Revolting Cocks Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
Even if it was released just two weeks after another remix album from an Al Jourgensen project -- Ministry's The Last Dubber -- the Revolting Cocks' Sex-O Mixxx-O is a completely different bullet to the brain. Both are based on a single album -- in this case, Sex-O Olympic-O -- but here there's a variety of names behind the decks rather than just Clayton Worbeck. Mixxx-O is more in line with the Cocks' 2007 effort, Cocktail Mixxx, in that it's heavily influenced by the band's golden age, recalling a time when every major city had an industrial-leaning goth club and releases from the Wax Trax! label dominated that playlist. Tweaker's take on "Hookerbot 3000" is the early My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult sound in effect, creating strip club fantasies with the disco bleeps and whispered vocals so often associated with the Cocks' old labelmates. Doug Firley from Gravity Kills brings to mind the Wax Trax! sister label Play It Again Sam with his Euro-industrial throwback mix of "Robo Bandidos," plus with Luc Van Acker and Dave "Rave" Ogilvie both turning in a mix, you've got some serious industrial-dance royalty. Fans of the early days will find this danceable set of sleazy disco noise more entertaining than expected and appreciate Ogilvie's nod to the Cocks' classic, unashamed sense of humor, dubbing his mix of "I'm Not Gay" "I'm So Gay." ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Sex-O Olympic-O'
Release Date 10/10/2008
Tracks 11
Label 13th Planet
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
If back in the late '80s one had learned that Al Jourgensen would one day be describing the Revolting Cocks with un-ironic reference to Menudo vis-à-vis his recruiting of newer members to carry on his overall approach, one would be forgiven for boggling a bit, though his penchant for working with a wide variety of people had already been established. Settling onto a full new main lineup on this second album since he reactivated the name, Jourgensen has worked his best to find people specializing in industrial rock, a farrago of dance beats, guitars, and sleaze. The recurring glam drum stomps now seem like RevCo are trying to claim Marilyn Manson's sound as much as Gary Glitter's. Lead singer Josh Bradford delivers various pronouncements in the expected distorted shriek-snarl. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'You Goddamned Son of a Bitch: Live'
Release Date 10/12/2004
Tracks 12
Label Rykodisc
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Arriving two years after the debut Big Sexy Land, Revolting Cocks' You Goddamned Son of a Bitch wasn't so much a live album as a truer, sicker representation of the group's angrily mechanistic, claustrophobic industrial grunt. Joining ringleader Al Jourgensen were Luc Van Acker, Chris Connelly, Paul Barker, and Bill Rieflin; together, they energized the stark nihilism of the Big Sexy material with insulting stage banter, vocals, samples that hit with a more vicious edge, and relentless programming and electronic percussion that removed the human being's eventual need for a rest. The result was a grinding industrial endurance test. In addition to "TV Mind" and "We Shall Cleanse the World," Goddamned Son of a Bitch was highlighted by its title track and "In the Neck"." ("I'm a killing machine!," went the latter's less than subtle lyrics, and it wasn't hard to believe.) Rykodisc reissued the album in 2004, as part of a series celebrating the early part of Al Jourgensen's career. Newly mastered, the album was also expanded to two discs, and augmented with live versions of "Stainless Steel Providers" and P.I.L.'s "Public Image" from a 1990 12". ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Helping to establish the Midwestern tradition of prolific industrial cross-pollination, Chicago industrial-dance supergroup Revolting Cocks released their debut Big Sexy Land appropriately enough on Wax Trax! in 1986. Featuring Ministry's Al Jourgensen and Chris Connelly (Fini Tribe/KMFDM) among others, the group produced an electronic grind that fans of Wax Trax! artists from this era will find very familiar. Plenty of slap bass and contorted samples abound on highlight cuts like "We Shall Cleanse the World," "No Devotions," and the most house-influenced track, "TV Mind." Fine dance music with plenty of cool synth and sample trickery, Big Sexy Land is a distinguished debut from a "side project" that occasionally surpasses the day-job work that its members became famous for. ~ Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Beers, Steers + Queers'
Release Date 2/11/1993
Tracks 9
Label TVT/Wax Trax!
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
If any industrial unit can be compared to the twisted, madcap humor of Frank Zappa, it's the Revolting Cocks. While other industrial acts offer dark, depressing reflections on the state of the world, the Cocks can hardly be accused of taking themselves too seriously. Their forte is wild musical comedy as goofy and eccentric as it is irreverent. Beers, Steers and Queers, the group's most successful album up to that point and arguably its best, must be taken for exactly what it is -- outrageous entertainment, pure and simple. A variety of amusing samples accompany abrasive, clever tracks that successfully combine industrial noise with elements of everything from heavy metal and new wave to hip-hop. Numbers like "Get Down" and "Razor's Edge" point to the fact that as abstract and left-of-center as the Cocks are, they recognize the value of a good hook and a solid groove. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'Linger Ficken' Good...'
Release Date 1/1/1993
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
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What The Critics Say
What turned out to be the last Al Jourgensen/Paul Barker project of worthwhile note -- in Ministry or out of it -- was very much in keeping with the Revolting Cocks' self-proclaimed role as the joke band of the Wax Trax-associated scene. Admittedly, not everything worked as such -- jokes work best if the music that goes with it is interesting and holds the attention, which was always a bit of a problem with RevCo. However, as a major label debut and final bow all at once, Linger Ficken' Good is often entertaining and sometimes utterly, ridiculously wonderful. Most notable is another devolved cover version -- after more or less tackling Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," this time around they did a much more recognizable take on Rod Stewart's disco hit "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Keeping the pace but adding some sleazy horns and organ in place of the original synth melody, Chris Connelly and Jourgensen split the verse/chorus duties; Connelly's Scottish, sleepy suaveness doesn't forget the humor, as several lyrical tweaks involving rubbers and KY jelly make clear. Nearly everything else, the kicking "Crackin' Up" aside, is basic if okay-enough time-killer material that won't surprise anyone familiar with the Jourgensen/Barker vision of things, concentrating more on the dank dancefloor stuff rather than the thrash, while Connelly acquits himself well enough. The album starts on a weird note, with none other than Timothy Leary doing a William Burroughs impersonation on "Gila Copter" -- why they couldn't call in Burroughs to work with them directly again is unclear -- but the final title track makes for a funny conclusion. Over a finger-snapping swing/jump blues arrangement, various voices ask "Who's your favorite Cock?" while another uncredited person proceeds to question and trash the band as a whole. And why not? ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'You Goddamned Son of a Bitch'
Release Date 10/17/1990
Tracks 10
Label Wax Trax
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The concept of a live Revolting Cocks recording (or one from any industrial outfit for that matter) seems strange on its surface. After all, the magic of this music lies within the layered beats and samples, not nuanced performances. Even the crowd noise sounds like just another textural addition to the mix. There is no interplay between sequencers and keyboards, as between musicians in a more traditionally arranged live disc. But Revolting Cocks are very much inclined toward attacking the traditional. The group actually has many iconoclastic designs -- most notably, a distinct sense of humor absent in the pretentious, political, cultural, angst-ridden, or psycho-sexual lyricism traditionally captured in the ones and zeroes of industrial recordings. Luc Van Acker, Al Jourgensen, and Chris Connelly actually sound like they are having fun during infectious tracks like "TV Mind" and "In the Neck," which should be a reminder to critics and musicians alike that in many ways, it's still rock & roll, and, as such, it can surely make for a great party and a fine live album. ~ Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide
