Electriclarryland

Butthole Surfers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 14, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002TS3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,002 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

These Austin punks spent a decade playing underground clubs and sleeping on floors next to the cat-litter box before scoring an unlikely commercial breakthrough with this 1996 album. The key to the highway was the modern-rock radio hit "Pepper," a novelty rap tune that reinvents Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" from the perspective of postpunk nihilism, Texas-style. Another rock-rap track, "The Lord Is a Monkey," grafts a lyrical nod to Snoop Dogg over a mutilated Jimi Hendrix guitar lick. The rest of the album alternates pop-punk rave-ups ("Ulcer Breakout," "Ah Ha") with noisy acid freak-outs ("My Brother's Wife," "Space"). The Buttholes have not released an album since Electric Larryland. But it's all right, Ma, they're only bleeding. --Rick Mitchell

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Weird Rock At Its Best January 2, 2004

By J. Rothfuss

Format:Audio CD

Before I picked up this CD, people told me the Surfers sucked. I beg to differ. The Butthole Surfers infuse Rock/pop, industrial, blues, alt-country to make very dynamic music. From the first song to the last, the Surfers rarely fail to please my ears. A couple songs on the album ("my brothers wife", "lets talk about cars") are just plain strange, but it adds to the uniqueness of the band. Heavy punk riffs over bluesy bass and great lyrics; what's not to enjoy?

Indepedent Worm Saloon is a must-have also.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars They just keep getting better! April 23, 2003

By Lee Rentless

Format:Audio CD

I love the Surfers. The first album I ever heard of theirs was "Brown Reason To Live" going on 20 years ago (egad), and as it so often is with enduring favorites, I hated it at first. After a few weeks of repeated listenings I began to see the light (like a neon sign in hell) and became hooked. My brain, and the ears to either side of it, will never be the same, and I am...glad.

I have overheard those who consider themselves purists and staunch fans from their first recordings lament that this album is too commercial. It simply isn't so. "Pepper" was radio friendly, but these guys dabble as well in pop as they do in anything else. Besides, if you're still singing the same tune at 38 as you were at 18, you're just not paying attention.

WARNING: Do not listen to "Ulcer Breakout" while driving a vehicle. Even in my acceleration-challenged Mazda I have cheated death while pushing it to it's acceleration and cornering limits. White knuckles, death-grin, eyes watering...you just can't help it, and you wish for something faster and more dangerous.

-"Ever felt the torque of a hemi?"
-"Ever gone so fast you could die?"

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gateway Drug January 30, 2006

By Gunther Haagendazs

Format:Audio CD

I think too many people take this CD seriously. It was a crazy experiment from the Butthole Surfers, as is all their work. Though most of these songs could be considered "pop rock" songs, there is a wide variety throughout the CD. You got your almost country-like tunes such as TV star, the hard rock song The Lord is a Monkey, the Punk Rock Birds, the French almost instrumental Let's Talk About Cars, and rockers like Ulcer Breakout and Thermador and you have the accidental hit Pepper with its awesome one minute guitar solo at the end. The success of ElectricLarryLand was a complete accident and I think people just need to chill out about it.

I think that the main reason I enjoy this CD is because it was the second one I bought from them (the first being the Weird Revolution), now I own all their CDs (including their Double Live limited to 4750 copies), several albums on Vinyl and a copy of their rare Family BBQ Video. I know now that their songs from the 80's are better hands down, but that doesn't mean I can relax from time to time with this album. I think if the Butthole Surfers had been continuing their Acid Streak into the late 90's it would have ultimately destroyed them. This album too destroyed them in some way, they weren't able to release another official album until 2001 and that one was sub par.

Why do you think that the band members were doing all those side projects? There was P., Paul Leary, Drain, Jackofficers, etc. And who said pop-type songs should be banned from the Butthole Surfers Catalog? Remember the song Hey off A Brown Reason to Live? Their first record? We have to remember that that was a pop song too. This album is a partial mistake but it's not a sell out. Many of the lyrics and songs still have a slight dumbed down edge that you wouldn't see in other bands. The weird trance/comedy song My Brother's Wife comes to mind, and lets not forget about the lyrics to The Lord is a Monkey, or the randomness of Cough Syrup. The presence of the Gibbytronix on a few songs like Space makes it feels like a short sleepy grateful dead jam. This is a nice Butthole Surfers album to fall asleep to (in a good way).

I recommend getting this album first because it's an easier access to their later material; it sucks you into their world. It's the "gateway drug". It prepares you for the hard Acid of Locust Abortion technician, the alcohol of Independent Worm Saloon, the Meth of Hairway to Steven, the cocaine behavior of Psychic...Powerless... and so forth. Please do not let the negative reviews deter you from this album, it can only help in making you a Butthole Surfers Junkie, and believe it or not, that is actually a good thing.