The Ape of Naples

The Ape of Naples is the final album from Coil. It was released after the death of lead vocalist John Balance, who died on 13 November 2004. The title of this album was originally intended to be "Fire of the Mind".

Several tracks from the abortive Nothing Records album Backwards are included here. The last song on the album is a cover version of the theme song from the BBC show, Are You Being Served?, which utilises Balance's last ever words spoken on stage live at the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival in 2004, Coil's final performance. This album was originally pressed as a digipak in the UK, but due to the low quality of the printing, it was repressed in Thailand.

The album compiles material from 1993 to 2004 [1], including lives and remixes, assembled and reworked in 2005 by Peter Christopherson.

Pressings

This album is currently available in CD format at Coil's official website, Thresholdhouse.com.

A 4X12" edition was released by Important Records in late February 2008 and contains several unreleased songs from the Backwards sessions entitled The New Backwards. This has also been released on CD and as a digital download from Threshold House with three extra tracks. Copies of the 4x12" sold by Threshold House include a "listening copy" of The New Backwards CD.

Song origins

"The Last Amethyst Deceiver" is a reworking of the song "Amethyst Deceivers", originally released on Autumn Equinox: Amethyst Deceivers; it is closer to live versions of the song than the original in approach. Two very different live versions of "Triple Sun" appear on ...And the Ambulance Died in His Arms as "Triple Sun Introduction" and "Triple Sons and the One You Bury", the latter from which the studio version's vocals are culled.

"It's In My Blood" is a radical reworking of "A.Y.O.R.", which was originally distributed on the bootleg demo collection Backwards, later released on Пособие для кончающих: Волос Злата and The New Backwards.

"I Don't Get It" and "Heaven's Blade" also appeared on the Backwards tape in other forms, the former minus vocals and other effects as "Spastiche", the latter also sans lyrics with no backbeat and much heavier instrumentation.

"Cold Cell" was originally released in alternate form as "A Cold Cell" on the Wire Magazine compilation release Wire Tapper 11, and a live version on Live Three.

"Teenage Lightning 2005" is a reworking of the songs "Teenage Lightning 1" and "Teenage Lightning 2" from one of their earlier albums, Love's Secret Domain. A version of "Teenage Lightning" very similar to the one on this album appeared on Black Antlers as "Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)."

"Going Up" is a cover version of the "Are You Being Served" theme tune, the vocals from "Going Up" are sung by François Testory as well as (mostly much lower in the mix) Jhonn Balance. François Testory's vocals are from a studio recording whereas Jhonn's are from a bootleg of the last live Coil concert in 2004.

Contributers

• Artwork, photography: Ian Johnstone
• Hurdy-gurdy - Cliff Stapleton
• Keyboards - Thighpaulsandra (track 5 & 6)
• Marimba - Tom Edwards
• Performer, Producer - Peter Christopherson
• Pipes, Duduk - Mike York
• Synthesizer - Ossian Brown
• Vocals - Jhonn Balance (all), François Testory (track 11)
• Written By, Recorded By, Producer - Coil (tracks: 1, 5 to 8, 10) , Danny Hyde (tracks: 1, 5 to 8, 10)

Track listing

CD pressing

Vinyl pressing

Limited edition copies came with a copy of The New Backwards as a fourth piece of vinyl.

References