Music

Driving the Nails   Year: 1991 | Run Time: 53:43

©1995 Core Entertainment Corporation/Vigilantes of Love. Produced by Bill Mallonee, Keith Dressel, Preston Samford. All songs written by Bill Mallonee and published by Josie Cracks Gum/Joshilldaajo Music, BMI except "Just Going Blind" by Bill Mallonee/John Mallory.

Track List

    1. Odious [2:32]
    2. Driving the Nails [4:57]
    3. Casualty [4:23]
    4. Just Going Blind [3:12]
    5. Lady Luck [4:57]
    6. Sanctuary [3:32]
    7. Running Scared [3:34]
    8. Brenda [4:24]
    9. Pleasure [3:23]
    10. Shadowlands [4:36]
    11. Don't Lose Your Guns [2:54]
    12. Already Gone [2:04]
    13. One Foot in the Grave [4:41]
    14. It's Alright Doctor [4:23]

    About Driving the Nails

    Picking up where he left off with Jugular, Bill Mallonee recorded a batch of songs that are even more frenetic, raw, and exposed than those on the first album. Though Bill once referred to this album, particularly the second half, as his least favorite part of the Vigilantes catalog, reexamination has turned up a few gems. There's no doubt that little else in the band's body of work has the frightening energy of the opening song, "Odious", which the band stopped performing live around 1995 out of fear that this peek into the mind of an abortion clinic bomber would be misunderstood. "Lady Luck" is notorious for its metaphors alone. And in the late 90's, the band ressurrected an electric version of the title song for its live shows.

    Did you know?

    Driving the Nails was recorded at dB Syntrax Studios in Atlanta, GA. Long after this album was out of print, an "official bootleg" copy was made available via the Mall of Love (along with copies of other out of print albums). These bootlegs were CD-Rs and had minimal or no artwork. The Driving The Nails release excluded two songs off the original: "Lady Luck" and "It's Alright, Doctor."

    Quotes from Bill Mallonee

    Jul 4, 1992: We released an album about a year ago called Drivin the Nails, which did pretty well in the Midwest. At that time it was just Billy and me and whoever we could pick up. It did all right but all the profits went up the owner's nose, so we never saw anything from it.

    May 9, 1995: We're also in an adversarial relationship with that label and I don't want to promote that record. It was made under bad circumstances. Its not as good as it should be. I'd consider redoing it, but possession is 9/10ths of the law. He's got this record and he's making money off it, yet we aren't even seeing accounting statements on it. I don't have the legal muscle to shut him down.

    Jul 15, 2000: We wound up with this weird little deal in 1991, through a small upstart label called Core Entertainment... in hindsight, it seems we were young, green and a bit too eager perhaps... we signed and six months later we were getting out of the same deal that was fraught with... well, it was the record "biz"... up yours and personal, you know?

    Jul 15, 2000: It was a record that had it's moments... most folks don't know that Billy and I recorded the whole thing in two weeks and that Billy's bass parts and my drum parts were erased and then re-recorded by two fellas by the self-appointed producer (let's call him Keith) brought in later... much, much to Billy's and my chagrin... although I liked my drumming, I was willing to defer to the fine work of B.B. Queen.

    Jul 15, 2000: Lyrically, for me it was a bit of a tour de force... I was trying for melodic, in your face, Americana... machine-gun cadences, militaristic/surgical images... and a raking ones shitty-guilty-lying-self over Isaiah's coals of grace.... in spite of the fact that the acoustic guitars now "float" a bit due to the redone bass and drum parts it seems to have some nice touches... BUT, I think we were just happy to get the heck away from the situation... we were very unhappy with the general dynamic going on in the studio.

    Apr 7, 2003: I think those early records, especially Driving the Nails, feel to me like they have that sort of folk-punk kind of passion to it. But there are definitely songs in there that are so overt in some ways; it's so in code but it's an easy code to break. I think I just moved away from that, thinking that sometimes the unresolved question or the tension is just part of the journey.

    May 4, 2004: Driving' the Nails (which I feel is a bit too long) is perhaps a repeating of one's self on a track or two... but I was young at it and wanted to "say it all." But since that early learning experience, I write/craft/record/and perform with the idea that a record should be a concise piece of lasting art; one that is coherent, engaging and hopefully, beautiful.

