Customer Reviews

Mangled Demos From 1983

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

 

 

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."

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.

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

EARLY version of the Melvins who were in their late teens at the time of this recording! Very in your face/spastic great punk rock songs. They might have thought they were just creating noise, now turns out as legendary. COUNTLESS bands ripped the Melvins off leaving their legacy forever.

Thank you MIKE PATTON for releasing this on your label. FAITH NO MORE, now that's another underrated story...

THIS WAS MY FIRST MELVINS ALBUM, AND REALLY GOT ME INTO THEM. I HAD HEARD THEM BEFORE BECAUSE I'M A BIG FAN OF NIRVANA AND KURT COBAIN LOVED THEM, BUT I NEVER THOUGHT THEY WERE THAT GREAT. I BOUGHT THIS CD AT A RECORD STORE BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY MELVINS CD THEY HAD. I LOVED IT AND IT REALLY GOT ME INTO THEM.

i just got this cd 3 days after my b-day on june 3rd. When i first popped it into my cd player i thought the first 2 tracks were real cool b/c u get 2 hear the melvins warm up, and they give short little interviews which i thought were real cool. But now 2 the negatives. When i first listned 2 track 3 and beyound i new it would b raw and unfinished sounding, but boy was i suprised. it was way more raw than i was expecting, and this isnt always a bad thing, but sometimes the vocals are inaudible, and the drums kinda get droned out. Its really cool 2 hear what the melvins first sounded like, but to a new fan or someone intrested in checking the melvins out i say u get ozma or gluey porch. i think the melvins should actually put some new realeases out instead of doing this ipeacac garage demos, like the recently did with gluey porch. so all in all this cd is good but very raw and you can smell this piss and cobwebs of garage rock in this one!:-P

well here we go again
another re release of an old release of stuff from years ago. its generally ok but a fan can only go over and over again on how songs started out and where the went in the next 22 years. i love the melvins, but a brand new, well constructed album would be a really nice change...