Metal
Box Outtakes 1979
(aka Metal Box Demos 1 & 2)
Due to their poor sound quality mystery has always surrounded the exact contents of these infamous bootleg cassettes. Enter our brave reporter Karsten Roekens, who put on his listening hat and waded through all the various versions and variations of the tapes. Finally nailing the contents, once and for all into some sort of order...
Running Order:
1. Death Disco
2. Socialist (2 versions)
3. No Birds Do Sing (3 versions)
4. Beat the Drum For Me (4 versions)
Running Time:
43 minutes (approx)
Sound Quality:
(6) Poor Over-Copied Studio Mixes
Tape Gradings Explained here
review by KARSTEN
ROEKENS
© 2000 Fodderstompf.com / F&F Publishing
Notes:
It is surprising for a band who spent so much time in the studio recording
this album that nothing ever leaked out into the bootleg market. Nothing
except this one tape. Often labeled 'Metal Box Demos',
it features some outtakes and remixes from the 'Metal Box' sessions
(recorded at The Manor in Oxfordshire and Townhouse Studios in London,
spring 1979). Running orders' are commonly swapped around by traders,
with tracks often being duplicated again and again to extend the running
time, but this is the definitive break down of what is actually there...
Track by Track Review:
Death Disco
(aka Swan Lake)
This is a completely different version to the single or album release,
perhaps an earlier version or a later re-recording with Richard Dudanski
on drums, who knows? The rhythm track is different and Lydon's vocals
are an alternate take too. Although the track starts abruptly mid-song
it's still 4:50 long. This take has more dub elements than the known
version, beginning with drums only, then echoey guitar with additional
synth thrown in, the bass line sets in after half a minute (Wobble even
plays a few different notes towards the end of the song). Sometime after
the middle of the song all the instruments, except bass and drums, drop
out with the reverb looped and set in again after a while - great! It's
sickening that the sound quality is so bad... This track is titled as
'Swan Lake' on some versions of the tape...
Socialist
Two versions here. First we have an alternate take to the album version,
there's a short fog-horn like synthesizer sound before the song starts,
otherwise it's not much different. The second version of the track is
much more interesting, as there are some vocals by Jah Wobble on it.
To my ears the rhythm track is the same one as on 'Metal Box' (with
one short drum break mixed in mid-song), but there are different synthesizer
overdubs on it and some interesting vocoder sounds. During the second
half of the song Wobble sings something like "Being a socialist/under
the cover" and ending the song with a repeated "Socialist,
Socialist, Socialeeeest".
No Birds Do Sing
Three times the album version, perhaps an exercise in trying out different
mixes. However, the sound quality is so bad and the variations so
minimal (if there are any) that you would never notice. The counting-in
on the hi-hat on the first version could sound a little different
than on the other two, but I think it's just playing tricks with my
ears. What's special about these versions is that they are some 10
seconds longer before they fade out than on 'Metal Box' (you won't
find many people who think that's exciting - I do!)
Beat the Drum
For Me (aka Moonlight Melody)
Don't get over-excited, this is not an unreleased PiL song but a Jah
Wobble solo track recorded during the 'Metal Box' sessions with drummer
David Humphrey (see interview). It was released in 1980 on
Wobble's first solo album 'Betrayal'. We have 4 versions here: two versions
which come pretty close to the final album take, on one of them the
majority of the vocals are removed and a few synths are added. Then
there are two slowed-down dub mixes, which are tacked onto another so
that they form one 9:00 long track...This track is titled 'Moonlight
Melody' on some versions of the tape, perhaps a working title, or simply
made up by the bootlegger/trader...
Conclusion
The fact that this tape includes PiL AND Jah Wobble
outtakes, plus the fact that one PiL track has a Wobble vocal on it
is suspicious. In my opinion this tape once belonged to him, (and was
most likely copied without him knowing) from the period when he recorded
his first album during the PiL sessions (remember it included reworkings
of 'The Suit' and 'Graveyard'). It could even be this is the infamous
tape that quickened Wobble's departure from the band? It's a shame that
endless copying and re-copying reduced the sound quality to such a mess...
* BEWARE *
"Metal Box Demos 2" -
Fake!
Running Order:
1. Albatross
2. No birds Do Sing
3. Graveyard
4. The Suit
5. Socialist
6. Chant
7. Radio 4
8. Death Disco (from 12")
9. Fodderstompf (Megga Mix)
10. Memories (Single Version)
11. Another
review by KARSTEN
ROEKENS
© 2000 Fodderstompf.com / F&F Publishing
Notes:
There is another tape in circulation which allegedly contains "demos"
and "remixes" of 'Metal Box' songs Again, labeled "Demos",
often as 'Metal Box Demos 2'. Running orders' are commonly
duplicated and swapped around by traders, with these tracks even being
added to the above takes to confuse things even further...
Review:
This is an absolute fake typical for tape traders in the 80's, you can
even hear the sound of the needle in the grooves! It's very simple to
create "remixes" like that: take a very shitty stereo, turn
down all the lows, put it into your bathroom, switch off the right channel
and tape it with even shittier equipment, preferably from the corridor.
You will be surprised how different it sounds and how many things and
nuances you hear that you never noticed before! This is not collectable,
at least until the fake itself becomes collectable one day?
"ALBATROSS"
LP
(Fake compilation)
Running Order:
1. Memories
2. Death Disco
3. Fodderstompf (megga mix)
4. Poptones
5. Careering
6. Socialist
7. Graveyard
8. The Suit
9. Attack (live)
Running Time:
45 minutes (approx)
Sound Quality:
(7.5) Fake Vinyl Compilation
Tape Gradings Explained here
review by Scott
M
© 2000 Fodderstompf.com / F&F Publishing
Notes:
Despite coming from vinyl, it can still be quite a muddy recording.
Review:
Yet another 'rip off' 'Metal Box' "demos" compilation. Again,
simply made up of various B-sides, 12" mixes, along with five tracks
straight from 'Metal Box', & 'Attack' from 'Paris Au Printemps'. A
complete waste of time, which ironically enough doesn't even feature 'Albatross'.
Pointless...