Favorite Coil Album

[The Silent One]

Simple enough... Sort of.

[SwansSoilMe/SwansSaveMe]

Well, I just voted for LSD, but one I don't see here is a compilation I really like as well as LSD: it is the "gentler" of a two-set composing what amounts to a Best-Of. It's been a while since I saw the English title because I got it from Russia. Coil is a scary group. The sense of dark homosexuality on things like Horse Rotovator make it hard for me personally to come back very often.

[The Silent One]

Remember, this is only LPs. Compilations are next.

Musick to Play in the Dark, Vol. 1 is my pick. The songs are pure magic. Moon musick. But I will agree, many of their albums are hard to return to, not because they are particularily dark or twisted (that's what makes much of their material more appealing, actually), but because you desperately need to be in the right mood for it. And because they aren't always inviting, it takes a while.

Now, has anyone other than me and possibly Dr. Bantham heard Astral Disaster? One of Coil's most ambient albums, with really trippy lyrics ("The Sea Priestess") when it has lyrics... "I Don't Want to Be the One", the only true blue "song", is a classic, though. But way better in a live environ.

[Ilsa]

It's hard to say which one is my favourite, I was undecided between "Scatology" and "Musick to play in the dark", but I chose the first one since noone did before..."Are you shivering?" is a great song..and what about "Broccoli"! Love it!

[beakripped]

Astral Disaster is indeed excellent. In fact most of the material Coil recorded during the few years surrounding that album ranks as my favorite Coil... Time Machines, Moon's Milk in Four Phases... Black Light District is another more ambient Coil. When I first listened to Astral Disaster (CD version) I referred to it as Black Light District pt. 2.

What about ANS? It sounds like UFOs and ghosts engaged in conversation. Again, quite ambient, but this album I'd liken to Time Machines, Elph... Worship the Glitch is one of Coil's darkest albums as far as I'm concerned.

I could never say I've got a favorite Coil album because I've got at least 10 favorites,

.

[MadsPLP]

I voted for The Ape of Naples, but it could've almost just as easily been Musick...Vol 1, which I consider a bit better than Vol. 2, in spite of "Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)" from the latter.

I, unfortunately, only own the reissue of Astral Disaster, but have heard that the original 90-or-so-copies edition shoul be superior, with a much rougher sound to it.

While I love the earlier works, I think their main problem is the sound, which - especially on LSD and Scatology - sounds a bit dated. You can hear, when they were made, which you can't do with Musick...1+2, Ape.., Black Light District, Astral Disaster, etc.
Of the live albums, I prefer vol. 4.

[paeng]

We listened to groups like Talking Heads, The Cure, Lords of the New Church, etc., but I can't remember Coil. Thanks for mentioning this. I had to search online and found a Wiki entry, official sites, and some videos, like

YouTube - COIL - TAINTED LOVE

YouTube - coil - windowpane

[Cyril Tourneur]

I've voted for 'Musick to play in the Dark Vol. 1', Coils greatest album and the one (along with Worship The Glitch) that got me in to them!

Are You Shivering?: Starts with an almost liquid guitar melody that is purely unsettling. After about a minute it shifts and strange glitches, snippets of moaning and water dripping takes over before the guitar washes over us again, and Balance sings/speaks the lyrics, finally declaring "This is Moon Music". Perfect start!

Red Birds Will Fly Out Of The East And Destroy Paris In A Night: The entire song is basically made up of sequencer beats and glitches. It starts with some creepy low-end sounds yet quickly introduces the main sequence for the song and then it's up-tempo from there! More and more sound is introduced and the song becomes progressively more chaotic and noisy as it nears it's end (and being almost 13 minutes long makes it quite a journey). It's probably the only song on the album to be called "danceable" yet it still fits in with the others, keeping the late-night feel of the other songs.

Red Queen: The first two minutes of the song is occupied by what sounds like processed feedback (same feedback can be heard on Batwings from Vol 2) and some very creepy vocals :s At the two minute mark it changes into a repetitive, piano driven and jazzy ambiance which turns out to be very hypnotic. After a while some of the creepy vocals float in again, and the song becomes more nightmarish, leading into the next song.

Broccoli: Well, that might be the deepest bass I've ever heard in a song... accompanied by the warm crackling of an old LP and what sounds like a distant trumpet. Soon a very eerie voice (or that's what it sounds like) begins singing and Sleazy sings what almost sounds like a nursery rhyme. Balance appears reciting "Wise words from the departing" and echoes some of what Sleazy is singing. After a while a piano enters playing the same melody as Sleazy.

Strange Birds: The crackles and glitches form a beat almost immediately and make way for... more crackles and glitches! Some strange synth-sounds almost make up a melody/bass line yet are lost when it all suddenly clears up to reveal: Birds! All in all this song is very, very weird and is probably the most ambient and the least conventional song on the album (seeing as it has no discernible melody). Balance's vocals sound as if he's being recorded over the telephone.

The Dreamer Is Still Asleep: Probably the most memorable song from the album, it's driven by a one-tone bass line, a simple drum-beat, an eerie keyboard melody and, let's not forget, Balance's intense singing. Balance is the true focal point in this song, as he recites surreal lyrics, and it sounds as if his singing is played in two tracks: One regular and one heavily modified and reversed track on top of it. The song is very serene and the perfect ending for the album.

Musick To Play In The Dark Vol.1 is without a doubt my favorite Coil album and possibly one favorite albums of all time!

[beakripped]

In case anyone's interested, both versions of Astral Disaster will be reissued together, but this will not happen until later next year. Meanwhile the reissues of Time Machines and Moon's Milk... w/ bonus material are still in the works. And finally, Peter has said that more vinyl reissues will come out through Important Records in the future.

One last note which I may have mentioned elsewhere: Apparently there will be an Unnatural History 4! Essentially, everything released exclusively on compilations or as limited singles since UH 3 will be on it. I saw the potential track list which leads me to believe it will be a 2CD package.

Meanwhile I'm listening to The New Backwards... a lot. Any enthusiasts who haven't checked it out yet should do so. I rank it higher than Ape or anything else that came out in the years shortly before Jhonn's death.

Paul.

[SwansSoilMe/SwansSaveMe]

Swans for Coil, anyone?
So TSO, you never answered me on whether you can send me a CD with the Skin 10 SONGS-- tracks on it.