It would have been cool to get each single in the mail and enjoy them in the format they were originally intended. I like getting stuff in the mail.
But I missed out. So Singles 1-12 is the next best thing.
If you take Singles 1-12 for what it is, a documentation of the monthly AM Rep Melvins 45 releases, a stroke of marketing genius if you ask me, you accept the music as is.
Disc 1 starts out with Lexicon Devil. A Germs cover from a tribute album that you don't have to buy. This song in itself is worth the price of the C/D. Once I heard Lexicon Devil I made up my mind that no matter what else the other songs sounded like I was happy.
Pigtro, Spred Eagle, Queen (Special Mix) are all B-sides. The Queen Special Mix is especially annoying. I have been asked many times if my speakers are fucked up when that song plays.
Theme is also a "B" side but this is brilliant! better than the Flipper cover on the "A" side.
GGIIBBY was "chopped off Houdini" for being "bad". I totally disagree with the Melvins, the song is awesome.
Theresa Screams I just skip over every time now.
Disc II has a lot of Melvins experimental stuff, the singles idea is a perfect format for this stuff. Yeah it dosen't translate that well to C/D, but that's the order it was released in the mail.
Jacksonville and Dallas are fucken clasics. I would have loved to be there. Imagine the huge balls Buzz has to stand in front of a hostile crowd and tell them all to fuck off. I always wonder how the songs were created. They had to have been planned in advance, on hold so to speak for the right group of ass-holes in the crowd.
The Bloat demo is a beutiful rendition of of one of my all time favorites.
Fast Forward is supposedly just "Buzz and Dale playing with a cassette recorder", but I love this bit of noise when my mind is altered or i'm driving on a smooth stretch of highway. It would have fit in nicely on the Stag release.
I agree with Cooter, HDYF is an incredible piece of Melvins noise from 1996. But what the fuck does HDYF mean? That bugs me. Maybe it's Buzz proclaiming his love for American motocycles? or How Do You Feel?
How-++- and Henry Lauders Walking Stick Tree together was just an all-round bad idea, it should have been a "B" side and the outstanding cover of Brutal Truth singing Zodiac should have been the top billing on the "A" side.
All this and a scull on the cover.
