Houdini

by Melvins

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	09/21/1993
Label:	Atlantic
UPC:	0075678253225

Tracks

1. Hooch
2. Night Goat
3. Lizzy
4. Goin' Blind
5. Honey Bucket
6. Hag Me
7. Set Me Straight
8. Sky Pup
9. Joan of Arc
10. Teet
11. Copache
12. Pearl Bomb
13. Spread Eagle Beagle

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Melvins   Primary Artist
Kurt Cobain   Guest Artist,Guitar,Percussion
Al Smith   Percussion
Buzz Osborne   Vocals
Mike Supple   Percussion
Lori "Lorax" Black   Bass
Bill Bartell   Bass,Guitar,Lead Guitar,Guitar (Bass)
King Buzzo   Guitar,Vocals
Billy Anderson   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Dale Crover   Drums,Vocals

Technical Credits

Tom Doty   Second Engineer,Assistant Engineer,Engineer
Buzz Osborne   Composer
Garth Richardson   Mixing,Producer
Wolf Kessler   Engineer,Second Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Wild Don Lewis   Photography
Lori "Lorax" Black   Composer
Frank Kozik   Artwork,Art Direction
Coronell   Composer
Valerie Wagner   Design,Art Direction
Lou Oribin   Engineer
Stephen Marcussen   Mastering
Steven Coronel   Composer
Billy Anderson   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Kurt Cobain   Mixing,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Barrett Jones   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Joe Marquez   Engineer,Second Engineer,Assistant Engineer
GGGarth   Mixing,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Gene Simmons   Composer
Jonathan Burnside   Engineer
Melvins   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Performer,Mixing Engineer
Dale Crover   Composer