    Jun 21, 2005: On the Driving the Nails and Killing Floor records there was an element of faking it... by that I mean I'd hardly ever traveled five feet outside my well-protected suburban skin... then I get signed and get to go and write and sing play for a band that's on the road. Go and do 180 shows a year and get the poo kicked out of you and see if that doesn't "awaken" you...

    Jul 6, 2006: Driving the Nails... some flashes of better things... but i could do with about six songs going away... it's too long...

    A Review by cluck / Apr 1, 2002

    This was my first Vigilantes of Love album. I'd heard VoL at Cornerstone fest in '93 (bought into another guy's "hey, I don't think this really is a Christian band" line of thinking and missed them at main stage, but heard Bill do a couple, including "Earth Has No Sorrow", ahead of John Austin's set) and had liked what I heard just enough to be intrigued, but not quite enough to justify seeking out or plonking the money down on an album. Thankfully, Columbus (that's Ohio, thankee) has one of the most epic library systems on the planet, so I was one trip downtown away from running into DtN flipping through the stacks at the main library one fateful day in '94. I got the thing home and, I think while typing up a graduate biochem lab, tossed it in the CD player...

    HOLY CRAP. "Odious" came at me with all the subtlety of a Molotov cocktail (reference intended). I was stunned at the anger of what I was listening to, and justifiable anger at that..."Sure it's your body/that's nakedly plain/but less than 9 months ago it was public domain/I was thinking 'bout the carving knife when I lifted the match/and those expensive French cosmetics when I lit the match...Am I pissing you off/my beloved public?/Am I pissing you off?/Well let's change the subject..." I don't know if Bill ever advocated the fire-bombing of abortion clinics (if he did, at least he had the good sense to "wait until dark") but he sure got us into the heads of somebody who would pretty well...like I said, it was utterly stunning, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of this...

    ...until the ol' laser ("beware the blunted laser!" - Michael Roe) slammed into the chorus of the title cut. That, I think, is the single most honest presentation of the Gospel I've ever heard. The repeated question "Why do I raise the hammer up and drive the nails again?" is the question at the core of every Christian's experience, and it resonated particularly at that time in my life, especially when it was followed up with a particularly illuminating verse: "Now in the graveyard of my secrets, there's a hope buried beneath/All this talk of peace and righteousness has left me weary beyond belief/and there's this unwanted mistress in my bed late at night/she says 'I know you're a criminal, you've been on death row all your life...'" What a metaphor. A bit mixed, maybe, but what a metaphor nonetheless.

    "Casualty" is the cut from Bill's early career I latched onto most forcefully, because I identified with it so much. All the positive, reassuring words I had ever heard in my life, all to no effect whatsoever..."I hear one day you'll level the cynic's rage/Every prayer that's ever been prayed will surely not be turned away/No tears shed for dying or dead that won't be wiped away/Justice locked up for weak and poor will soon come breaking down the door/and Father, why do I feel like a casualty?" I felt exactly that numbness to all the happy-happy-joy-joy faith of those around me, was looking for a reason to hope, and Bill had it in his rope metaphor...are you going to hang from the "bitter end of rope", or will you "use it wisely, to pull up the veil that hides your face?" It was reality, plain and simple, and the question I had to answer to move forward in my faith. (Eight years later, I'm still not sure I've answered it, but I think a lot of us go on this way, no?)

    In the context of this folk-rock all-out-acoustic-guitar vein that I had come to love so much, here were some of the greatest lyrics that I'd heard in my life. "I will try not to drown you with what lies behind my kiss/but honey, I should warn you first, you swim at your own risk..." "Now I've got a million houses, but I seldom feel at home/Got a lot of friends, but usually I'm alone..." "Drivin' late at night, you're kissing my neck/conditions, let's just call 'em hazardous/You whisper to my soul, she's probing past my knee/ah, these are violent times, baby, wouldn't you agree?" "Now, I'm struck by how often fountain pens resemble nails in coffins/Nice tie, handshake/Sign here, we'll make you great/I put the move on this woman named Mortality/She slapped me in the face with life's brevity..." "Hey we've got new ways to treat the soul that succumbs/Electroshock and valium/I've been victimized/hypnotized/sodomized here in the shadowlands/I'm still dyin' for a Saviour/I'm still chompin' at the bit/In every corner of existence, every way out I invent/Lord knows I've made enough of them..." Even the most jarring song, the "classic" "Lady Luck", still has the most precious line on the disc: "Something help me drown, Lord, in your river of blood and grace/I know that I'm leprous, but hold me anyway..."

