Coil – Backwards

"A Cold Cell", "Ayor" and "Backwards" were played live at the Teatro Delle Celebrazioni in Bologna, Italy, back in April 2002. That was the second and, alas, last time I had the luck of attending a Coil live performance. Those songs haunted me for over a decade, until I could finally listen to their original version here on this fantastic 2LP set. And it gets me even more upset thinking about Jhon Balance's sudden death in 2004, right when they were starting to finally achieve some big recognition. I can't stop wondering what would have happened, had "Backwards" been released with a big sponsorship from NIN's Reznor in, like, 1997, while the UK electronics scene of Warp Records, Prodigy, Orbital, The Orb etc. was enjoying huge worldwide success. Anyway, "A Cold Cell," "Fire Of The Mind" and "Heaven's Blade" are three of Coil's absolutely best songs, essential listening to anyone who wants to dive into their dark world of moon musick.

Ok, I don't get why people diss this release so hard. One thing you could always count on Coil for was that insert Coil album A would greatly differ from insert Coil album B. They were not one to ever be repetitive. And Backwards fit right on in their discography and timeline even if the men themselves weren't so sure. Perhaps there was a bit of stigma with Trent Reznor and Chris Vrenna's popularity/involvement? Frankly, if I didn't already know that I don't really hear a shred of influence other than the Coil remix work of NIN (which frankly was and is fantastic) but even then, not so much. I found it nice to hear a lot of Balances vocals throughout an album for a change. And the songs almost touch a more "accessible" sound but it's got that straight beloved what makes the normies skin-crawl sound that us fans love. I wish it would have been available when it was originally finished. I would have to say in fact that anyone who wants to explore more into their discography (truly the Golden Hare with a Voice of Silver is an EXCELLENT Coil sampler) but starting with a full album to album Backwards is a good way to go. It's damn near smack dab in the middle of Coils lifespan and has echoes of previous releases and predictions of what was to come. But like any other releases holds its own individuality. So, there. Besides if there is any Coil release that seems to not fit, it's Loves Secret Domain. Yeah, I said it damnit! We all have our opinions though.

No distorsion, no clicks, on the D side of my own copy (came with a postcard, thus from Cold Spring).

I preordered so my copy was from the first pressing and it’s flawless, no distortion or defects. Not only that but it sounds phenomenal, so dynamic and beautiful.

I listened to the disc with headphones and I did not notice any type of distortion,
nor on the D side.
Some horrible pressing have appears in the market in the last years but this is OK

Since everyone else is taking liberties with Coil's music, I'm going to go ahead change the file name of "Be Careful What You Wish For" back to the name it was called in every other incarnation of this material while Jhon & Peter were around back to - ELVES
I like that much better and it's what the track actually sounds like to me...devious little elves!

Also I must say, the art work for this is real shame considering the effort Coil put into their packaging etc.. Definitely shows a laziness and lack of care by those who put this out. I guess that's how it is when you're just looking for a quick cash grab and just want to rush out there with very little thought.

To be honest I hope there's no further supposed releases under the name Coil. Jhonn (Geff) and Peter were THE ONLY people sanctioned to release music under the name Coil but somehow there is still material surfacing? I for one have no way of knowing if any of this stuff is really the work they did or just thrown together by other people close to Coil looking to cash in on their name. This goes for "Time Machines II" Backwards [2015]", "Electric Sewer Age I, II", "Unreleased NIN remixes". Fo me, those releases will always live in a separate grey area as to the uncertainty of their authenticity. No offense to Danny Hyde and whoever organized the release of TMII...just saying.

Happy to say my copy just arrived. No distortion on side D. High quality set.

The only things I don't like about this release are external to the music. However it was said, that it is the final order of tracks, it seems to me very chaotic (in a bad way). Minor changes like replacing Amber Rain with AYOR give this album much more fluency. It looks like story then. Story about a man who saw the strangest things which should not be seen by human eyes and now they're burning him from the inside.

I haven't listened to my vinyl copy of this so I can't chime in on the distortion conversation.
I do appreciate the very late released of this album although to me it hasn't aged well (but I also think the same or House Rotorvator, so my opinion may not mean much!). The track Backwards itself while being a wonderful piece of Coil is also a great example of the anachronism of mid nineties industrial dance music. I've never really considered Coil an industrial dance band (they are so unlike Ministry, KMFDM, etc...) but this particular piece seems to place them into that genre. Perhaps it was the zeitgeist...
Heaven's Blade me has always been the Greek of the Backwards sessions and the version here is one of Clio's pop masterpieces.
What disappointed me the most about these mixes was the complete disappearance of Mick Harris's drums. Were they actually removed and replaced with tinny drum machines on this supposed final mix? Or were they removed later? To me the Dutch radio version of Spastiche sounds so much more in line with the whole of Coil's back catalogue that the absence of the live drums here makes no sense. But what do I know? Nothing...

No distortion on the D-side from my personal copie. The entire 2xLP sounds perfectly. The rest, to me, is the traditional argument, when "everyone" died in a band, that "new" sound sources emerge from the past. That said, it's interesting, specially 'bout Coil, who appears to be the dark master-class to shine in some of the business and cultural environments.