''Nail'' is the fourth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel. It was released in October 1985, through record labels Self Immolation and

Some Bizzare Some Records was a British independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterpr ...

Background

The album incorporates a variety of musical genres, including classical and

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...

, and the lyrics are often esoteric. 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", a paraphrase of a line from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' (Hamlet: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio..."). The line "

Turn on, tune in, drop out "Turn on, tune in, drop out" is a counterculture-era phrase popularized by Timothy Leary in 1966. In 1967, Leary spoke at the Human Be-In, a gathering of 30,000 hippies in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and phrased the famous words, "Turn o ...

" in "DI-1-9026" refers to the

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

phrase.

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...

is also referenced, with a variation of the chant "Fee, fie, foe, fum!" appearing in the final track.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

called it "possibly the best Foetus album ..the sheer range of this music is hard to believe."

Track listing

:Note: Some CD pressings place "The Throne of Agony" and "!" together on one track.

Re-issue

In 2007, the album was re-released by

records in a

digipack Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

format with remastered audio and re-worked artwork.

Accolades

Personnel

Warne Livesey Warne Livesey (born 12 February 1959) is a British/Canadian music producer, mixing engineer, songwriter and musician. He has produced Midnight Oil, The The, Matthew Good Band and Deacon Blue. Life and career Warne Livesey started his career in L ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

J. G. Thirlwell James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960), styled as JG Thirlwell and also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other pseudonyms, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer known for juxtaposing a variety of dif ...

(as Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel) –

instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...

, production,

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

*Tim Young – mastering

Charts

References

External links

*
''Nail'' at the official Foetus website
{{Authority control 1985 albums Foetus (band) albums Albums produced by JG Thirlwell Some Bizzare Records albums