Mangled Demos From 1983

Melvins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 31, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ipecac Recordings
• ASIN: B0009A0KGA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,417 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

Well... it's a long time ago now that this here little record was recorded. It NEVER was released. This recording is the only document of the origianl line up of the Melvins. It's from 1983 or so. Mangled demos from 1983. It was a long time ago and you really can't expect me to keep all of this bullshit straight. If you want straight facts, too bad... All of these fish stories and hogwash pur out from somewhjere in the back of my brain and believe it or not sometimes it pours out askew.

Buzz Osborne

Product Description

Recorded during the birth of 80's hardcore, the Melvins' Mangled Demos from 1983 will sit nicely next to your old Bad Brains and Corrosion of Conformity albums. There's some of that classic rockin' sludge we've grown to know and love (including a pre-Dale Crover version of "Set Me Straight"), but it's the fast, raw and hopeful ferocity of a time when hardcore was brewing, that really makes this release such a gem. Ipecac. 2005. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember punk? It's back! In pog form., June 7, 2005

By 

D. K. Malone (earth) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mangled Demos From 1983 (Audio CD)

Up until now, the oldest stuff I've heard from the Melvins was their three or four tracks on the Deep Six compilation from 1985. Much of the content here is material uber fans have probably heard before in one form or another from various bootlegs, but maybe not these exact takes from these exact sessions. A few songs appear more than once, from different sessions. It's a mixed bag. The recording quality is usually surprisingly very good for 20+ year old demos, but there are a couple of live songs sprinkled in that sound like they were recorded on a walkman or ghetto blaster. There's also a couple of tracks of radio correspondent chatter and the guys in the band bickering over a hamburger or something. The final song is an instrumental that sounds ~exactly~ like Green Day circa 1990. I **** you not. If I had my copy of 39/Smooth with me right now, I could tell you which specific song it sounds like.

In any case, this is the Melvins when they were actually your average garden variety hardcore punk band, before Dale Crover joined. It's very cool to hear them before they found their niche and basically invented "grunge."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do you want to hear the most sophistocated, well laid music ever?, December 3, 2006

By 

N. Lang "nicklang2" (K-town (Kiel), WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mangled Demos From 1983 (Audio CD)

Well, you probably won't get that with this album. But, what you will get is the Melvins truly rawest material to date. Entailed are 23 tracks of fast, imperfect, sometimes tribal, yet always enjoyable punk rock.
It starts off with a broadcast from what sounds like a local family broadcast, hosted by two old, out of touch men. They supply us with their witty banter, they also interview the Melvins. It's great when the Melvins kick in with "If you Get Bored" a minute and a half of thrashin' punk. It was beautiful.
All of the tracks are relatively short. But that's what I'm lead to believe classic punk was about: short songs that got to the point, with mediocre production quality. I say that not as a cut, but as a kudos, because all of that over produced, tight studio sound rock ballads really started to p*ss me off. This album is very refreshing.
It's fast, kick a**, to the point, and then some. I'm very glad I purchased it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD, December 29, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mangled Demos From 1983 (Audio CD)

This is my first Melvins CD, although I've heard Houdini and Stoner Witch, and Never Breathe What You Can't See by the Melvins and Jello Biafra. I really liked those CDs, but never bought them. When I was at a music store, I found this CD and thought it looked gnarly. So I bought it. I love it. BUY THIS CD