Nail [Import, Original recording remastered]

Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 12, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Some Bizarre
• ASIN: B000NO1T2G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,938 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Japanese Title

2. Japanese Title

3. Japanese Title

4. Japanese Title

5. Japanese Title

6. Japanese Title

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9. Japanese Title

10. Japanese Title

Editorial Reviews

2006 digitally remastered digipak reissue with restored artwork for this 1985 album from Jim Thirlwell and his Foetus friends. 10 tracks including 'Pigswill', 'Enter The Exterminator' and more. Some Bizarre.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a descent into an inferno..., January 25, 2003

By 

D. M. MATALLIN "Origami" (Valencia, Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nail (Audio CD)

but an inferno full of interesting things.

For those who don't know, Foetus is Jim Thirlwell, a very important remixer who has worked with bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Front 242, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Einsturzende Neubauten, among others.

I must admit that, though I have known him as a remixer for almost 10 years now, that is, since I listened to a remix he did of Religion by Front 242, as an independent musician I just know him for 2 or 3 months.

Now, when I listened to this album I realised I had committed a mistake by not having paid him attention earlier.

Foetus denies to be considered "industrial". I'm not going to make a speech about my disliking labels and all that 'cos it would bore you, but I'll just tell you that Foetus IS industrial...AND LOTS OF MORE THINGS. When you listen to Foetus, and especially to this album and the previous ones, you realise of some things:

1. That the amazing band Einsturzende Neubauten (probably my second favourite band, just after The Legendary Pink Dots) were not alone in their concept of music made by inventing ayny instrument you can imagine.

2. That Thirlwell must listen to a lot of diverse music and he mixes all those influences in his records: industrial, jazz, lounge, classical, pop, punk...

3. That Foetus is an agressive band with a lot of sense of humour.

My favourite songs are:

- 'The Throne of Agony', where Foetus shows all his potentials, including agressiveness and sense of melody in the same packet.

-'Pigswill', where Foetus shows that Einsturzende Neubauten concept of noisy music, both descendants of Can's Tago Mago.

- 'Descent into the Inferno', a song which starts very calm, a sort of industrial blues which shows us the sensitive side of Foetus, but as it progresses everything starts to get more and more "punk-ish"

- 'Enter the Exterminator', where again the Einsturzende Neubauten similarities are obvious. More whispered than screamed.

- 'Anything', another good industrial song.

I used to be a pure industrial lover. Years ago I only listened to bands such as Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, etc. Now I consider some (not all, of course)of those bands are too monolythical. Their voices (especially FLA's, Wumpscut's, etc) are distorted and lack humanity.
Foetus' voice is at first sight similar. But when you get used to his raw singing, you start to observe that he does a lot of things with his voice. He's more a sort of Nick Cave singer.

Nail is probably his best album. If you like it, get 'Hole', the previous album. You'll find there how Foetus dares even to parody Beach Boys.

One last thing. If you have never listened to Foetus, don't get scared by its name. I also thought this was going to be just another pseudo-gothic band with bad taste. (see Nosferatu, for example) But you'll get a band that should deserve more recognition.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, July 8, 1999

By 

M. Nelson (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nail (Audio CD)

Jim Thirwell (a.k.a. Foetus) does NOT consider himself "industrial." He would just as soon crack your skull than call himself that. Regardless, many bands that DO label themselves as "industrial" have named him as one of their influences -- and with good cause. Foetus has managed to crank out an amazing set of music during his career. NAIL is far and away my favorite of all of his works. It's rather hard to put to words what it is about this LP that I like so much. As a whole it is an amazing, encompassing story about Earth as a living hell -- filled with perverts, racists, serial-killers, and the people who exploit them. The lyrics will singe your eyebrows at times, and at other times they are firmly planted tounge-in-cheek. The music is chaos to a beat, sometimes hailing to different genre styles such as swing, blues, and jazz. Metal clangs and crashes are abundant along with other noises sometimes too bizarre to describe with mere words. If you claim to like "industrial," or variations of it, you should do yourself a favor and buy this CD immediately. It may take some time to grow on you, but once it gets into your head you won't be able to get it out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thirlwell's sick and twisted masterpiece, November 14, 2004

By 

Bighairydoofus "-" (Brooklyn Park, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nail (Audio CD)

This is the follow up album to HOLE, an excellent album in it's own right, but after listening to this, it seems that he was merely getting a running start for NAIL, his best album. Thirlwell comes off as a demented and evil Tom Waits, telling sordid stories of hell, hatred, suffering and misogyny. These tales are told with an angry delivery, tempered with a sense of humor that is, well, just WRONG, but right...

That sense of humor is what sets him apart from artists that came along later. They had the anger, but they lacked the humor. Mr. Thirlwell can say the most horrendous things, but by using a twist of phrase (musical or lyrical) he sets you giggling, albeit guiltily. But be warned, there's some truly offensive stuff here. It's not for the faint of heart, but for the brave and open minded there's an opportunity to hear a true pioneer, a man with talent that took real risks nearly *gulp* twenty years ago...