Oil & Gold

Oil & Gold
Studio album by Shriekback
Released 1985
Genre New wave, pop rock
Length 44:15
Label Island
Producer Barry Andrews
Shriekback chronology
Jam Science
(1984)
Oil & Gold
(1985)
Big Night Music
(1986)

Oil & Gold, the third full-length Shriekback album, is widely considered the band's highest moment. Released in 1985 on Arista Records in UK and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and on Island Records in the United States,[1] after the failure of 1984's Jam Science on Arista Records, Oil & Gold saw the band metamorphose from contemplative to rocking. The addition of Martyn Barker on drums and Lu Edmonds on guitar gives many of the songs an almost punk rock feeling, although the album also features synthesizers from the prolific film soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer.[2]

In many ways, Oil & Gold is the bridge between the old trio of Barry Andrews, Carl Marsh, and Dave Allen, and the new vehicle for Andrews alone. Longtime singer Marsh left the band halfway through the recording, leaving Andrews to take over the vocals. Still, the album's highlights, including the three opening songs, sung by Marsh, and the minor hit, "Nemesis", became the band's signature sound. The album brought them a far wider audience than they had previously enjoyed, and sold well in its U.S. release on Island Records.[3] Both of the singles released from the album reached the Top 100 in the UK singles chart: "Nemesis" reached number 94 and "Fish Below The Ice" reached number 88.[4]

The two songs "This Big Hush" and "Coelocanth" were featured in Michael Mann's 1986 film Manhunter and "Faded Flowers" was featured in Band of the Hand. "This Big Hush" was also used in season 6 episode 7 of Nip/Tuck.[5] The song "Everything That Rises Must Converge" refers to the short story of that name by Flannery O'Connor. The song "Nemesis" is apparently about the hypothetical star orbiting the Sun, a theory published the year before the album's release,[6] although the video features the 2000 AD character Nemesis the Warlock.[7]

Track listing

All songs written by Dave Allen, Barry Andrews, Martyn Barker and Carl Marsh.

  1. "Malaria" – 4:29
  2. "Everything That Rises Must Converge" – 4:03
  3. "Fish Below the Ice" – 4:24
  4. "This Big Hush" – 6:11
  5. "Faded Flowers" – 3:44
  6. "Nemesis" – 3:43
  7. "Only Thing That Shines" – 4:23
  8. "Health and Knowledge and Wealth and Power" – 4:44
  9. "Hammerheads" – 4:17
  10. "Coelocanth" – 4:13

2011 Bonus Disc

  1. "Suck (BBC Live at Hatfield Polytechnic 1984)"
  2. "Mothloop (BBC Live at Hatfield Polytechnic 1984)"
  3. "Feelers (BBC Live at Hatfield Polytechnic 1984)"
  4. "Nemesis (Extended Mix)"
  5. "Nemesis (Arch Deviant Mix)"
  6. "Fish Below Ice (7" Edit)"
  7. "Lined Up"
  8. "My Spine (Is the Bassline)"
  9. "Fish Below Ice (Plankton Enriched Mix)"
  10. "Fish Below Ice (Dance Mix)"

Personnel

References

  1. Shriekback – Oil And Gold discogs.com, retrieved 20 May 2015
  2. Sound: Dialogue, Music, and Effects. Edited by Kathryn Kalinak, Rutgers University Press, 1 May 2015, Ch.5, p.120. ISBN 9780813564289
  3. About Shriekback, MTV, retrieved 05 June 2016
  4. Shriekback full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company, retrieved 14 June 2016
  5. Shriekback Music - Tunefind retrieved 07 June 2016
  6. Leader-Post, "Scientists claim killer star exists", 22 Feb 1984, Page B6, Associated Press
  7. Shriekback - Nemesis, YouTube, retrieved 01 June 2015
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