Live Four

Discography Browser

  • Transparent
  • Scatology
  • Horse Rotorvator
  • Gold Is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)
  • Love's Secret Domain
  • Chaos in Expansion
  • The Angelic Conversation
  • Worship the Glitch
  • Black Light District: A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room
  • Foxtrot
  • Time Machines
  • Musick to Play in the Dark
  • Astral Disaster [LP]
  • Musick to Play in the Dark 2
  • Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil
  • Astral Disaster [CD]
  • Live Four
  • The Plastic Spider Thing: Remixed
  • Moon's Milk
  • Live Two
  • Black Antlers
  • The Ape of Naples
  • ...And the Ambulance Died in His Arms
  • The Remote Viewer
  • The New Backwards
  • The Consequences of Raising Hell
  • Backwards

Release Date

March 25, 2003

Duration

01:19:40

Genre

Recording Date

October 27, 2002 & October 29, 2002

Recording Location

  • Flea Club, Vienna, Austria
  • Palac Akropolis, Prague, Czech Republic
Submit Corrections

Coil

Live Four

Add to Custom List

Add to My Collection

  • AllMusic Rating
    9
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

AllMusic Review by

Coil avoided playing live for so much of their life that many fans had given up on the possibility of seeing them perform in public. That all changed in 2001, and Coil released a series of four concert recordings, documenting the evolution of the live Coil experience. Live Four, recorded in Prague and Vienna in 2002, features the best sound quality of the series, and a compelling performance from John Balance, Peter Christopherson, Thighpaulsandra, and Ossian Brown, also known as Ossian Sex Shop. The album begins with a one-two punch: the incantatory "I Am Angie Bowie (Sine Waves)" leading into "Last Rites of Spring," which is filled with creepy synths, lurching and glowering like a malevolent spirit finally made flesh. The piece rotates around itself, never really seeming to progress, but constantly is turning in on itself. "Are You Shivering?" continues the creepy synth vibe, descending violins or hurdy-gurdies channeling the spirit of Norma Desmond at the end of Sunset Boulevard. The highlight of the concert is "Amethyst Deceivers." It has a spacy atmosphere, all bouncing-ball bass and tinkling piano. Ossian's hurdy-gurdy also plays in well on the track, directly leading to the climax of the piece. And surprisingly, they do a spectacularly moving cover version of "Bang Bang," written by Sonny Bono and sung most memorably in a previous version by Nancy Sinatra. This album is a highlight not only of the Live series, but also of the Coil catalog.

Track Listing

Sample Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
1
Coil
06:10 Amazon
2
Coil
10:42 Amazon
3
Coil
08:20 Amazon
4
Coil
08:24 Amazon
5
Coil
06:19 Amazon
6
Coil
11:15 Amazon
7
Coil
08:13 Amazon
8
John Balance
Coil
05:10 Amazon
9
Sonny Bono
Coil
02:44 Amazon
10
Coil
12:23 Amazon
blue highlight denotes track pick