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To essay a concise, surefooted summation of the Melvins' catalog would be reductive at best, and laughable at worst. This is, of course, underground rock's trio of pranksters -- unpredictable and capable of complete musical about-faces in the turn of a measure. That said, Houdini is about as close as one gets to a representative Melvins album, and it vividly captures the band's unreconstructed power, vision, and musical strangeness. During the early-'90s purge of hair rock and candy-footed funk metal, the Melvins, as with many other acts, seemed fair game for a major label in search of another post-Nirvana gold mine. With Kurt Cobain's assistance, the band was snatched up -- and summarily dropped (after three brilliant albums, this being the first) -- by Atlantic. Though Houdini's immediate predecessors, Eggnog and Bullhead, pried open a few screwball chasms in the Melvins' syrupy distillation of Sabbath riffage and Flipper's noisy anti-punk, it was this album that displayed the full fruition of the outfit's sonic breadth, from the cough-syrup river drag of "Night Goat" to the revved-up "Honey Bucket," and from the creepy "Joan of Arc" to the glue-damaged "Sky Pup." Ringleader King Buzzo's riffs are stretched -- taffy-like -- to meltdown, and at other times they are razor sharp. Either way, they abound with a lumbering, lurching power. With their voluminous output and determination to continuously expand their sound regardless of musical trends, the Melvins oeuvre has begun to rival -- at least on paper -- the career arcs of Frank Zappa and Neil Young. ~ Patrick Kennedy
Live Recording
Recorded at Brilliant Studios and Razor's Edge, San Francisco, California; Laundry Room, Seattle, Washington.
Personnel: King Buzzo (vocals, guitar); Dale Crover (vocals, drums); Kurt Cobain (guitar, percussion); Mike Supple, Al Smith (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Garth Richardson; Kurt Cobain; Melvins; Billy Anderson .
Recording information: Brilliant Studios, San Francisco, CA; Laundry Room, Seattle, WA; Razor's Edge, San Francisco, CA.
Photographer: Wild Don Lewis .
Melvins: King Buzzo (vocals, guitar); Dale (vocals, drums); Lorax (bass).
Additional personnel: Kurt Cobain (guitar, percussion); Bill Bartell (guitar, bass); Billy Anderson (bass); Al Smith, Mike Supple (percussion).
Spin (11/93, p.133) - Highly Recommended - "...A few sections on [HOUDINI] are recorded so hot that the guitar distortion literally breaks up into white noise in your speakers: the hits are classic Melvins tuneage, which means they'll make you wonder if the batteries are going dead in your radio..." Musician (11/93, p.13) - "...[HOUDINI] is a slow-motion barrage of buzzsaw noize apocalypso, with tracks like "Pearl Bomb" achieving a formal brilliance that slams together the Ramones, Stooges, Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham...."
This CD heavily influenced my musical tastes. HOUDINI is the greatest low key masterpiece that I own. Whether your trippin in your car, chillin with your friends, or just want to relax... this cd does it al Submitted by bootlap (Horseheads, NY, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Pulverizing! If you're into heavy music - buy this! The Melvins have created an album of skull-crushing intensity! The band has a tendency to get really weird and experimental, but not on this disc. It is full of straight ahead heavy riffage and pulverizing songs! If you're interested in this band, but don't have any of their material, this is a great place to start. Submitted by a reviewer (Milford, MA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
great stuff i like nirvana a lot and of course through reading about them, it is kind of hard not to know who the melvins are. so i got this. it is headbanging good stuff. they dont scream very much, or growl, but their guitar work is what makes them hardcore. i like tracks 1,2,3,4,7, and 10. good overall album, which is what i was lookin for. this makes me wanna buy more. good stuff if you like nirvana, especially if you dig their bleach album, you will not be disappointed by this one. Submitted by wally walrus (arctic circle) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
ageless anyone who thinks HOUDINI is worth less than 5 stars didn't listen well enough. this album takes the abstract into the present with a subtle combination of the sweet and the sadistic. a truly seminal work. Submitted by smith (san francisco, ca) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
heavy and great The Melvins are the best kept secret in music. This c.d. has a few bad songs on it which is why i only give it 4 stars, but overall this c.d. is amazing. They are the kings of grunge and they sound like Nirvana but only heavier. Nirvana had a lot of pop influences but from this c.d. you can tell that the Melvins were greatly influenced by metal. If I had to make up a cd of my favourite all time songs than honey bucket and set me straight would both be on it. Submitted by Ryan (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
This CD heavily influenced my musical tastes.
Pulverizing!
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