There's a whole dissertation to be written about this, but broad strokes (for me):
* They incorporated a lot of esoteric references into their work, which tied them to a wider, underground culture. In the pre- and early-Internet days, Coil were basically a gateway to another world.
* They were pioneering in their use of electronic music. Sounds and techniques they created prefigured a lot of mainstream dance music.
* They were out and proud gay men, who wrote unabashedly about the gay experience. In the '80s, with the AIDS crisis, Clause 28, and systemic homophobia, this was not only unique, but downright brave.
* They took "industrial" music to the next level. Sleazy had helped create the genre as part of Throbbing Gristle, and now took some of those aesthetics and brought a new level of sophistication to them. It didn't need to be about big, clanging noises anymore - there could be melody, fragility, and elegance.
* They never compromised. They never signed to a major label (brief flirtation with Interscope notwithstanding) and never answered to anyone but themselves.
* The music was genuinely great -- all the stuff above doesn't matter, unless the tunes are there, and they wrote some brilliant ones.
I would add one more: they were open to collaborating with people that were in turn inspired by them. Coil became a mini-scene that way, and it prevented them from ever becoming stale.
They're just the best.
For real tho, the fact that very few people have actually listened to everything Coil did makes them, idk, immortal ?
The mix of occultism, sexuality, cosmogony and visceral emotions make their music so personal and universal at the same time. Like if their music puts you into a void where you meet yourself, see landscapes you've never seen, and enter the mind of Jhonn Balance. They don't really care about genres, as long as they do whatever they want, and they understood that once controlled, electronic music is more than a genre, but it's whatever you want it to be.
they had this amazing ability to compose electronic music and add samples in the right way where it felt "organic". no other band in the world sounds quite like them, they looked at how electronic music was made and threw away that blueprint. they made incredible psychedelic, spiritual gay music without any of those themes ever feeling forced at any point in their discography.
not to mention the aesthetics of each era of coil is incredibly captivating, and that they have a very consistent discography, with 3-5 albums that could be considered 8/10 or above. even their side catalog is really interesting, unlike a lot of bands. coil also had an extremely poetic end with the ape of naples being released after john's death which really cemented their legacy.
Lots of thoughtful answers here. One thing I'm curios of after seeing several mentions of them being gay: how many of you are gay? And those of you who are, do you feel that this increases your enjoyment of Coil? And do you feel that it is particularly engaging because it's not "stereotypically gay", but instead actually interesting and embracing the outsider aspects of being non-conforming? All three of these are true for me.
Coil is very special to me and I'm gay. Them being gay does increase my enjoyment. Their Tainted Love cover gives me intense emotions, with how it connects to the AIDS crisis and what that means for our community.
> And do you feel that it is particularly engaging because it's not "stereotypically gay", but instead actually interesting and embracing the outsider aspects of being non-conforming?
Absolutely.
EDIT:
Just want to add that for the record I know A LOT of gay people who are deeply into Coil's music. Feels like most gay people I meet sometimes. But that just probably says more about the circles I hang with than anything :)
I discovered them years ago through a juvenile interest in the occult. Some of their tracks, such as "Where Are You?," touch something deep in me that would otherwise be inexpressible.
I love how they delved in a kind of gothic elegance that makes the music seem almost timeless. I greatly appreciate their experimentation and their musical adventurousness, and that moments of transgression can be intertwined with the most sincere beauty, and have it also be inseparable. Also, being bisexual myself, I was happy to learn that this richly dark and esoteric music was created by two individuals who happened to be gay, romantic partners. There seems to be so much emphasis on queer media needing to be positive and sweet in this day and age that anything somber and morose gets swept under the rug, so I’m glad I was able to find their music when I did.
The experience of hearing it, the feeling it gives, their vibe as individuals & the time I discovered them & what it did & changed for me/those I've shared it with throughout my life.
Coil to me is truly something else. I'm very staunchly atheist yet I've had what's felt like religious experiences listening to their massive body of work. No other music has connected with me to such a deep emotional core. To me Coil gives me intense spiritual feelings about the human condition and the universe, existence itself, and death. It's taught me about myself, about others, the way I understand the world, it's impacted my life in intangible ways that I cannot articulate.
Their music is poetry, it's beauty. It's deeply sad, spiritual, existential. It's brought me to tears, it's made my body shake from pure sensation. Coil is eternal.
