Customer Reviews

Senile Animal

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best Melvins cd in years....YEARS, perhaps ever. Like the previous reviewer said, "it will make you remember why you love the Melvins to begin with". Not only are the songs just plain amazing, the seamless integration of two drummers sounds SO natural! Coady is already amazing enough in Big Business, but now he makes Dale work even harder.

It's an amazing show to be seen live and it translates verbatim to CD. Don't miss them live or this CD. Your jaw will drop when you watch Dale and Coady drumming in unison, providing the perfect backdrop for the already drum heavy sound. Rarely does a novelty like "say, lets combine bands" work. Here, not only does it work...it's amazing and actually benefits the overall sound; nothing is compromised, it is only strengthened.

Here's to at least a few more years of this collaboration as it is my favorite Melvins CD quite possibly of all time.

I agree with stonedzombie: "I have to say that this is exactly what I expected the Melvins to put out....meaning that it is UNlike anything else they have put out before"

You never know what the Melvins will put out next, and the surprise this time (in my opinion) is that this is their most accessible album to date. No weird sound effects, extended noise/drone, etc. Lots of straight ahead, short, hard rock songs (six out of the ten songs are under three minutes long).

One thing you'll notice right away is the drumming. There's a lot of great extended drum fills in the middle and end of some songs. The dual drumming really brings the percussion to the forefront on this album.

Five stars is not enough for (A) Senile Animal.

I was lucky enough to catch The Melvins in Boston three nights ago. FANTASTIC SHOW!

This album is fantastic. I can't really compare it to other Melvins albums since they all have something different about them, but take my word for it that this one is great. This one is unique from every other Melvins release for two reasons:

1. They have a second drummer on this thing, and

2. There are TONS of vocal harmonies in this album.

My thoughts on both:

The two drummers thing, awesome, the fills and solos are amazing, I never thought they'd find a way to make Dale Crover's work even better, turns out they did, they had another amazingly talented guy drum with him. Its astounding. If you play the drums, you need to hear this album.

The vocal harmonies thing, really cool too. It makes the sound very unique, gives it another layer.


All that said, the album itself is also unlike the other Melvins albums in that most of it is really fast. The Melvins are characteristically famous for their sludgey, slow sound. They still toss out a few slow numbers here, but by and large its chock full of incredibly intelligent, speedy metal songs. And they're awesome! The Melvins sound great playing fast! The intro to "The Hawk" just TEARS!!!

I don't even know how to compose my thoughts about this album other than to say it carries the fine Melvins tradition of doing something to vastly alter their sound on every album, and also, its fantastic. It rocks so hard. I mean, if you thought The Maggot was an awesome fistfull of metal, check out A Senile Animal, its even better.

I should also point out that this is probably their best starter album. Meaning that if you don't own any Melvins albums and never heard of them, this one is the best place to start. I know it's not their classic sludge sound, but the Melvins are not an accessable band. Their music, while intelligent, awesome, and incredibly powerful, takes a while to figure out. You have to give the Melvins a good couple of listens before it just sort of clicks in your head and you realize how brilliant these guys can be.

Take their self titled album (or "Lysol" to the diehards), for example. Its a great brilliant Melvins album; one of their best, as most fans will tell you. But if you were trying to expose someone who's never heard of the Melvins to their music, you wouldn't dare start them out with Lysol, it would go right over their heads.

So thats why its nice to see a Melvins album like "A Senile Animal" come out, becuase the intelligenece and the power is still there, but overall its a much easier experience to wrap your brain around.

So thank you, Melvins, for making yet another wonderful, unique, challenging-yet-still-accessable (not to mention HEAVY) album.

And those of you reading this not knowing a thing about the Melvins, buy this album. If you're a metal fan and you have half a brain, you'll love it. Then pick up The Maggot, Stoner Witch, and Houdini. Now that you realize that this is one of the best musical acts still performing today, go for the golden material with Gluey Portch Treatments, Bullhead, and Lysol.



As a side point, how can Buzz still be doing this? Its been like two decades and he's STILL making some of the best metal riffs in existance. How can you go that long, putting out album after album, and still be tossing out all these fantastic, wonderfully heavy metal riffs left and right?

Its inhuman.

