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

KILLING JOKE / Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions (1990)

Drummer extraordinaire Martin Atkins (PiL) joined the existing trio of Jaz Coleman, Geordie Walker and Paul Raven for Killing Joke's ninth album, a release that thankfully washed away the awful memory of Outside the Gate (1988). It was a return to the heavier sound, taking a slightly evolved form of the early riffage and putting more emphasis on the industrial side of things, all the while keeping the melodies and madness that underpinned much of that early work.
Taken on its own merits, it's a decent album from the era that'll please fans but will be unlikely to win KJ many new ones. From the other perspective, judged alongside past albums, it'd fit on the Not-Their-Best-but-Not-Their-Worst shelf.

Songs of Note: Money is Not Our God; Age of Greed

3 painful, painful truths out of 5

PIGFACE / A New High in Low (1997)

ANHiL is a double album. Given its extra length (easy, tiger), it would be natural to assume that it contains even more collaborations than usual, but the opposite is true, it has very few contributors. It almost seems more like a Martin Atkins solo work (with a handful of guests) than a typical Pigface release.
The first disc has twelve tracks spread over fifty+ minutes. There are some half-decent efforts, but overall it's not up to the usual standard.
The second disc is either more interesting or less bearable, depending on your opinion of professional boundary-breaker Genesis P-Orridge, because it's the work of just s/he and Atkins. It's seventy+ minutes of meandering musical self-indulgence that's split over just three tracks.

Songs of Note: Nutopia (w/ Meg Lee Chin); Methylated (w/ The Girl Bros)

3 grotesque attenuations 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

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Commercial Zone (1984)

I don't have space to document the childish events surrounding the release of Commercial Zone (Wiki has info), it's easier to say that it's guitarist Keith Levene's alternative version of the This is What You Want... (1984) album. Five of the eight tracks appear on TiWYW, but with a distinctly different mix. CZ got a semi-official release in America, but it still sounds like a half-finished demo leak. PiL fans will want to track it down, but be prepared for it to split opinion and incite argument as to the legitimacy of inclusion in the band's official discography.

Songs of Note: ...  (I'm not going to start that debate.)

2½ sandpaper editions out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Plastic Box (1999)

If you already own the PiL albums, then you may have overlooked Plastic Box, thinking it a worthless Best Of… It kind of is(n't). It contains 4 discs, which is most of the first five albums minus half a dozen tracks (with some tracks from album number 2 replaced by the 1979 Peel Sessions - they're superb). The later PiL albums are less well-represented but they aren't very good anyhow. Elsewhere, you get some alternate 12" mixes, B-Sides, a few tracks culled from compilations and a film soundtrack, and finally the 1992 Mark Goodier Live Session. The early stuff is remastered and sounds fantastic. If you're new to PiL, it's the perfect place to start. If you're an existing fan, it'll have rarities throughout that'll make you very happy, but paying twice for stuff you already own is never fun.

5 enclosed walls out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / This is What You Want... This is What You Get (1984)

It's PiL but it's different… again. It's a lot more musical and full of Funk than before (after the previous album they had nowhere else to go in the non-music direction) with sax, keyboards, violin and the bass again to the fore; it's an interesting sound. It spawned a few classics that pleased long-time fans, but suffers from the absence of Jah Wobble. I view it as a kind of transition album between what came before and the Pop sensibilities of what would come after.

Songs of Note: This is Not a Love Song; The Order of Death

3½ then the bastard dropped me out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / The Flowers of Romance (1981)

I didn't think PiL could go any more experimental than their previous albums had managed, but they did with Flowers of Romance, a landmark release. It's mostly percussion-based songs with John Lydon doing his weird voice thing over the top of unusual and/or repetitive drum beats. The percussion is provided by both Keith Levene and the masterful Martin Atkins, so it never sounds less than amazing. There are occasional jangly guitar moments and keyboards as well. I can imagine the record execs panicking like gazelles when it went to press.

Songs of Note: Flowers of Romance, Under the House

5 chocolates instead out of 5

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / Metal Box (1979)

PiL's second album pushed the boundaries even more of what experimental music could be. Jah Wobble's bass was again to the fore but was this time accompanied by Keith Levene's fully aluminium guitar, both of which helped lift John Lydon's vocals to something truly unique. Pretentious art students and music theorists loved it. It sounds as unique today as it did back in '79.

The original packaging was a 12" metal film can (pictured) with three vinyl records inside. When it was reissued in regular packaging (double vinyl, gatefold) the name was changed to Second Edition. Years later, a CD edition paid homage to the original design, packaged in a CD-size metal tin. I have it. It's sexy.

Songs of Note: Albatross; The Suit

4 they love you until they know you 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