I still remember hearing the actual Metal Box edition of the highly influential second PiL record when it first came out in the actual metal box. The discs are still in my possession but the metal box was lost in a fire. The records were never kept in the metal cannister anyway. It was used to clean weed before rolling joints or loading up bong hits. We listened to it at 33 1/3 speed because they were 12” records and had no notes on the labels or insert about the record speed. Anyway, we finally figured out how to listen to the discs properly and really got into the darkness of the danceable tunes.

Upon leaving PiL, bassist Jah Wobble went on to work on many projects including a solo career, collaborations with producer Bill Laswell, Brian Eno and many others and he recorded with The Damage Manual, an excellent supergroup made up of ex-PiL, Killing Joke and RevCo members. One thing Wobble never bothered with was rejoining PiL when asked and he had little interest in performing the songs he recorded with them except for a brief reunion with PiL guitarist Keith Levene. His bass playing was a major part of the band’s sound and after he left their next record had no bass. So I was pleasantly surprised when this came across my desk.

Upon hearing the notes for Albatross ring out and the drums kick in it was obvious this was going to work. Reworking the songs as mostly instrumentals was a wise choice. The grooves are still there but the overlays are a lot less jagged and the addition of piano and violin on certain songs plus what sounds like a cornet on Memories adds to the grand and exotic flavors Wobble brings to this table. The production is lush and little additions like the “da-da-da’s” in Socialist make this fun and worthwhile. Eight of the songs from the Metal Box album are performed here with the exceptions being No Birds, Bad Baby and Chant/Radio Four. Versions of Public Image (big ups for a section of the lyrics performed in Spanish) and Fodderstompf from First Issue are included as bonus tracks. This record gets my vote for the most unexpected and welcome release of the year.