Chicken Switch

[GrimReaper]

I like listening to it. I'm not going to break it out at a party.

[black stallion]

Chicken Switch is outstanding.

seconded!after seeing the disappointment around this album,i was a bit embarassed saying i like it a lot

[___-----_____------_____]

Chicken Switch is outstanding.

seconded!after seeing the disappointment around this album,i was a bit embarassed saying i like it a lot

disappointment?  really??  It's another special gift from the melvins.  
I've gotten too use to their genius, I needed to express my enthusiasm, I can't them them for granted.

[VaticanShotglass]

I got this for christmas and really dig it.  When waiting to hear it, I stopped by to see what everyone here thought of it.  I was a little worried by some of the reactions.  I was expecting no structure to the tracks, but was pleasantly surprised.  I was expecting to not like at least half the tracks, again, I was pleasantly surprised and really only feel iffy on one or two tracks.  It is solid and has more variety than Colossus, which I also like.

[nightwolf]

i have a problem to listen to this in its entirety. its a bit shit, really

[MrLuck87]

Well, I've had the album for months now and I STILL haven't really come to a conclusion if I like it or not.  Since I have nothing better to do I'll try writing a review now.

1. Now this is a pretty cool remix!  Loud, semi catchy, and heavy!  I think it's a Black Stooges remix.  I was kind of expecting the rest of the album to be more like this.
2. Basically the Honky intro repeated for 4:21min.  Not exactly a bad track but it just makes me want to hear Honky instead.
3. The main riff of Grinding Process looped while a loud as Merzbow track plays over it.  I'd like it more if the noise was mixed a bit lower but it still has a bit of charm to it.
4.  The Lysol intro with twice as many drums!  Then when it gets to the REALLY heavy part it ends abruptly and is replaced with the middle part of Let It All Be.  Once again, not exactly bad but just makes me want to hear Lysol or The Bootlicker instead.
5. Is this a remix of a Melvins song?!?  Maybe something off Ozma?  I still have no idea but I actually like this one.
6. Have you ever thought, "Man, I wish I could listen to the first 3 songs from Eggnog but I only have 4:25 to do it.  What should I do?!?"  Well now your problem is solved with this other wise pointless remix.
7.  Now Merzbow is up to bat and this track is pretty decent if you like Merzbow.  If not you'll hate it.  VERY LOUD!  I think it's another Lysol remix.
8.  Semi-Melvin David Scott Stone remixes a funny track from a funny album.  I laugh at how ridiculous it is but I don't know if I'd call it good.
9.  When I hear the word "remix" for some reason techno usually comes to mind.  This is the only song like that one this album.  Ironically,  because of it's traditional approach it ends up standing out from the rest of these tracks!  I really like it.
10. Does this even count as a remix?  What exactly is being remixed!?!  It doesn't sound the slightest bit like ANY Melvins track.  As far as I know the guy created all of this himself.  Regardless, this is my least favorite track.
11.  A familiar drum beat followed by ridiculously loud noise that doesn't resemble any Melvins track.  Eh, I'm gonna pass on this one.
12. After the last two tracks my patience is beginning to run thin and this track does nothing to change my mind.  Noisey and sounds nothing like any Melvins track.
13.  So literally after 13:24min there is finally another track that actually has a recognizable Melvins riff!  It's so exciting to hear the Night Goat bass line that you won't even care if it's bad at this point.  But then the Prick sample comes in and it quickly goes downhill.  It's just a bit too disjointed.  Random Melvins samples come and go one after the other and they aren't really put together in any interesting way.  At least I know it's the Melvins!
14.  If I could hear a dog whistle I imagine it would sound like this track.  It's pretty annoying and very few Melvins clips are used.
15.  If I had a ton of Melvins samples on a keyboard and just hit them every now and then at random that's what this track would sound like.

I think the problem with this album is that the remixers felt like they needed to out weird the Melvins instead of just simply making it good.  Dalek's remix of Dawn of the Locust was great!  I even preferred Al Jourgensen's remix of Enchanted Thoughtfist.  But even the good remixes leave just a little bit more to be desired.

