The album was a departure from PiL's 1978 debut First Issue, with the band moving into a more avant-garde sound characterised by John Lydon's cryptic lyrics, propulsive dub-inspired rhythms led by bassist Jah Wobble, and an abrasive, "metallic" guitar sound developed by guitarist Keith Levene.

"Albatross" and "Swan Lake"/"Death Disco" were recorded with new drummer David Humphrey at The Manor Studio in Shipton-on-Cherwell.

During this time, additional tracks were recorded at The Town House Studios in London, namely "Beat the Drum for Me" (which later turned up on Wobble's first solo album), and a new version of "Fodderstompf" (which became the B-side of PiL's "Death Disco" 12" single).

"Memories", "No Birds", "Socialist" and "Chant" were recorded with new drummer, Richard Dudanski, previously of Joe Strummer's R&B pub rock outfit, The 101ers, at Townhouse Studios in London.

[7] According to John Lydon, opener "Albatross'" was recorded live at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, with the singer free-forming his lyrics.

[8][9] PiL also recorded at Townhouse Studios in West London with session drummer Richard Dudanski and produced the songs "Memories", "No Birds", "Socialist", and "Chant";[10] Levene recalls that "Memories" features him playing "this normal Spanish guitar thing that goes dun-da-da-dun da-da-dun... it's one of the first things I learned to play on guitar, very simple.

"[9] "Death Disco" – released as a single in late June 1979 – was remixed and retitled "Swan Lake" for Metal Box.

[12] According to Lydon, "Poptones" was based on a story "straight out of the Daily Mirror" about a girl who was kidnapped and "bundled, blindfolded, into the back of a car by a couple of bad men and driven off into a forest, where they eventually dumped her.

"[14] Wobble cited "Careering" as his "second-favourite track from Metal Box, and probably my favourite John Lydon vocal performance.

Wobble said that Dudanski made extensive and imaginative use of the tom-tom drums,[10][14] and Levene told Simon Reynolds that "No Birds" is one of his favourite songs on the album.

Meanwhile John is lying under the piano and singing that weird feedback voice, while twinkling the keys at the same time, just to be annoying.

"[9] Wobble played and recorded the backing track of drums and piano for "The Suit" at Gooseberry Studios with Mark Lusardi, which started out as a cover of "Blueberry Hill".

[14] Levene recalled that "Socialist" featured cheap synthesizers he had purchased: "Me and Wobble were really having fun fucking around with these things, whilst submerged in the mix was this huge soaring sound, rising upwards from the drum and the bass, like a whale's cry.

"[9] "Radio 4" was recorded and performed by Levene, initially with Ken Lockie from Cowboys International on drums, at Advision Studios.

"[19] The title of the album refers to its original packaging, which consisted of a metal case in the style of a 16mm film canister embossed with the band's logo and containing three 12" 45rpm records.

[21] Before the metal tin was finalised, there was discussion of the album being released in a sandpaper package that would effectively ruin the sleeve art of any records shelved next to it.

Packed tightly inside the canister and separated by paper sheets, they were difficult to remove, and were prone to being nicked and scratched in the process.

[22] Deleted from the catalogue on 23 November 1979 after an initial release of 60,000 units, the album was re-issued on 22 February 1980[23] as Second Edition, a double LP packaged in a more conventional gatefold.

The sleeve art of Second Edition consists of distorted photographs of the band members, achieving a funhouse mirror effect.

The United Kingdom version of Second Edition appears as the band intended, with lyrics on the back cover, but no titles, and "PiL" logo labels on all four sides of the vinyl.

Martin Atkins has some of this tape and has put some pieces of it up on auctions to benefit The Museum Of Post Punk and Industrial Music.

Andy Kellman of AllMusic said that "PIL managed to avoid boundaries for the first four years of their existence, and Metal Box is undoubtedly the apex", noting that the album "hardly [sounds] like anything of the past, present, or future".

[1] Drowned in Sound reviewer Mark Ward wrote that the album "tears away from Lydon's sweaty punk roots and into the cold chambers of dub evoked by Can, the more outré electronics of Bowie's Berlin years and the coruscating post-punk sound that guitarist Levene was in the process of pioneering" and that "if you don't yet have a copy, you really should".

[32] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described the album's sound as "a full-bodied superaware white dub with disorienting European echoes.

[37] It was also, along with their debut album, included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, with the reviewer Stevie Chick saying "the abrasive textures and powerful sounds they discovered...would influence all manner of experimental music for decades to come", while describing it as "cold dank, unforgiving, subterranean."

[38] In 2020, Rolling Stone included it in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the band for pushing "beyond post-punk into a fractured space between demented abstraction and cranky freedom".

[39] Bassist Jah Wobble recorded and released a new version of the album in 2021, titled Metal Box - Rebuilt in Dub.

All words, music and production credited to Public Image Ltd.[40] The original release of Metal Box comprised six sides of 12-inch vinyl, played at 45rpm.

Second Edition fits the album onto four 33rpm sides and features a slightly different song order ("Socialist/Chant/Radio 4" is split into its component parts, with "Socialist" and "No Birds" swapping places).