With this metal box, the guitar sound wall of the Sex Pistols seems rather far… Johnny Rotten, who had become once again John Lydon, invents here the long, painful and all wound up soundtrack of a martial New Wave whose groove is surprisingly cold. Controlled by Jah Wobble’s bass and slashed by Keith Levene’s guitar riffs, this second revolutionary opus from Public Image Limited invents the post-punk dub, the cold funk and the (f)rigid rock. The former Pistol shouts like a soulful muezzin and trepans even more the ears than on Never Mind The Bollocks. Published on its release date in the form of three maxi enclosed in a true film reel metal box, Metal Box follows the steps of Neu’s and Can’s German krautrock, and above all proves to be the forerunner disc of a punk funk that will resound for many years… © Marc Zisman/Qobuz