| Nail | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Studio | Livingston, Paradise and Wave Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Industrial, industrial rock, avant-garde | |||
| Length | 40:04 | |||
| Label | Self Immolation/Some Bizzare | |||
| Producer | J. G. Thirlwell, Warne Livesey | |||
| J. G. Thirlwell chronology | ||||
| ||||
Nail is the fourth studio album by Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel. It was released in October 1985, through record labels Self Immolation and Some Bizzare.
The album incorporates a variety of musical genres, including classical and industrial rock, and the lyrics are often esoteric. [1] For example, the tempo and instrumentation in "Descent into the Inferno" is infrequent: the song's first half is sparse and percussive; in the latter stages the song gathers momentum and features synthesizers. "The Overture from Pigdom Come", a composition resembling a classical piece of music, is juxtaposed with perhaps the most brutal track on the album, "Private War", a track that features one minute of various grinding noises.
There are various obscure references within the songs, some more lucid than others. "The Throne of Agony" has the lyrics "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew me well", [2] a paraphrase of a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet (Hamlet: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio..."). The line "Turn on, tune in, drop out" in "DI-1-9026" refers to the Timothy Leary phrase. Jack and the Beanstalk is also referenced, with a variation of the chant "Fee, fie, foe, fum!" appearing in the final track.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Sounds | [3] |
AllMusic called it "possibly the best Foetus album [...] the sheer range of this music is hard to believe." [1]
All tracks are written by J. G. Thirlwell.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Theme from Pigdom Come" | 1:52 |
| 2. | "The Throne of Agony" | 5:18 |
| 3. | "!" | 0:04 |
| 4. | "Pigswill!" | 6:13 |
| 5. | "Descent into the Inferno" | 6:17 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Enter the Exterminator" | 4:43 |
| 2. | "DI-1-9026" | 4:40 |
| 3. | "The Overture from Pigdom Come" | 3:01 |
| 4. | "Private War" | 1:06 |
| 5. | "Anything (Viva!)" | 6:50 |
In 2007, the album was re-released by Some Bizzare records in a digipack format with remastered audio and re-worked artwork.
| Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Alternative Press | United States | "Top 99 of '85 to '95" | 29 | [4] |
| "*" denotes an unordered list. | |||||
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Chart [5] | 1 |
The The are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. The The achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles, and their most successful album, Infected (1986), spent 30 weeks on the chart. They followed this with the Top Ten albums Mind Bomb (1989) and Dusk (1993).
Foetus is a solo musical project of Australian musician, JG Thirlwell. The project has had many similar names, each including the word "Foetus". The "members" of the project are aliases of Thirlwell; they include Frank Want, Phillip Toss, and Clint Ruin. Thirlwell occasionally collaborates with other artists, but does not consider them to be members of Foetus.
James George Thirlwell, also known as JG Thirlwell, Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other names, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for juxtaposing a variety of different musical styles.
Hole is a Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel album released in September 1984. It was the first Foetus material released by Self Immolation through Some Bizzare. In 1995, Hole was given a US re-release by Thirsty Ear.
Thaw is a Foetus Interruptus album released by Self Immolation/Some Bizzare in September 1988 and also released on Some Bizzare 1995, by Thirsty Ear. The track "English Faggot/Nothin Man" was inspired by a harassing message Thirlwell received on his answering machine.
Steroid Maximus is an instrumental side project of J.G. Thirlwell. Thirlwell is best known for his main band, Foetus. Steroid Maximus contains elements of jazz, big band, avant-garde, soundtrack and exotica styles.
Sink is a Foetus Inc compilation album that was first released in 1989 on Self Immolation/Some Bizzare. It compiles rare and unreleased songs from various Foetus projects from 1981–1989. Many of the rare tracks on the album have been edited shorter than their original length.
Deaf is the debut album by J. G. Thirlwell's You've Got Foetus on Your Breath, released in 1981 on Thirlwell's own Self Immolation Records label. Deaf, along with its follow-up Ache, was recorded with an 8-track recorder.
Flow is a Foetus album released in 2001. It is also seen as a return to form for Foetus. The album was remixed as Blow.
Self Immolation is a record label and publishing company run by J. G. Thirlwell. Originally an actual label for Thirlwell's self-released early Foetus EPs and albums, Self Immolation became more akin to a vanity label for Thirlwell's releases on Some Bizzare Records and Wax Trax! Records. Most Self Immolation releases are identified by a call number beginning with a Foetal-inspired "WOMB" designator.
Bedrock is an EP by The Foetus All-Nude Revue released by Self Immolation/Some Bizzare in 1987.
"Panic" and "Tainted Love" are songs recorded by British experimental music band Coil. These were released in 1985 through Some Bizzare in the UK and Wax Trax! Records in the US respectively, as the band's first single, and the sole one from their 1984 debut studio album, Scatology. Originally released on twelve-inch vinyl discs, the single was regarded as the first AIDS benefit release, and has been reissued several times on compact discs.
Dirtdish is an album by Wiseblood. It was released in 1986 by K.422/Some Bizzare. It was re-released on CD in 1995 by Thirsty Ear. The CD release of Dirtdish is Some Bizzare #WISE 3CD.
Argyle Park was an underground industrial rock supergroup founded in New York City in 1994 and active until 1996. Members of the group reformed under the name AP2 in 1998, and were active under that name until winter 2000. Signed to Christian music labels, the band suffered repeated controversies within the Christian music scene for not being positive and evangelistic enough in its lyrics and outlook as well as for including contributions from non-Christian musicians. The project was named after an actual park in Babylon, Long Island, where the members of Argyle Park grew up together.
Misguided is Argyle Park's only album under that name. The album was released on March 21, 1995, by R.E.X. Records into the Christian rock market, and sits alongside other early 90s work by Circle of Dust and Mortal as being instrumental in introducing industrial music to the Christian music scene. The album was nominated for Best Metal/Hard Rock Album at the 27th Annual GMA Dove Awards in 1996.
The following list details the discography of the British independent record label, Some Bizzare Records. The label is notable for hosting such artists as Soft Cell, The The and Marc Almond. The discography is broken down into different media type sections.
Some Bizzare [sic] Records was a British independent record label owned by Stevo Pearce. The label was founded in 1981, with the release of Some Bizzare Album, a compilation of unsigned bands including Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, The The, Neu Electrikk and Blancmange.
Ramrod is an EP by Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel released by Self Immolation/Some Bizzare in 1987.
York is an album by The Foetus Symphony Orchestra featuring Lydia Lunch, released in 1997 by Thirsty Ear Recordings. Unlike Foetus' other albums, York is a wholly collaborative work. A "travelogue and exploration of DUMBO ", York features J. G. Thirlwell as composer and conductor for a group of notable New York City musicians. The musicians, almost all of whom had worked with Thirlwell before, were encouraged to freely improvise on their parts. Lydia Lunch, a regular Thirlwell collaborator, narrates the proceedings.
The Venture Bros.: The Music of JG Thirlwell is a soundtrack album by J. G. Thirlwell, released on April 7, 2009 by Williams Street. It comprises music that Thirlwell composed for the animated television series The Venture Bros. The CD features 20 tracks, while the vinyl LP release is 16 tracks and a download link of the complete release including the songs omitted from the LP.
