Geez… has it really been over a year since Primus last graced
\nthe pages of “The Daily Vault”? Last time we looked at the
\nalternative trio who took the rulebook of rock and lit it on fire,
\nthey helped us kick this website off when we looked at
\nSuck On This<\/i>.<\/p>\n
That album was 1989, though – let’s now jump ahead in time to
\n1995 and look at
\nTales From The Punchbowl<\/i>, an album which was criminally
\noverlooked by many people. Although it might have been seen as a
\nnovelty album after the minor success of “Wynonna’s Big Brown
\nBeaver,” this album showed the true musical talents – as well as
\nlooniness – of Les Claypool and crew.<\/p>\n
If memory serves me right, this album featured the last recorded
\nappearance of Tim “Herb” Alexander, who parted ways with the group
\nsoon afterwards. Damned shame –
\nTales From The Punchbowl<\/i> showed just how talented Alexander
\nwas behind the drumkit, from snare rolls leading into cymbal action
\nto frantic double-bass work, Alexander’s talents were just coming
\nto the forefront. (I’m ashamed to admit I have yet to purchase or
\nlisten to
\nThe Brown Album<\/i>, Primus’s last release.)<\/p>\n
Claypool is one of the few musicians around who can use his bass
\nguitar in the same manner that a regular guitarist would whip out
\nleads; Claypool might just well be the most talented bass guitarist
\nalive right now. (I still admire the work of the late Cliff Burton
\nof Metallica, though.) Larry LaLonde’s guitar work is also at its
\ncreative peak on this album.<\/p>\n
Guess now is the best time to bring up the biggest complaint I
\nhave with
\nTales From The Punchbowl<\/i> – why the hell are Claypool’s
\nvocals buried in the mix? On songs like “Professor Nutbutter’s
\nHouse Of Treats,” it’s damned near impossible to understand what
\nhe’s saying most of the time. The only other complaint comes on the
\nsecond half of the album – unless you have the CD and are watching
\nthe track numbers, it’s really hard to follow which song you’re
\nlistening to. (I was unfortunate enough to buy the tape – while
\nwe’re at it, couldn’t lyrics have been enclosed?)<\/p>\n
Okay, enough griping. As long as this album is remembered for
\n“Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver,” we might as well talk about it. It’s
\na hell of a track to be remembered for – Claypool’s bass lines
\noften sound like a second lead guitar, while LaLonde simply goes
\nbananas with his solos. The video for this one is a stitch, by the
\nway – the band members are heavily made up to resemble the cowboy
\nbrethren of that family in the Duracell commercials of a couple
\nyears back. And if you took the time to read the bass drum head,
\nyes, there once was a band by that name – check the video to see
\nwhat I’m talking about.<\/p>\n
The remainder of
\nTales From The Punchbowl<\/i> is simply incredible – though I
\ncould have lived without the Doppler-effect car horns on “Hellbound
\n17 1\/2 (Theme From),” as I was driving when this track came on, and
\nit scared the hell out of me. (I almost wrapped the Pierce Pinto
\naround a tree in fright.) “Southbound Pachyderm” is an incredibly
\nmature selection, including killer bass work from Claypool, who
\nalmost gets into a Ted Nugent “Stranglehold” groove. “Year Of The
\nParrot,” “Mrs. Blaileen” and “Glass Sandwich” also stand out.<\/p>\n
But the problem is that many people don’t take Primus seriously,
\nnor are they willing to take a chance with one of their albums.
\n‘Tis a shame that these people don’t know what they’re missing.
\nSure, Primus could well be the clown princes of alternative funk,
\nbut
\nTales From The Punchbowl<\/i> is one of their most
\nlistener-friendly works of their career. Each moment of weirdness
\nhas its place, and it’s no longer weirdness for its own sake.<\/p>\n
If you’ve ever given even a passing thought to getting an album
\nby Primus, then
\nTales From The Punchbowl<\/i> is the one you should pick up and
\ntake a big swig from. Controlled lunacy never sounded so good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5631],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38817","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-primus","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38817"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38817"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}