PIGFACE / Washingmachine Mouth (1993)

You'll find WM classed as an album, E.P. or even a maxi-single, depending on where you shop, but whatever the truth, clocking in at almost 45 minutes means it doesn't exactly skimp on content, even if it is mostly just 'dicked around' remixes of songs from Fook (1992). After the intensity of that album, the surprise of quieter tracks that are distant, hypnotic cousins of something that might be Ambient Dub was a big surprise; but surprise is what Pigface did best in those days. It's difficult to categorise. It even confuses some CD players; I'm not even kidding.

Songs of Note: Satellite (Needle in the Groove); Prepare to Die (Go! Go! Go!)

3 garden varieties with evil intent out of 5

MINISTRY / The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989)

The industrial genre owes a huge debt to Killing Joke, but Ministry really ought to owe them some royalties, too. They took everything that was good about KJ and turned it to max by adding extra aggression (borrowed from thrash) and some film samples, then fed that through a distorted sieve.
Allowing Chris Connelly to take primary vocal duties on some tracks helped immensely. Al's distorted diatribes are great in context, but Connelly's deranged ramblings are, for me, a highlight on an album by a band that in turn became as influential to others as KJ had been to them. It took Industrial to the masses.

Songs of Note: Thieves; Breathe

4½ hypocrites and bastards out of 5

PIGFACE Vs DJ Linux / Dubhead (2004)

A remix album featuring songs from the Easy Listening for Difficult Fuckheads (2003) album in various states of deconstruction. Track titles are changed so you can't tell until you pop it in the player what the hell you're getting.
It's not all Dub like the title suggests, and in typical Pigface style it's not all good either. There's a stigma of laziness attached to remix albums that Dubhead doesn't completely shed, but it's Pigface, so we lap it up anyhow.
Google tells me that DJ Linux is Chris Haskett (ex- Rollins Band guitarist).

Songs of Note: Gospel of Thomas Dub; Dub Your Own Business

3 crumbs on the table out of 5

PIGFACE / Easy Listening for Difficult Fuckheads (2003)

If you're familiar with the kind of experimental weirdness that Pigface usually deliver on their studio albums, then you'll probably notice that Easy Listening... is more accessible than most. It sounds like a band effort, as opposed to a clash of different personalities. That's both a good and bad thing: good in that it's more cohesive, but bad in that the creativity of individual participants is stifled and somewhat lost under the industrial assault.
Contributors this time include members of Moby, Public Image Limited, The Clash, Ministry, Tweaker, Revolting Cocks, Nine Inch Nails, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Nitzer Ebb, and more that I don't have room to give credit to.

Songs of Note: Sweetmeat; Mind Your Own Business

3½ squirrel nuts out of 5

PIGFACE / Welcome to Mexico... Asshole (1992)

The first proper Pigface live album sounds more like a bootleg and it's clearly cobbled together from different performances over different nights, but it has an energy and a schizophrenic appeal that makes it worthwhile.
Martin Atkins plays on most tracks. Chris Connelly and Bill Rieflin feature prominently. You also get Ogre, Trent Reznor, Paul Raven, Dave Ogilvie, etc. Everyone brings their own style and there didn't seem to be any limitation placed on improvisation, so it makes for an interesting listening experience.

Songs of Note: Blood and Sand; Weightless

3 wrong fucking centuries out of 5

THE DAMAGE MANUAL / One E.P (2000)

The Damage Manual's One (aka –>1) is an E.P. of ardent vocals, rhythmic distortion, a hammering pulse, and a second heartbeat keeping it all in sync, or to be more precise, Chris Connelly on vocals, Geordie Walker on guitar, Jah Wobble on bass, and stick man extraordinaire Martin Atkins on drums. It sounds similar to a lot of the other bands that those guys are a part of, such as Pigface, Murder Inc, etc, meaning it's more a variation on a theme than a brand new listening experience, but if you're a fan of either of them, then that's no bad thing.

Songs of Note: Sunset Gun; Damage Addict

4 midnight hits out of 5

MURDER, INC. / Murder, Inc. (1991)

Why when I search for Murder, Inc. do I get a damned hip-hop label? The Murder, Inc. I want has a members list that reads like a who's who of industrial music pioneers: Martin Atkins, Geordie Walker, Chris Connelly, Paul Raven, Paul Ferguson, and John Bechdel. If you know of those people, then you'll know it includes two of the finest drummers the scene has ever produced. Martin Atkins and 'Big Paul' Ferguson were able to work in tandem beautifully, each able to anticipate and finish the others rolls and fills like a two-headed-four-armed drum beast. But, sadly, the album never reaches the heights you'd expect. It feels like a lazy Killing Joke album, minus vocalist Jaz Coleman.

Songs of Note: Murder Inc; Red Black

3 empty glasses out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Pure Devotion (1992)

Pure Devotion was a low-price sampler for the now defunct Wax Trax record label. If you don't know Wax Trax, they were responsible for giving many of the early Industrial and Electronic bands their break. The PD compilation was my introduction to a number of them: Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Skrew, Crowforce, Hyperhead, Excessive Force, and more. It's the kind of album that you'd lend to people in order to introduce them to some new sounds. I give it a spin every now and again for nostalgia purposes, and usually fall in love with it all over again. It's a little slice of history, both the musical and the personal kind.

Songs of Note:
ACID HORSE / No Name, No Slogan; LEAD INTO GOLD / Faster Than Light

4 holes in the wall out of 5

CHRIS CONNELLY / Phenobarb Bambalam (1993)

Connelly's CV reads like a masterclass in industrial music production: Ministry, Murder Inc, Pigface, Revolting Cocks and Whitehouse are only some of what's there. I expected his solo material to be similar. Not so. Phenobarb is an expressive, emotionally charged but often quiet album that was created during a period of personal tragedy for the multi-instrumentalist. Jazz, piano, drums and guitars mesh into a thing of beauty that took me many months to really appreciate. It's an album rooted in personal pain, anguish and, above all, honesty.

Songs of Note: Souvenir from a Dream; July

4 refusals to be denied out of 5

REVOLTING COCKS / Linger Ficken' Good… and other Barnyard Oddities (1993)

Revolting Cocks started life as a comedy side project of members of Ministry and Front 242. They turned their usual industrial sound into slow and sleazy repetitive beats that were disco-friendly and appealed to people outside of their usual audience. The LFG album is filled with danceable grooves and funky bass lines but is a lot more distorted and industrial than before. It blurs the line a little and is, I feel, the best that the band ever got. The final track is either pure genius or worthless absurdity… or both. Overall, it's a good album for sleazy parties.

Songs of Note: Crackin' Up; Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

4 pimped intellects out of 5

PIGFACE / Fook (1992)

Industrial 'supergroup' that isn't afraid to try something/anything new. Headed by Martin Atkins, and frequently Chris Connelly, they exist to collaborate. Over 100 people have added their talents over the years. Fook,  arguably their best album, features the two guys already mentioned, plus Ogre (Skinny Puppy), Lesley Rankine (Ruby), Paul Raven (Killing Joke/Prong), William Tucker (Ministry) and more.
It's often percussion-heavy, regularly having two drummers, sometimes irritating but always interesting. They're impossible to define because of the plethora of influences all clashing at the creative stage. Keep an open mind, and if you like any of the artists featured, then you might fooking enjoy it.

Songs of Note: Hips, Tits, Lips, Power; I Can Do No Wrong

4 cold stairs out of 5