Prick is the sixth studio album by the Melvins which was released in 1994 through Amphetamine Reptile Records under the name ƧИIV⅃ƎM. It has been said that because the Melvins already had a contract with Atlantic Records, Prick was released with the band name in mirror writing.
| Prick | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 5, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | April 1994 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:31 | |||
| Label | Amphetamine Reptile | |||
| Producer | Melvins | |||
| Melvins chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| Select | [2] |
Background
editThe album displays a distinctly experimental quality, with an eclectic selection including field recordings, electronic effects and loops, band jam sessions, a stereotypical drum solo that segues into an archetypal heavy metal guitar solo, and a track that's introduced as "pure digital silence"—followed by silence for a minute. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne has stated that Prick is "a total noise crap record we did strictly for the weirdness factor. Complete and utter nonsense, a total joke."[5]
The band claimed that they wanted to call the album Kurt Kobain but changed it after Cobain's death to eliminate the possibility of people mistaking it for a tribute record. They implied that Cobain, a friend and collaborator since their teenage years in rural Washington, was actually the titular "prick", because he died and therefore forced them to change the album's name.[6]
Select called it an experimental collection of "noises, snippets and rhythm tracks overlaid with church bells, which under no account could be defined as influenced by Black Sabbath – four minutes of humming amps in front of a restless live audience chanting for Primus. They'd've cheered if it was Neil Young."[2] Trouser Press critic Ira Robbins wrote: "Among the eleven formless tracks are newsreel interviews, acoustic and demi-electric jams that go until the tape runs out, ambient noise, church bells and anything else left lying around an English studio."[7]
Track listing
editAll songs written by The Melvins.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "How About" | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Rickets" | 1:20 |
| 3. | "Pick It n' Flick It" | 1:39 |
| 4. | "Montreal" | 4:09 |
| 5. | "Chief Ten Beers" | 6:28 |
| 6. | "Underground" | 2:19 |
| 7. | "Chalk People" | 1:16 |
| 8. | "Punch the Lion" | 3:14 |
| 9. | "Pure Digital Silence" | 1:32 |
| 10. | "Larry" | 2:59 |
| 11. | "Roll Another One" | 14:20 |
Personnel
editAdditional personnel
edit- Konstantin Johannes - engineer
- Mackie Osborne - art
References
edit- ^ Bromfield, Daniel (April 27, 2016). "Holy Hell! Stag Turns 20". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Soundbites". Select: 106. October 1994. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 261. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
- ^ Guitar World (1995). "The Father the Son and the Holy Grunge". Interview. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ Brian Walsby (1994). "MASSIVE MELVINS INTERVIEW FROM THE PRE-"STONER WITCH" ERA". Interview. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
- ^ Robbins, Ira. "Melvins". Trouser Press. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
