Pigs of the Roman Empire

[klump]

i cant get enough of it!

the title track really grows more and more on you!

[fearless1000]

Finally got it last night, listened to it a coupla times... its fair to say I love it      

[benton netty]

I like "noise" albums, and several bands that I like (including not just the MELVINS, but also Sonic Youth, Royal Trux,  and Mike Patton) have made them and I hope they make more. If I thought those albums were not well done, I wouldn't defened them. If you just said you didn't like it, that's one thing, but you accused the band of "ripping you off". That means you think that the band threw something together to steal money from fans and we're all dupes for goin' along with it. That's not the case.

now, hold on. i can enjoy a "noise" album, depending on the case. the mike patton solo albums are impressive for what they are -- his vocal ability is unique. pigs of the roman empire is lacking in quality material, though. this is because they've chosen to let lustmord have so much space to himself, rather than collaborating with him in a true fashion for the album, on actual compositions. this album feels, to me, like a glorified EP. and a weak one, at that.

i'm pretty sure i actually didn't accuse the band of "ripping me off." if you can find a quote from me, i'll admit it, but i don't think i used those words. do i feel that way? i guess i don't know. i do know that they've given me enough quality over the years that i can't really get on their asses too much. but this album, aside from sounding rote and uninspired, sounds like they got lazy. and that's a word i don't associate with them, ever.

but, i will say this: if you don't think that the melvins have never actually pulled one over on people and ripped them off, as far as content goes, you've never heard the grumpy's amrep singles.

I reallly do listen to and enjoy albums like Collosus Of Destiny , Prick, Adult Themes For Voice and Twin Infinitves.. The fact the MELVINS make albums like that in addition to the "rock" stuff is one of my favorite things about them.  I haven't heard the new disc yet but the way that folks keep comparing it to Honkey which is one of my favorite MELVINS albums make me very excited.

it's funny, i think colossus had a point, and it was worth a few spins, but it's a diversion, as far as i'm concerned. and that's fine. prick has some good moments on it -- "larry" is a great song, and the noise tracks are fairly interesting. "honky"? well, that's in my top five melvins albums, believe it or not. it's well-written and played, and the production is GREAT. but this is NO honky.

i can appreciate the melvins' use of noise and ambient sound. i can also appreciate it when they do albums that are more along those lines. but the problem here is that lustmord is a SHITTY collaborator who has never done anything worthwhile, in my mind. i've listened to his albums. and i honestly can't imagine what purpose he serves. he's not even really making music. i guess i like music, what can i say. if i want to listen to noise, i can go to a tractor pull.

having said that, the integration of nonmusical noise INTO a composition can be very interesting, and the melvins have usually triumphed in this area. this time, it's a failure, i think.

It's funny that you seem to think of HAT as a "rock" album 'cause to me it's just as much a "noise" album. There's tons of noise all over it.

god, HAT is utterly rock. yeah, there's noise there. but it's as part of a song. and, man, any album with "brain center," "black stooges," and "little judas chongo," among others...shit, that's rock with a capital R.

"noise," to me, is freeform and nonmusical. like the sound of an electric razor or the hum of traffic.

really, who honestly wants to sit around and listen to this lustmord shit? it does nothing. it means nothing. it goes nowhere. it takes no effort. i know a million other people who could do that shit in their sleep.

I do. I also really interested in tryin' Lustmord's other stuff. I also have several friends who are way into it. I'm lookin' foreward to this new album partly because I think it's gonna be a good way to turn them onto the MELVINS. Don't be so quick to write off sound collage albums. While thy're not musical in the "normal" sense they are put together to create moods, build to a climax, and create feeling for the listener. It's far more difficult than you give it credit for. If it really is that easy for you, you might have a real gift for it. I suggest you try.

well...i've actually put out freeform-style music before, so-called "noise" music, but i wouldn't see the point in doing a lustmord-type album. his stuff is like listening to the ocean. of course, there ARE people that want to do that. don't ask me why. maybe because they live in the desert, i dunno. but i want to hear songs. i want to hear musicianship. that's it. and i don't listen to my favorite bands because they make albums full of half-songs and pointless, flat sounds.

but, man, hitting a low note on a synth and setting a reverb box for a long decay, it's just simple. clanging on a chime -- simple. it's like lustmord's albums, to me, are like listening to a guy tune his guitar for an hour. there's just nothing there. it's so basic as to be pointless, devoid of meaning.

