box favourites
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Metal Box forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/10/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5431): By Amirkhosro BestEverAlbums 07/18/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5377): By Liedzeit Repo 05/31/2026 00:11 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)Metal Box comments
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Amirkhosro 03/23/2018 20:49 | #211586 | TOP COMMENT
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I've been into weird post-punky side of rock for more than a decade but I finally got this album's vibe just a couple of days ago. As unbelievably amazing as Flowers of Romance is, this one is even better. A milestone album, really. On the same level of unique innovation and inventiveness as TMR or WL/WH. And play damn good all along. (Edited)
swhaze TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/02/2015 18:35 | #130654 | TOP COMMENT
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If all of the albums on the Rolling Stones Top 500 list, this has got to be one of my least favorites. It doesn't resonate with me at all. A total struggle for me to get through the whole thing.
'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.
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.
johnner TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/06/2012 22:50 | #47971 | TOP COMMENT
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I like it but it lacks the psychotic energy of First Issue resulting in it being quite dull at times.
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