Okay, the new Melvins album A Senile Animal has King Buzzo and Dale Crover joining forces with the boys in Big Business, and what a collaboration it is.Every track is heavy from start to finish with very little of the "experimentation", "noise", "ambient sounds" that seem to cause some fans to bitch and moan. I have no idea what Big Business' album "Head For The Shallow"(title correct I hope) sounds like, but judging by what I have heard from them on this, it is probably great. I have to say that this is exactly what I expected the Melvins to put out....meaning that it is UNlike anything else they have put out before or anything anyone else has ever put out. Maybe I am off in my description of this, but A Senile Animal reminds me of H.A.T. with a little bit of their early, heavy as a bag of elephant balls stuff thrown in for good measure. Anyone who wants to correct me or rip me a new one, please feel free to do so as I don't care anyway. Oh yeah, and the addition of a second drummer is totally awesome. It gives them a much fuller sound than it did when they recorded the Melvins+Fantomas Big Band album. Can't wait to see them in Jacksonville, St. Pete and Orlando

I loved Karp. I loved Whip. Obviously, I love the melvins. Slow, fast, heavy, and it still has that melvins acid pop feel to it giving that aura of pervesity. This is the soundtrack to burn Aberdeen, WA down. Their best album since "lysol". In the war between heroin and meth, I am happy to see heroin strike a death blow.

Simple review. If you have ever liked the Melvins at all ever in their long, long career, buy this new CD. It's that easy. It's pretty great. You will smile. You will rejoice. But more importantly, you will remember why you liked the Melvins to begin with. And that is never a bad thing.

As sort of a disclosure, let me admit some bias. I love me some KARP, people. Oh how I love me some KARP. KARP meets Melvins = Pure chewing satisfaction. Guaranteed.

There isn`t any need for going into detail about this fantastic album. It will always be a mystery why these legends aren`t bigger than they are, maybe this album will be their final leap to a bigger audience?

Melvinse will never loose their credibility no matter how popular they get, so I think it`s only fair and reasonable thath they should get the amount of money they deserve.

Hail Melvins!

They certainly don't seem senile to me! They continue to re-invent themselves with this release. I have heard practically everything from the Melvins (most of their main releases anyway) and A Senile Animal is definitely a standout album. It's even more brutal and dense than most previous releases. The sound of the album is exactly what you would expect a fusion of Big Business and the Melvins to sound like (that is if you've heard BB's "Head for the Shallow," which I have, and it's great). Big Business definitely contributes to the non-stop brutality on display here.

"Blood Witch" has an awkward, intricate rhythm, which reminds me of the quirkiness of "The Bloated Pope" from their Pigs of the Roman Empire release. There's great vocal harmonies on this album and the drum duo is just huge... immense! Attention drummers: sink your teeth into this album, it's juicy and delicious!

This album rarely pauses for you to catch your breath unlike releases such as Stag and Honky (brilliant albums also, just different), which have experimental "sounds" tracks (I say "sounds" because it's not noise to me, it's music!) interspersed amongst the onslaught of loudness. "Rat Faced Granny" followed by "The Hawk" is a highlight for me. Yes, for those of us whose ears bleed from the loathsome sounds of recycled radio pop-rock drivel, this is a breath of fresh Lysol-scented air and you'd be a Prick not to buy it. :)

The rumours are true... the drums make me feel like I'm in Jumanji!!!

If you like the Melvins, you will like this, if you like Karp (especially their slower songs), you will love this, if you like Earth, Sunn 0)), Mudhoney, etc, etc, you will like this. On many songs, it sounds like the Melvins interpretation of Karp's interpretation of Kiss (i.e. Goin Blind). To a Karp fan, the Karp influence is noticeable. To a Melvins fan, this is still pure Melvins.

This is a very straightforward album, and it is well recorded. As you expect, it is still slow and heavy, and it is unlike any other Melvins album. The sound of the guitar, and just the simple heaviness of the meat salad, is extremely pleasant and served well done (or however you like your meat salad). The drums are prominent and complete the soundstage. I expected a little more on the drums because Dale is my favorite drummer, but maybe he is getting old and needs a little help ;-) ... nevertheless, this is one of the best drumming on a Melvins album, and still very much Dale.

This is the most accessible Melvins album to date. However, this is not meant as a negative. I have been a Melvins fan for a very long time (they are my favorite band), and their "weirder" material is something I enjoy a lot. This album still ranks as one of the best for me. If you like 10 Songs, Houdini, Bullhead, you will like this. If you like Lysol, Prick, you will still like this. This album just rocks.

Like Houdini, this could, and should win an album of the year award.

Buy this.