So there's Chicken Switch in a nutshell.  I'm still not sure if I like or dislike it but as a huge Melvins fan I'm glad to have it in my collection.  The artwork is enjoyable and there is just enough here to keep me entertained from time to time.  It's just a shame this didn't turn out better.

[TheLegitMan93]

I think track 3 is hilarious. And the Grinding Process riff is pretty great, anyways.

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11.  A familiar drum beat followed by ridiculously loud noise that doesn't resemble any Melvins track.  Eh, I'm gonna pass on this one.

I scanned your post and ironically this caught my eye.
I literally love this track.  The other night I couldn't help but play it 3 times in a row.
It's hard, and somewhat pointless to try and decipher this album for original song samples and technicalities.  
This album is an entity of itself.  I'm hoping for another one.  I'd like the melvins to give the masters for the new album to these guys and have them completely destroy them, produce it like this first, then release the originals a decade from now.  

[Dumpster D]

yeah, I listened to it a lot when I first got it, but it lost it's flavor too soon.
this is a far cry from what I was looking forward to hearing.

I swear roll another one is too hard to get through trying NOT to laugh.

but yeah, honestly...give ME a few melvins tracks to work with, and I could come up with something a LOT more creative...well at least you can tell by listening to this thing who listens to the most melvins...

theres just too many obscure riffs and parts you could do MAGICAL and BEAUTIFUL things with, as far as "remixes" concern me, I was hoping for more weird combinations of spare parts of melvins tunes that sort of make for a way more serious monsterpiece.

I was not challenged in any way except for my attention span and patience, fuck you ipecac, you could have EARNED my 16.99 at least...you KNOW you could have done something better and yet that was the irony you WANTED wasn't it?

I don't know about you, but it's like we all new it was going to be a "step child" sort of an album.

I would have done something better or just different in many areas of this CD that to me, would make this thing the truly Classic album this SHOULD have been.


it's not bad or anything, it just had a lot of potential to be something greater!

[Justafilthylurker]

This is the album I've been listening to the most lately. It's like a big song where each track is a different note.

[the bloat]

I wasn't in any hurry to get to this one based on all the negative feedback on this board, but was pleasantly surprised when I finally broke down, strapped on some headphones and dove into this mother. Each track has something worth going back to and like someone had said earlier, it's just another special gift from Melvins.

[Captain CoryCory]

I bought this for the first time a few months ago. It's a decent record but not something I'd listen to very often nor something I'd listen to driving anywhere.

The Sunroof! track is probably the most fascinating of the bunch. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be something of it's own and not a remix off anything Melvins at all! Kinda like how the Throbbing Gristle remix on Sausages isn't actually a cover. It strikes me in that sense.

[Snivlemdotcom]

If I recall correctly, it's something from Ozma run through signal processors. There were 3 or 4 versions submitted and that was the favorite.

Everyone should look into sunroof and related (skullflower, hototogisu, etc).

The one track on it with the most non-Melvins material is speedranch.

The most surprising in how direct it is is the John Duncan track, considering his other work.

[Snivlemdotcom]

And while I'm at it, other interesting Chicken Switch trivia:

Eye Yamatsuka accidentally sent his Melvins remix to Black Dice and vice versa. The mixup was cleared up with then member Hisham Baroocha, who now performs periodically as part of Boredoms. There was more than one version of his remix.

Each participant was sent a full album to use as source material, to do whatever they wanted with it. Some of them specifically requested the albums they used. Some "cheated" and used multiple albums.

An obscure English artist did a remix but was dropped when he started making crazy outrageous demands. Too bad - his was great.

A prominent European noise artist accepted, then refused to participate after having a mental breakdown and making outlandish, untrue statements about another participant.

[anaconda]

another bit of trivia

the fake leak 2 months before the official release date was devoured more than the original release!
this confusion caused the album to 'underperform'. people already had the pre-release fake tracks and loved
them so they never bought the 'real' album!