Oil and Gold
album by Shriekback
Oil and Gold is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Shriekback, released in 1985 by Arista Records in UK and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and by Island Records in the United States,
The album is widely considered the band's highest creative moment and saw them begin a metamorphosis from funk-influenced new wave towards darker and challenging art rock. The addition of Martyn Barker on drums and Lu Edmonds on guitar gives many of the songs a harder edge, while the album also features synthesizers from Hans Zimmer, best known for his work in film music.
Oil and Gold served as a bridge between the founding trio of Barry Andrews, Carl Marsh, and Dave Allen, and a span of releases spearheaded by Andrews alone. Marsh, whose voice featured prominently on earlier releases, left the band after the recording and Andrews took over as primary vocalist. Marsh would return with the release of Having a Moment (2003), and remains involved with the band to the present day. The album's highlights include the three opening songs, sung by Marsh, and the minor hit, "Nemesis", which became the band's signature song. The album's success widened their audience significantly, and sold well in the US. Both of the singles released from the album reached the Top 100 in the UK singles chart: "Nemesis" reached number 94 and "Fish Below the Ice" reached number 88.
Critical reception
Ian Peel of Record Collector commented, "Criminally overlooked for years, here – at last – is the
pivotal Shriekback album in
double-disc glory. It may not
have the cult appeal of
Tench or Jam Science and what came before nor the
commercial overload that
followed it with Go Bang!,
but Oil & Gold is the pivotal, mid-career opus that draws
together all of this maverick
band’s strengths with a
mesmerising punch."
David Barton of the Sacramento Bee praised the album saying, "This arch, wiry, British art funk is reminiscent of both Gang of Four and XTC...The vocals are amelodic, showing a great debt to David Byrne's use of cadence over melody, and the backing tracks throb like accelerated Talking Heads arrangements...Heady stuff, pretentious yes, but sharp inventive and hot."
Bill Cassell of Allmusic in a 4/5 stars review, remarked "Oil and Gold is six-tenths of a great album...Still, Oil and Gold's highlights make it a rewarding listen."
In other media
Two songs from the album, "This Big Hush" and "Coelocanth", were featured in Michael Mann's thriller film Manhunter (1986), starring William Petersen. "Coelocanth" was also featured in the Canadian science fiction film, Come True (2020).
The public source identifies “Oil and Gold” as album by Shriekback. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gold, album and Shriekback.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Oil and Gold”, the useful work is to connect “album by Shriekback” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7081282. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1985, 2003, 1986 and 2020.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Oil and Gold”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Oil and Gold primary sources, Oil and Gold archive and Gold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Oil and Gold”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Oil and Gold” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.