asp's classic albums # 89: pil - second edition [metal box]
 

Wow.

This is one album that just gets better with each listen. Also, probably my favorite "bass guitaR" album ever. Turn this dark nasty evil album way up -- especially the bass on your stereo, though it might possibly blow your speakers. Idiosynchratic as hell, though you can hear its influence all over the musical world. The guitar lines have that gang of four (solid gold-era) thing going on, where the guitar is a bit non-obtrusive with the overall structure, sort of playing around and "soloing" through the whole song, dropping tons ands tons of little "riffs", while hardly ever repeating at the same time. The drumming is just fantastic. And Johnny Rotten moans some shit.

Seriously, if you don't have this, it's just one of the most brilliant collection of songs you'll ever hear. 61 minutes of dark as hell murky wobbly bass implosions may sound like a bit much, but it's the rare "rock" record that never gets boring, even after an hour. There's a lot of depth in the textures, though at first it may seem a bit simple and repetetive.

This is an album of contradictions; the band sounds like it could fall apart at any minute, yet they also sound tight as hell. They sound like they have an infinite supply of energy, though the songs are usually slow and hazey. This album is beautiful yet ugly as hell. Noisey but melodic. Awesome but kinda shitty.

Did I mention a bunch of different people play drums on this album and each one has their own unique style? That really adds something special to the album, too, something you don't hear on many other records (imagine a Sonic Youth album consisting of all their past drummers, drumming on different songs they had written for the album, all bringing their own style to the table; would sound pretty crazy, eh?).

This is an album that has inspired countless post-punk, dance-punk, and art-punk bands. It really must be heard to be believed. A true classic, one of the finest albums I've talked about throughout the 89 albums I've talked about on this board.

If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favor today and blow your own mind. Go to google, type in pil metal box mediafire, click on the first link, download, un-rar, and enjoy.

There is no possible way you can beat Jah Wobble's bass playing on this album ever.

I've always found it a really sterile record, and not in a good way. Feels more lethargic than menacing to me.

Oh, Glice, I somehow knew you'd be the one on the board who dislikes this album.

great album and great post, adam. i can't think of anything to add onto that atm. john was nice enough to sign my copy when i saw PiL this past may. one of the coolest moments of my life.

thanks.

amazing sig btw.

i love these 2 performances

POPTONES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8e2CTB9oeQ

CAREERING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO5LZkNY4XQ

Superb album that has stood the test of time.

I can think of a few others who probably dislike it, whether they can be bothered to say it or not. There are flashes of good things in PiL, just not on this album.

This is a classic among classics, simply one of the best albums ever made. It's all in the combination of Jah Wobble's simple yet brilliant basslines and Keith Levene's what at first seems to be completely unstructured guitar playing. Levene is fantastic, sometimes it feels like he's just hitting the stings at random places just to see how it will sound - and yet it always fit the songs perfectly. Then you realize that he actually always knew exactly what he was doing.

I like it, but not enough to want to listen to it again. I'm not even sure I've ever listened to it all the way through.

I like it even if it's way overrated.

poptones rules

I love each song on this album, and everything about. The production, the playing, the lyrics.

Surprisingly, i've found out that, while most people know PIL and know they are great, most are unfamiliar with MB/SE.

fantastic album...utterly brilliant in every way...although only slightly better than first issue but way better than the rest of pils output put together... "album" which is still great even if its over produced cash cow nonsense..........

JAH WOBBLE

I actually just blew out a speaker listening to this album with the bass turned all the way up.

"Classic album" status officially confirmed!