Sailing the Seas of Cheese

Primus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 14, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B000001Y57
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,539 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #17 in Music > Rock > Funk Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Opening with the creaky sounds of a ship at sea, Sailing charts the funk-punk waters the San Francisco Bay area band returns to again and again. It's all here: the acerbic humor, Les Claypool's gurgling fretless bass lines, Larry LaLonde's seasick metal guitar, and Tim Alexander's Bill Bruford-inspired syncopation. The narrator of "Sgt. Baker" aims to "rape your personality," while the reapers of the "American Life" live out their dreams "residing in a cardboard box." Tom Waits makes a cameo on the funky back-alley tale "Tommy the Cat," and the protagonist of "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" has "too many cold beers one night" and "wraps himself around a telephone pole." Primus concert fave "Those Damned Blue Collar Tweakers" helps round out this bizarre prog-punk masterpiece. --James Rotondi

Product Description

CD

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome, if you dare.. August 8, 2001

By spiral_mind

Format:Audio CD

Primus's albums have always had the feel of an adolescent's guilty pleasure in a way. Sure you can take it seriously - the musicianship is outstanding and their melodies masterfully twist among pop, funk and grunge. But that's only part of their style; there's a silly side that's part musical humor, part Saturday morning cartoon, and a sense that there could be more quirks around any corner. I imagine that if Phish had a heavy King Crimson influence they'd sound a little like this. There's incredible bass work, subtle nuances in the guitar playing that you don't notice right away, and lyrics that suggest a strange mix of Roger Waters and Frank Zappa.

If the title and cover of this album alone don't seem cartoonish enough, take a listen to the lumbering bassoon introducing the first track. Les Claypool talks and screams through "Is It Luck?" like a hopped-up WB cartoon. "Tommy the Cat" is crazy funk with Tom Waits, of all people, lending a distorted voice to the narrative. As with any Primus album there are times when they go a little too far off the edge ("Granddad's Little Ditty" comes to mind), although I probably shouldn't complain when it's compared to such later offerings as "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver." Regardless: for most Primus fans this album still stands as their strongest. For those merely curious it's the ideal one to start with. If you don't like Seas of Cheese, chances are you won't like the others.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Way to start your Primus collection July 11, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Here's a story... I was over at my friend's house and he asks me if I have ever heard of the band Primus. I said yes because I heard Jerry was a Race Car Driver on the radio. He put on a DVD called Animals should not try to act like People or something like that and played all these WEIRD primus vids!! The band instantly started to grow on me and i bought their latest CD "Antipop". While it does have one of the best primus songs ever(In my opinion), Lacquer Head.. the rest of the tracks sound nothing like the Primus i heard on the DVD. So i got Sailing the Seas of Cheese and it is AWESOME!!! Garunteed you will love it. Here is a list of tracks and the score i give them.

1. Seas of Cheese - 7.5/10 A nice little intro featuring some interesting vocals.

2. Here come the b@stards - 8/10 I've seen multiple reviews bash this song for being repetitive. I love it for some reason and it is one of my favorites on the CD.

3. Sgt. Baker - 9.5/10 Definitely one of the best on the CD. This song has an interesting chorus about what drill sergeants do to their troops, i will read it for you to get you excited to hear it: I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my philosophy
Strip you of your self integrity
To make you all just a bit like me!!
Truly an amazing song.

4. American Life - 10/10 Again.. another amazing song, Primus tends to bunch the highlights of the cd together. The song definitely has a MUCH more depressing note to it then the first 3 tracks. It tells the stories of 3 immigrants and the woes that met them when they came to America.

5. Jerry was a Racecar Driver - 8/10 A lot of people consider this the best song on the CD. While it is a fantastic song, i disagree.

6. Eleven - 6/10 Unlike Here come the bastards, this song IS in fact, very repetitive.

7. Is it Luck? - 9/10 An awesome song featuring an awesome bassline

8. Grandad's Little Ditty - a boring little interlude track that i wont even bother to rate

9. Tommy the Cat - 10.5/10 In my opinion this is THE best track on the CD. It has it all, a kickass bassline AND kickass guitar solos!! Not to mention fantastic lyrics that tell the story of an alley cat named Tommy.

10. Sathington Waltz - 7/10 It's alright

11. Those damned blue collared Tweekers - 9/10 This is another great song on the cd. Great playing from Les and Lers.

12. Fish On - 9.5/10 Yet ANOTHER great song!!(starting to notice the vast number of great songs on this cd??) A slower song with funny lyrics about fishing and whatnot.

13. Los Bastardos - An outro track that sounds very similar Here come the bastards except it has some guy yelling. I wont rate it.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars here they come July 29, 2004

By Smiggie Balls

Format:Audio CD

This is one of my favorite albums.

Not because it's weird, not because the bass-playing is good, and not because it has clay models swimming in a bowl of cheese dip on the cover... though that last one does contribute...

Nay, it is simply because the album makes me smile. Who can hold back a grin when the lyrics to Jerry Was a Race Car Driver are sung in flawless redneck dialect? And the journey you are taken on into the life of a macho cat (Tommy the Cat) is epic and unforgettable. You may even feel inspired to hike up to a lake of our own Northwest and fish when you hear Fish On.

If you are suffering the symptoms of clinical depression, please call and order Sailing the Seas of Cheese today. Seriously.