    (And, I'd later find out, this wasn't even Bill's best stuff.)

    The disc kind of dies out before the end (I always stop it anymore before "Already Gone") but the impression is already made by the time Bill sings his song to "Brenda" - this was stuff I had to hear more of. Fortunately, I'd already had a few lunches with some dude named Andy Whitman, and he was willing to lend me a few more albums - named Jugular, Killing Floor, and Welcome to Struggleville - and that cinched it. There isn't a studio album since that I don't own.

    But, when I found Driving the Nails in a cutout bin a couple of years ago (two, actually - one of them has found a nice home up Chicago way) I was struck at how much the album still resonates with me. Even as I've come to understand why Bill might regard "Odious" as a bit of an embarassment, I still am amazed at how utterly devastating a statement it is...I still marvel at how much "Driving The Nails" and "Casualty" describe who I am and where I've been...songs like "Sanctuary" and "Brenda" actually make MORE sense now than they did then...

    Rambling review, I know, but this album doesn't get the props it deserves. If Bill ever puts out a version of this thing free from Core's clutches, buy, like, five copies from him. He's due, y'know.

    - the infamous clueless chuck, circa April 2002

    Credits

    Bill Mallonee: acoustic guitars, lead vocals, songs

    Mark Hall: accordion

    "Dog-Mess Johnny": harmonica

    Ian Evans: bass, background vocals

    B.B. Queen: drums, grunts, groans

    Billy Holmes: electric guitars, mandolin, keyboards

    Alice Berry: background vocals on "Casualty" and "Guns"

    Engineers: Joel "happiest guy in the world" Burkhart and Lamar Williams. Recorded At: dB Syntrax Studios, Atlanta Ga. Digitally Mastered By: Robert A. Vosgien at CMS Digital. Cover Design and Photography By: Flournoy Holmes/Art & Death & Lance Andrews Goldsmith. Design: Kenneth Maynard/Mojave Design, Nashville, TN. Cover Portrait By: Sheryl Perry.

    Liner Notes

    Keith said I could fill up this space with anything I wanted to. I suppose it's a diversion while your tape or CD player cues up the first song. An Artist is most grateful when he or she receives a most necessary element for their growth. That, of course, is encouragement. I have had my fair share. It sometimes takes many forms. During these sessions, the players involved gave unselfishly of themselves--in this giving they created a magic and excitement that hopefully, was captured on tape. A heartfelt "thank you" to each of you for your time and talent. In a club setting you put your heart on the line; in a studio environment you put it on magnetic tape as well. Sometimes the transition from crowded bar to sterile studio intimidates and chokes life from songs. In my estimation, this transition was made wonderfully easy by the players and engineers involved with this work. Thanks to Keith and CORE Entertainment for believing in me. He caught a vision of this thing and then pleaded, cajoled, praised and kicked my butt through this first album--remember encouragement takes many forms. Brenda, Joshua and Joseph--I love you all so much. The sacrifices have been great, I know, but greatly appreciated. Your love is a lifeline to me.

    Five years ago, and then for each successive year, I froze in the winter and sweltered in the summer in a barn in Gratis, Georgia (our rehearsal space 30 miles out of Athens). With each year of experiments, new songs, new personnel, successes and failures, I learned that the most important thing for a writer is to write from the inside out. Sounds simple? Too simple for radio? We'll see, I guess. . .and so here's scraps of letters from the terminal ward; a counter punch for a world drunk and on the ropes? a courier service bedeviled and running late over landmines under my skin? Absolution, melancholy, surprised by joy. Thanks for the indulgence.

    Peace, Bill

    Additional thanks in no particular order: Our fans who bought our first album "Jugular;" Lee and Scott Moody the real bed of roses; David and Beth at the downstairs cafe for taking chances on us; Aron "lift 'em, tote 'em" Homberg; the brethren at U.C: Dan Orme, Lee Beitchman "whose case is never poor"; my great physician. I love you Mom and Dad, Stephen and Betsy; Marilyn; Mrs. Homes for the rooms; the Chickasaw Muddpuppies; the Flagpole folks; Doug Lexa, Betsy Shearon and Dan Matthews of Classic City Live. Mr. Mallonee's guitars are by Smith and Wesson, His pickup by Briggs and Stratton.

     

     

     

     

     

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