Faust

German for "fist", and also the protagonist of Goethe's eponymous play, Faust were one of the first bands to use the recording studio as an instrument. After two albums for Polydor, they signed with the fledgling Virgin label. Priced as a single, "The Faust Tapes" album sold a staggering 50,000 + copies - amazing since it is one amazingly weird pastiche. Their live appearances were explosive (literally), as the pinball machines and jack-hammer legends detail. The band carried on for nearly two years after "IV", however that album, recorded outside the Wümme studio, was their last. Faust came back in 1995 with a new series of albums and live appearances.