It's not just that you didn't like the album. That's fine. If you don't "get" it that's fine too. Without even hearin' it it's obvious that it's not for everyone. You went farther than that and insulted everyone who does like it, the artists who made it, and albums like it and that's gonna get an angry response.

i would actually make an argument that a lot of so-called "noise" recordings are totally just like sound effects records for people to take drugs to and put on in the background. i can understand that. but it doesn't mean anything to me. i got into the melvins on houdini, and i loved how they mixed huge, weird rock songs with crazy noise bits. it was so fresh, to my ears. but this album, the scales have really tipped too far. the noise isn't interesting (it's literally STATIC, a lot of the time), and the actual songs (all three of them) are so sub-par that it's hard to imagine them actually putting any effort into them (save "the bloated pope," which is a pretty good melvins tune, but sadly is not indicative of the album at all).

i don't think i've quite insulted anyone. i've just been saying what i feel, and i've been honest. i think this album is a big turd. i just wish the upcoming jello album was just a melvins album. i'd be less annoyed.

[DubEMC]

Wow Tony you said a mouthfull! I also think you made a lot of good points. I still haven't heard POTRE and won't until I can buy it but I definitely have enough ammunition to start to form an opinion. The thing I agree w/ you most on Tone is about the Jello lp being all Melvins. Maybe they will surprise us and bust out Making Room For Puppies after all.

[klump]

tony, why dont you just take all this spare time you have on your hands and give the record a second spin?(or a third)

[FartLips]

tony, why dont you just take all this spare time you have on your hands and give the record a second spin?(or a third)

tony wanted this record more than a steak and a blowjob, but it wasnt what he was expecting.  to him, its more like a turd and dildo.   sorry there tony. thats the melvins, unexpected.

[klump]

i thought it was kind of a mix of all of those

[fearless1000]

The title track has one of the greatest riffs I've heard in ages. Awesome  

[Rembrandt Pussyhorse]

said it before an ill say it again.. the title track owns this record




word

[anaconda]

melvins are gay, pass it on.

i love pigs!

[benton netty]

tony, why dont you just take all this spare time you have on your hands and give the record a second spin?(or a third)

tony wanted this record more than a steak and a blowjob, but it wasnt what he was expecting.  to him, its more like a turd and dildo.   sorry there tony. thats the melvins, unexpected.

i've listened to the album AT LEAST ten times. but it's not getting any better. and why would it? wind noises, whirrs, and clanks don't get better with time. i'm probably done listening until i buy the official copy. yes, i'm buying it. why? because it's the melvins, and i have everything of theirs.

i've been buying melvins albums since 1994, when i first saw them live, opening for NIN. i've never been disappointed in an album with their name on it unitl now. trust me, i expect the unexpected with them. but i also expect quality. this is the first time i've felt that one of their albums qualified as "half-assed." yeah, it's "experimental," whatever the hell that means. only problem is that it fails to be interesting. but there are those people who would buy a melvins album with one song and the rest the sound of a locomotive, and they wouold say that it was a great step forward. not i. there comes a point where musicians should play music. and this album denies you the thing that makes the melvins great -- the sound of the three of them playing their always-creative songs. if you are impressed by lustmord, i can't convince you otherwise. but i would imagine that you're probably just as impressed by the noises the espresso machine at starbucks makes.

yeah, the riff in "pigs" is a great riff. but that's it -- it's just a riff. there's no song, there. it's like a part of an great unfinished song. and that's the way this album feels to me -- half-cooked, unfinished, lazy, tossed-off. hopefully the jello album rules enough to make me forget this, but there's going to have to be very little in the way of mr. biafra on that album to make this so.

[Dr. Gonzo]

He's right this stuff does not grow unless you pertend it does!

The key is use it as background music like Annaconda said.

[Beto Brasil]

Can anyone put SHN or MP3 of this album on SOULSEEK?
T_H_A_N_K  Y_O_U !!

[Aemon]

Beto did u get my email?

[anaconda]

tony made one good point, HAT is a definite rocker!!
pigs is no HAT but its a two headed monster becuz
it isnt 100% melvins. you have to judge it as a 2 artist
thing. i want an all new 100% melvins album so bad
i'm shitting! but they fuck with us like this, it keeps us
aware and expecting and ready for the legit all melvs
rock trio noise screech bottom heavy screaming butterfly
limping midget son of a bitch nasty polish guy 100% all
melvins album thats surely coming!!!