''Pigpile'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by the American musical group

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Dur ...

. It is a recording from July 24, 1987 during the

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

band's final European tour, released in 1992 originally as a

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

tape (it was their second video release, following the 'Live' tape on Atavistic Records). It was later issued as an audio-only LP/cassette/CD. The recordings were made at the Hammersmith Clarendon ballroom,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. A 5" transparent heavy-duty vinyl record was included away free with all copies of the VHS tape and some copies of the soundtrack album, featuring a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

Mary Jane Girls The Mary Jane Girls were an American girl group formed in 1979, best known for their songs "In My House", "All Night Long (Mary Jane Girls song), All Night Long", "Candy Man", and their cover version of "Walk Like a Man (The Four Seasons song), ...

song "In My House". Lower-quality recordings from the Hammersmith concert had previously appeared in a different configuration on the bootleg LP ''Tonight We Walked With Giants''. ''Pigpile'' coincided with the re-release of Big Black's entire catalog on

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. To ...

. A limited edition of ''Pigpile'' was issued as a box set that included the LP and its insert, a VHS tape of the Hammersmith concert, the "In My House" one-sided 5" single, a poster and a Big Black T-shirt.

Reception

Released five years after Big Black chose to disband at the peak of their artistic and commercial success, ''Pigpile'' received concurrent and retrospective reviews ranging from lukewarm to gushing. Writing shortly after the album's release, '' Spin'' magazine remarked that ''Pigpile'' was "a live album with sound quality unworthy of an audio nut like Albini." Looking back at Albini's career through Big Black and his subsequent band, Rapeman a decade on, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called ''Pigpile'' a "fun-but-not-revelatory live album," ranking it a notch below any of the group's studio albums.

Track listing

# "Fists of Love" – 4:14 # "L Dopa" – 1:49 # "Passing Complexion" – 3:06 # "Dead Billy" – 5:12 # "Cables" – 3:18 # "Bad Penny" – 3:03 # "Pavement Saw" – 2:56 # "Kerosene" – 6:38 # "Steelworker" – 4:52 # "Pigeon Kill" – 2:24 # "Fish Fry" – 1:55 # "Jordan, Minnesota" – 7:05

Album credits

- Performance *

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

- Inlay Notes *Cheryl Graham - Album Artwork

References

{{Big Black Big Black albums 1992 live albums Touch and Go Records live albums Au Go Go Records live albums