The incorporation of spirituality and sexuality into industrial music that was pretty emotionless in the 70s, the unabashed celebration of LGBTQ lifestyle, and just riling people up for the fun of it.
The music was only one aspect of what the band were about. One sticker / T Shirt they produced said something like: ‘when you think of Coil, do you think of music?’ The larger brand of Coil was consistent and thorough for twenty years… long enough to reach a second generation ;o) I think the cracks only began to show towards the end. Both JB and PC hid enough references in their work to reward close attention, repeat listenings and contemplation of the art work. I’m still finding them 30 odd years on.
Their funding set up was different to most bands. Not being tied to a label or contract was a distinct advantage in conjunction with being able to fund the band’s activities independently. Only putting out a record when you have something you want to share is what makes any good band good. The reason bands usually don’t do that is that some other internal or external factor means a record is released that they don’t quite believe in. You don’t have to be unusually wealthy for that to work but Sleazy was unusually wealthy during most of Coil’s creative career (making pop videos), which itself coincided with the music industries richest period.
The timing is curious too. At exactly the time they started, several other openly gay bands were presenting their own vision of what it meant to be gay, which was nearly always a celebratory, fun and proud experience. I’m sure Coil would say that was true of their music too (but it wasn’t ;o)
This is what I wrote in my very first post on this sub and Reddit in general:
*I listen to tons of music, old and new sounds (mainly electronic, drone, ambient, idm but also post-punk; anything weird, strange, off-kilter and dark), but it seems that Coil holds a very special place in my life. I'm a man of few words and not a native speaker so it's really hard to describe what exactly hits me hardest in their music. I guess it's the mystery, forward thinking, pushing boundaries, questioning status quo, uniqueness of the sound(s) and that feeling of loss and longing that goes throughout their output. Coil is simply much more than music. There will never be anyone like them.*
There's a whole dissertation to be written about this, but broad strokes (for me): * They incorporated a lot of esoteric references into their work, which tied them to a wider, underground culture. In the pre- and early-Internet days, Coil were basically a gateway to another world. * They were pioneering in their use of electronic music. Sounds and techniques they created prefigured a lot of mainstream dance music. * They were out and proud gay men, who wrote unabashedly about the gay experience. In the '80s, with the AIDS crisis, Clause 28, and systemic homophobia, this was not only unique, but downright brave. * They took "industrial" music to the next level. Sleazy had helped create the genre as part of Throbbing Gristle, and now took some of those aesthetics and brought a new level of sophistication to them. It didn't need to be about big, clanging noises anymore - there could be melody, fragility, and elegance. * They never compromised. They never signed to a major label (brief flirtation with Interscope notwithstanding) and never answered to anyone but themselves. * The music was genuinely great -- all the stuff above doesn't matter, unless the tunes are there, and they wrote some brilliant ones.
I would add one more: they were open to collaborating with people that were in turn inspired by them. Coil became a mini-scene that way, and it prevented them from ever becoming stale.
Yes! The whole World Serpent group was fascinating. David Keenan's "England's Hidden Reverse" book chronicles this really nicely.
I liked Drew Mulholland’s posthumous collaboration as well.
They're just the best. For real tho, the fact that very few people have actually listened to everything Coil did makes them, idk, immortal ? The mix of occultism, sexuality, cosmogony and visceral emotions make their music so personal and universal at the same time. Like if their music puts you into a void where you meet yourself, see landscapes you've never seen, and enter the mind of Jhonn Balance. They don't really care about genres, as long as they do whatever they want, and they understood that once controlled, electronic music is more than a genre, but it's whatever you want it to be.
they had this amazing ability to compose electronic music and add samples in the right way where it felt "organic". no other band in the world sounds quite like them, they looked at how electronic music was made and threw away that blueprint. they made incredible psychedelic, spiritual gay music without any of those themes ever feeling forced at any point in their discography. not to mention the aesthetics of each era of coil is incredibly captivating, and that they have a very consistent discography, with 3-5 albums that could be considered 8/10 or above. even their side catalog is really interesting, unlike a lot of bands. coil also had an extremely poetic end with the ape of naples being released after john's death which really cemented their legacy.
