Customer Reviews

Hairway to Steven

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my favorite Buttholes album by far, and I'll tellsya why. You've got pieces of the sick brilliance of the oldest stuff, mixed in with hella-solid "real songs" like what would take over subsequently... and, of course, none of that electronic Beck-ripoff crap that came way later. Track 1 is great, especially once the pitch-shift sodomy gives way to the heavenly acoustic part with bowling pens and sheep. "X-ray of a Girl Passing Gas" is terrific, and the story of Johnny, the little crippled midget lesbian boy who stood 10 feet tall with a KNIFE, may make you wet your pants. And WHAT was Julio Iglesias doing in outer space? Take the Hairway and find out. It's the deepest Butthole there is.

Having not heard the remaster of Hairway to Steven yet, I can only tell you that in its orignal version on Touch and Go (1988), this was where I felt the Buttholes were most together and its a creative high point of their career. Capturing their full 5 person lineup, this is a tight, demented and rocking album, featuring little of their previous albums sound colleges and more straight up, blistering rock. This album alternates between humorous and terrifying, with terrific lyrics and great interplay between guitar, bass and drums. The packaging was confounding and inspired, from the cover photo of the "band", to the fact that no song titles are listed, just little pictures that represent the songs. I always felt that Janes Addiction's entire sound was stolen from this record, but with out any of the Buttholes demented humor. A classic that you should not be without! Ron Hill

An exhilirating, merciless, death defying leap of rock'n'roll derring-do which, for all of the album's shrieks and groans, somehow refines that slab of crude, turgid gold that was Locust Abortion Technician. On Hairway to Steven, the Buttholes have revealed their whole bag of dirty tricks - tortured guitarwork, lyrical acrobatics, psychobilly call-and-response, mangled sound compressors - in all their stupendous glory. This delicious, undigested smorgasboard of musical mayhem features many spooky and majestic bits, but for me the part that puts the spice in the chicken is the gently winding melody of the second half to 'Jimi,' where the dwarves whisper to chanting birds, a cock crows languidly, and bowling pins crash to the meter of a gently ebbing tide. HTS is an album well worth a Cadillac drive through the desert southwest on a bellyful of mescal, volume cranked to the big swirling sky, as you hallucinate ten-foot tall Johnny on the dashboard.

their 2'nd best next to locust abortion technician, from the sickening music and artwork, to the members of the band and their freakish onstage antics, they scored pretty good with this, i think. since there are no song titles on the album, i thought i'd put them here and how long they are.
1. jimi (12:48)
2. ricky(2:36)
3. i saw an x-ray of a girl passing gas (4:56)
4. john e. smokes (6:40)
5. rocky (3:45)
6. julio iglesias (3:05)
7. backass (6:07)
8. fast song (1:35)

5 stars+

I have an extensive collection of the Butthole Surfers, including their DVD. This CD is their best. Unlike some of their other creations (which do contain phenomenal songs), this CD is very consistent; it doesn't contain any down time. It flows beautifully from the first song to the last.

"Hairway to Steven" showcases their talent, musically and lyrically. For someone, who is not familiar with the Buttholes, this is a good place to start. "Hairway" does lack some of the demented/scary songs of their earlier works, but that is ok. It's almost a pleasure. You can listen to this CD with Butthole virgins and not hurt them; they might even like it...

This is the very first Butthole Surfers album I ever purchased. The first track "Jimi" scared the crap out of me, but I was strangely drawn to it like people to the scene of an accident.
My fear gave way to sick delight the more I heard it. I relished other tracks such as "Jonny Smoke" and "I saw an xray...". This became the tape I wore out the quickest. (CD's were still very expensive back then)
This album is a masterpiece in the Butt's discography. The twisted humor of the songs is the very essence of the band. Do yourself a huge favor and buy it!

Great album by one of the best 80's alternative bands, and probably their best. It's got the fantastic 12-minute opener "Jimi", with a major mood shift to the acoustic guitars and sheep, and the imitation-live "John E. Smokes". It's worth your money and time.

Although the Butthole Surfers have produced material that captures the imagination since, nowhere are they more consistent with their art than is the case on Hairway To Steven. The less commercial the Surfers are, the more their style works, and boy, does it work here. You know a band is special when they can produce a song over twelve minutes in length, more than three times what many a radio station considers its upper limit, without a single boring second. Even more amazing is how Gibby Haynes manages to take an "instrument" as tired, as boring as the human voice, and by adding a few effects or idiosyncracies, make it interesting again. Many a (c)rapper or rock star alike could learn a lot from this man. Even when Gibby sings normally, he brings enough to the table to make a more than interesting song. So what else can I tell you? Oh yeah, the opener, somewhat oddly titled Jimi, features one of the most hilarious uses of a voiceover I've ever heard. "You rang?" takes on a whole new meaning here. ;)

The Surfers' final album, under Latino Bugger Veil, is more toned down then their previous three, but still is full of the acid-tinged weirdness that we all love and sorely miss. The album cover, and its subsequent freak photos on the inside and back, will certainly give your little sister nightmares. The songs are represented not by titles, but by badly-drawn crude drawings, such as a pissing man holding a baseball bat. Only the Surfers. :-)
Gibby's vocals are a little easier to understand this time, such as the hilarious "I Saw An X-Ray Of A Girl Passing Gas" and "John E. Smokes" where Gibby, sounding a lot like fellow Texas madman Mojo Nixon, goes on a never-ending rant about the title chracter and such nonsense as "the blood-dogs worshipping the celery". The 12-minute plus opening song "Jimi" goes from a long acid-rock jam, with insane cartoon voices, to a sudden gentle ballad, with running water, church bells ringing, and birds chirping.
It would be a long 5 years, before the Surfers would come close to greatness again, with 1993's Independant Worm Saloon, on their new record label Capitol. Buy this, along with the Surfers' other three Latino Bugger Veil albums (Psychic Powerless Another Man's Sac, Rembrandt Pussyhorse, Locust Abortion Technician) and you have a wonderful nostalgic look, of the insane Surfers of old.

On one special night several years ago this album transformed me into a diehard Buttholes fan. The multitude of layers with which Gibby "sings" on this album are mindblowing - just check out track #1. I personally feel that all Butt records are worth owning, but would have to say that this is my personal favourite. X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas will put a smile on my face from here to the end of time..."we only have to wonder what it's for" indeed. I haven't yet heard the remastered version and would really appreciate a review which compares the quality of the two.