Metal Box
by Public Image Ltd.

Album
Metal Box by Public Image Ltd.
Year: 1979
Release date: 1979-11-23
Overall rank: 853rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 427 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1979 (14th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (180th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (853rd)

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Public Image Ltd. bestography

Metal Box is ranked as the best album by Public Image Ltd..

Public Image Ltd. album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (853rd)
Metal Box Lower ranked (2,831st) »
The Flowers Of Romance

(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 rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 853rd | 1970s rank: 180th | 1979 rank: 14th

Metal Box collection

Metal Box ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 427 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 427 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 		03/21/2026 19:41 melisandre  Ratings distribution  28379/100
 
75/100
 		02/20/2026 20:18 markl73  Ratings distribution  57178/100
 
80/100
 		01/23/2026 18:16 VictorVale  Ratings distribution  3,76681/100
 
75/100
 		12/08/2025 16:03 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  8,68670/100
 
90/100
 		11/16/2025 20:23 Brandon8  Ratings distribution  1,03789/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.6/100, a mean average of 75.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.2.

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Metal Box comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 27 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
60/100
From 04/15/2023 18:11 | #296112
Socialist is the best track on this album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
30/100
From 04/07/2023 04:40 | #295836
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -4 votes (0 helpful | 4 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 01/08/2023 22:24 | #292634
A decent album but there isn't anything ground breaking that would make it a must listen. It is enjoyable for the most part with the strongest tracks coming right at the beginning. The quality does go down hill the further into the record you go and the music becomes really slow and a bit boring. Overall, it has a few very good tracks but for the majority it is just pretty average.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/18/2022 23:11 | #286495
Very unique and interesting album, a metallic and uncompromising post punk sound of it makes it hard to sit through it.
The experimental stuff works only some of the times.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 01/12/2022 10:48 | #279207
#449 in 1001 Albums listening project. I do not get why it is there. Not for me, I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried,..
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
5/100
From 10/14/2021 18:34 | #275016
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -7 votes (0 helpful | 7 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 06/28/2021 09:33 | #271112
I understand it's influence, but it is not really my thing...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
From 07/23/2019 18:33 | #240266
Favorite Tracks:Albatross, No Birds, Bad Baby
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/23/2018 21:47 | #211590
A classic album. A must have.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/23/2018 20:49 | #211586
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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Buy album United States
Best Albums of 1979
1. London Calling by The Clash
2. The Wall by Pink Floyd
3. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
4. Fear Of Music by Talking Heads
5. Off The Wall by Michael Jackson
6. Entertainment! by Gang Of Four
7. Breakfast In America by Supertramp
8. Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
9. Highway To Hell by AC/DC
10. Reggatta De Blanc by The Police
11. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
12. Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
13. Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno
14. Metal Box by Public Image Ltd.
15. Armed Forces by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
16. The B-52's by The B-52's
17. Specials by The Specials
18. Setting Sons by The Jam
19. 154 by Wire
20. Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks