Duck Stab [Original recording remastered]

Residents | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Original Release Date: 1978
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: East Side Digital
• ASIN: B000000PM8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,166 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Constantinople

2. Sinister Exaggerator

3. The Booker Tease

4. Blue Rosebuds

5. Laughing Song

6. Bach Is Dead

7. Elvis and His Boss

8. Lizard Lady

9. Semolina

10. Birthday Boy

11. Weight Lifting Lula

12. Krafty Cheese

13. Hello Skinny

14. The Electrocutioner

Editorial Reviews

Limited edition deluxe book package. 2008 digitally remastered 30th Anniversary Edition of the ultimate Residents album: still strange and other-worldly but catchy and hummable at the same time. Duck Stab was originally released in February 1978 in response to a review of The Third Reich 'N' Roll which stated, "Kids today don't want to listen to music like The Residents make. There is no fun in it. You certainly can't dance to it." Even now, 30 long years later, Duck Stab is, to many people the ultimate Residents album. The kids obviously grew into adult idiots. The Residents gave up trying to prove that catchy music would be unpopular and announced that next they would record an album of wind noises and grunting. Which is exactly what they did. But that is another story. Mute. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool.", May 23, 2000

By 

Michael Sean (Seattle, WA - US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duck Stab (Audio CD)

This terrific disc is comprised of two EPs ("Duck Stab" and "Buster & Glen"), and it represents one of the best albums from the group's 'classic' period (1972-80). The songs are fairly linear and the lyrics are even sung clearly, but don't take this to mean that they've become radio friendly. These catchy little numbers are 14 nightmarish excursions into the demented nursery of the Residents, and after you've weathered one sitting they'll continue to poke at your brain for days. This was their best selling release at the time, and helped push their mystique further into the attention of the American underground. Les Claypool has named this album as one of his favorites (Primus has covered "Sinister Exaggerator," "Constantinople" and "Hello Skinny") and much of the warped style on Ween's "The Pod" and "Pure Guava" albums can be traced back to this record. It also features some excellent guitar work by the late Snakefinger (aka Philip Charles Lithman). This CD is required listening for fans of fringe artists and unusual music, and it's easily an essential Residents title.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They try a pop album... and succeed!!!, June 18, 2003

By 

The Bass Ninja (ghjg) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duck Stab (Audio CD)

The Residents are known for their arty experimentalism on avant-garde discs like Eskimo, Third Reich N' Roll, and Not Availible. However, Duck Stab/Buster And Glen revealed a new side to the ol' op-tops. Released in 1978, it was a combo of two EPs that showcased short, concise songs with understandible lyrics-then put through the Resdiential wringer. The result is what can be described as Top 40 for space aliens. Opener "Constantinople" is one of the three undisputed classics on this album, graced with constantly appearing on setlists and covers by Primus. The track is an eerie ditty bringing to mind creepy electronica. The second classic, "Sinister Exaggerator", is a slow and surreal nightmare with lyrics about god-knows-what. The other classic, "Hello Skinny", is a cool tune consisting of bass, clarinet, and echoed vocals.
However, many of the "non-classics" are just as good, some even better. "Blue Rosebuds" is a fantastic love song that shifts gears from surreal to psychotic; "The Booker Tease" is a dirty instrumental with cop-show guitar courtesy of Snakefinger; "The Laughing Song" is a eerie se shanty sung by a redneck; "Bach Is Dead" has a melody that sounds like someone scratching on a balloon and has a famous bridge of three quarter-notes; "Elvis And Is His Boss" is a hilarious splice of the Batman theme and heavy techno, and it even has a I-IV-V progression (!); "Lizard Lady" is an angry little piece of synth goodness; "Semolina" is a harmony-driven ballad; "Birthday Boy" is a demented child's song; "Weight-Lifting Lulu" sounds like a surf tune on tranquilizers; "Krafty Cheese" sounds like nothing lees than an invasion by robot gardeners (you'll see); and "The Electrocutioner" is a 2-parter: a manic blast of squeals, and a slow drift, both sung by some creepy lady.
All in all, Duck Stab/Buster And Glen may not be The Residents' best album, most it's their most accessible while being a fan favorite at the same time. Groovy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Pressing, Great Packaging, Minor Classic, July 11, 2008

By 

K. Tkacs "curmudgeonly" (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Duck Stab (Audio CD)

I purchased this album when it was first released on vinyl just on the merits of the opening track "Constantinople." It is a skewed, energetic setting for trivial, almost non-existent lyrics. It's funny, clever, and bizarre.

This is a wonderful 'pressing' packaged very handsomely in a CD-sized, glossy hardcover book. I first discovered that Residents albums were being packaged this way when I recently picked up the two double-album discs comprising the so-called 'Mole Trilogy.' I decided to take a chance on this disc (as well as The Commercial Album) and was very happily surprised to see that these, too, had been released in these wonderful packages, with booklets containing artwork and lyrics. My only complaint with the packaging is that the shrink wrap was pulling the binding over at a bad angle, but neither the booklet nor the disc seem to have been permanently harmed.

For my money, the two albums in The Residents' "American Composer" series are the ones I listen to most often, but this single-CD compilation of two old classic LPs is still worth having, if not for "Constantinople," then for the eerie "Hello Skinny."