Customer Reviews

Nail

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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...

This is one of Foetus's most interesting cd's, because it's so extremely totally different from Foetus releases such as GASH or THAW or FLOW, music people know him through most now. The spine of NAIL might be the 2 songs with soft synth classical instrumentation that feel like a warm breeze on your face (a warm breeze concealing a severe psychotic episode?). Another song that serves to establish the tone of the album, with a title that seems like more of a stratagem than anything else, is Throne of Agony. It's easily one of the most fun, accessible songs Foetus has ever released. In the course of the cd, of course, there's other experimentation that goes in more different directions. He does a little gritty noise that could almost be early Einsturzende Neubauten if not for the string sections. He does some weird electronic things I don't know how to describe except by assuring you that they don't sound like any kind of noise but are music. After all this, & a delightful short instrumental classical reprise, the cd ends with 2 songs that go together like an arch. They slam you back down into the world of possibly by repeating angrily, carnally, "I can do any goddamn thing I want! Anything!" The music that ends the cd is no more than a very heavy slam of cold metallic percussion that repeats.

Let's just say that if the 4 Horsepeople of the Apocalypse (aw, c'mon... you REALLY didn't think they were *all* men, did you?) have a Top-10 list of albums, this must rate the cornerstone spot. Jim Foetus (a.k.a. Clint Ruin, a.k.a. J.G. Thirlwell) piles on the layers of gleeful sonic terror as this epic song-cycle slices thru your brain like a brand new scalpel: the faux-cinematic overture, the wails of the cursed during "Throne of Agony" (which is partially built around Lalo Schifrin's tasty theme for the "Mission:IMPOSSIBLE" TV series), the "swinging sounds" vocal chorus with their "doo-bah-dah-pow!" refrains on "Descent into the Inferno", and the obligatory Chuckles Manson reference ("DI-1-9026", allegedly the phone number for the Spahn Ranch), all served up like a fresh patient etherized upon a table for your approval. If this isn't in your collection, you are nowhere near as noise-savvy as you pretend to be whilst posing with your all your trendy friends. So get it now and save some face while you still can.

this was my first foetus album,ive had it for like 10 years or so;and it still blows me away! i highly recommend this as a good starting point for foetus beginners...every musical genre is contained within.this is the real thing, not that crap that NIN and marilyn manson are doing.if you like old skool industrial et al skinny puppy,ministry,coil,pig then you would love this.

I have been a fan of Thirwell's for 20 years and this is still my favorite work of his. The sound is well developed and orchestral he is a master at layering sound and here he has some of the most creative lyrics to ever be laid down. I have owned this on vinyl since it was released, but buying this CD has renewed my enthusiasm for it. I don't this his music can be compared to other bands sounds and this album is a very unique sounding album. It is considered industrial but when you listen to it the sound is more of an orchestral soundtrack sound with Thirwell's growling vocals singing some of the most creative and intense lyrics you have ever heard. In fact Thirwell is now as well known for his instrumental work in Steriod Maximus and Manzilla as well as composing the score for the adult swim cartoon the Venture Brothers. This album is a true album in the way that all of the songs flow from one to another and together present the whole story, to get the most out of it you need to listen to the whole album and not just individual songs.

Nail is one of the most amazing records you will ever buy. The orchestral moves it makes over the most cranked-up-rockin-punky-noise will blow you away. This is mania at its best. Thirlwell had it for a few years in the middle of the 80's. If you love Skinny Puppy (or even Tom Waits from his Island years come to think of it), then do yourself a favour - BUY THIS CD!

One of the most horribly and gleefully politically incorrect records I've ever heard. Mr. Thirlwell has a very rare talent in managing to sound like he hates everyone(including himself) while still not being depressing but actually very funny. In this record he frequently makes use of various musical cliches like in decent into inferno. He uses many familiar elemnts of pop music and corrupts and twists them into wonderfully violent music, not quite industrial, not quite rock but definetley enjoyable. But i must agree keep this one away from your parents...

Twisted, brilliant, deranged, insightful. Not since the early works of Liza Minnelli have I been so moved to bowel excavation. No really, I mean it.