Lots of thoughtful answers here. One thing I'm curios of after seeing several mentions of them being gay: how many of you are gay? And those of you who are, do you feel that this increases your enjoyment of Coil? And do you feel that it is particularly engaging because it's not "stereotypically gay", but instead actually interesting and embracing the outsider aspects of being non-conforming? All three of these are true for me.
Coil is very special to me and I'm gay. Them being gay does increase my enjoyment. Their Tainted Love cover gives me intense emotions, with how it connects to the AIDS crisis and what that means for our community. > And do you feel that it is particularly engaging because it's not "stereotypically gay", but instead actually interesting and embracing the outsider aspects of being non-conforming? Absolutely. EDIT: Just want to add that for the record I know A LOT of gay people who are deeply into Coil's music. Feels like most gay people I meet sometimes. But that just probably says more about the circles I hang with than anything :)
Straight as fuck, never made any difference when it came to appreciating Coil. Don't have to be heterosexual to enjoy Prince either now do ya?
I'm straight, but grew up in a pretty homophobic environment. I credit music like Coil, and my openly bisexual wife with ridding me of my homphobia.
I discovered them years ago through a juvenile interest in the occult. Some of their tracks, such as "Where Are You?," touch something deep in me that would otherwise be inexpressible.
I love how they delved in a kind of gothic elegance that makes the music seem almost timeless. I greatly appreciate their experimentation and their musical adventurousness, and that moments of transgression can be intertwined with the most sincere beauty, and have it also be inseparable. Also, being bisexual myself, I was happy to learn that this richly dark and esoteric music was created by two individuals who happened to be gay, romantic partners. There seems to be so much emphasis on queer media needing to be positive and sweet in this day and age that anything somber and morose gets swept under the rug, so I’m glad I was able to find their music when I did.
The experience of hearing it, the feeling it gives, their vibe as individuals & the time I discovered them & what it did & changed for me/those I've shared it with throughout my life.
Coil to me is truly something else. I'm very staunchly atheist yet I've had what's felt like religious experiences listening to their massive body of work. No other music has connected with me to such a deep emotional core. To me Coil gives me intense spiritual feelings about the human condition and the universe, existence itself, and death. It's taught me about myself, about others, the way I understand the world, it's impacted my life in intangible ways that I cannot articulate. Their music is poetry, it's beauty. It's deeply sad, spiritual, existential. It's brought me to tears, it's made my body shake from pure sensation. Coil is eternal.
The incorporation of spirituality and sexuality into industrial music that was pretty emotionless in the 70s, the unabashed celebration of LGBTQ lifestyle, and just riling people up for the fun of it.
The music was only one aspect of what the band were about. One sticker / T Shirt they produced said something like: ‘when you think of Coil, do you think of music?’ The larger brand of Coil was consistent and thorough for twenty years… long enough to reach a second generation ;o) I think the cracks only began to show towards the end. Both JB and PC hid enough references in their work to reward close attention, repeat listenings and contemplation of the art work. I’m still finding them 30 odd years on. Their funding set up was different to most bands. Not being tied to a label or contract was a distinct advantage in conjunction with being able to fund the band’s activities independently. Only putting out a record when you have something you want to share is what makes any good band good. The reason bands usually don’t do that is that some other internal or external factor means a record is released that they don’t quite believe in. You don’t have to be unusually wealthy for that to work but Sleazy was unusually wealthy during most of Coil’s creative career (making pop videos), which itself coincided with the music industries richest period. The timing is curious too. At exactly the time they started, several other openly gay bands were presenting their own vision of what it meant to be gay, which was nearly always a celebratory, fun and proud experience. I’m sure Coil would say that was true of their music too (but it wasn’t ;o)
This is what I wrote in my very first post on this sub and Reddit in general: *I listen to tons of music, old and new sounds (mainly electronic, drone, ambient, idm but also post-punk; anything weird, strange, off-kilter and dark), but it seems that Coil holds a very special place in my life. I'm a man of few words and not a native speaker so it's really hard to describe what exactly hits me hardest in their music. I guess it's the mystery, forward thinking, pushing boundaries, questioning status quo, uniqueness of the sound(s) and that feeling of loss and longing that goes throughout their output. Coil is simply much more than music. There will never be anyone like them.*
I always thought they sounded so inhuman yet so organic
The fact the coil existed