The Maggot

[Vcavallo]

hmm.  drums sounded fine to me.

not me.  they are just sort of a low-rumble punctuated by short snaps of snare.
listen to HAT immediately after and you will see how muddy they are.
it is definitely a noteworthy effect.  just because they don't stand out in the mix doesn't mean that it is inherently negative.  just a fact, is all.

[Rusty Shackleford]

i think they went for the machine sound, almost ozma like, with the drums.  i love the effect they use on the cymbals on some of the songs.  mainly the end of manky.  it's like a huge machine letting out steam or something.

[groundmeat]

Maggot is one of my top 3 favorite Melvins albums. AMAZON, manky, we all love judy are just classics.

Speaking of manky, does anyone else hear what sounds like monks scatting (something like cho-cho-cha-chei) during the second half when the song starts bludgeoning (most clearly heard at around 4:43 - 45) ? Or is that just Kevin doing his slide magic ? Either way that just makes the hair on my neck stand on their ends.

Also the outro of Green Manalishi - they should write a song with only that sound.

[Green Honey]

...Also the outro of Green Manalishi - they should write a song with only that sound.

you mean the bit where it's just amazon slowed down?

[groundmeat]

...Also the outro of Green Manalishi - they should write a song with only that sound.

you mean the bit where it's just amazon slowed down?

Is  it really just AMAZON slowed down ? I never picked up on that! But either it just sounds mean and evil.

[Bryan]

but why did they split all the tracks? prolly just to fuck w/people.
their most consistent heavy album.

I think they split the tracks to fuck with everybody who uses the shuffle mode on cd players and now ipods. Probably their way of poking fun at people who are no longer able to sit through an entire album.

[Leroy]

haha.  on COD, didn't they put like 60 minutes of it on track one, and then the last 4 seconds on track 2?

[Pelican]

I like everything about The Maggot, never thought there was anything wrong with the drum sound. I agree, it does sound a bit like a machine. Especially on AMAZON.

I think the reason I like The Maggot and H.A.T. so much is because when you play them straight through, they just flow so well. One song goes into the next almost seamlessly. Kind of like a concept album. They're both very different from each other, but neither has a weak spot, every song sounds awesome.

[TGH]

haha.  on COD, didn't they put like 60 minutes of it on track one, and then the last 4 seconds on track 2?

Yeah. And the five second song only had a one second blip of noise, and the last four seconds was silence.

[ManWithNoName]

This was my 5th Melvins album. Initially I was turned off but I finally came around and now I love it. It just had to grow on me or something.

[AlmightyRetard]

I actually think thw whole production is kind of shit. Not at its best at least. But it's still in my top 5 of Melvins Albums

[Vcavallo]

Yeah. And the five second song only had a one second blip of noise, and the last four seconds was silence.

i bought this in nyc a while back when i went in with my parents.  i asked them to put it on for the ride home (i had no idea what it was going to sound like).  
after about 2 minutes of the first track, we all decided to see what the rest of the album sounded like, so my mom skipped to track 2.
after hearing that it was just a little splotch of noise, and that was the whole album, my mom ejected it and told me i got ripped off.  one track is just a bunch of noise, and the other is just a short honk.  
she told me to check the mail for another thank you letter when i got home.
[she loved to tell me that i was the only person in the world who liked this ridiculous band, and that they should send me personalized thank you letters for being the sole consumer of their products.]
i'd like to sit her down now and put on COD for her.  i think the "stop fucking me, you're giving me a headache" may annoy her.  
for me, it only succeeds in conjuring up quite pleasurable and enjoyable images of really violent sex.

[Galvano]

Love the production on this record, mixed very raw, sort of as not to sound like every other metal recording out there.
Love what they are doing with the drums, it's their trademark.

[Vcavallo]

yea, you're totally right.  buried drums is their trademark...
i rather hear the ozma drum sound, you know, where you can hear the drums, and what the fantastic drum player is DOING with them?

that's just my foolish opinion though

[GrimReaper]

Yeah. And the five second song only had a one second blip of noise, and the last four seconds was silence.

i bought this in nyc a while back when i went in with my parents.  i asked them to put it on for the ride home (i had no idea what it was going to sound like).  
after about 2 minutes of the first track, we all decided to see what the rest of the album sounded like, so my mom skipped to track 2.
after hearing that it was just a little splotch of noise, and that was the whole album, my mom ejected it and told me i got ripped off.  one track is just a bunch of noise, and the other is just a short honk.  
she told me to check the mail for another thank you letter when i got home.
[she loved to tell me that i was the only person in the world who liked this ridiculous band, and that they should send me personalized thank you letters for being the sole consumer of their products.]
i'd like to sit her down now and put on COD for her.  i think the "stop fucking me, you're giving me a headache" may annoy her.  
for me, it only succeeds in conjuring up quite pleasurable and enjoyable images of really violent sex.

This is a great story. I have a few similar:

I read in Rolling Stone or maybe the Rocket was still around, that the COD was just a bunch of noise. Brian had already posted the cover on this site and for that matter I saw the warm up show to the COD tour at the EMP.

Anyway my brother is visiting from DC and we go to Fall-Out records to look at stuff and as usual I check out the Melvins bin and low and behold there is COD. I grab it, paying $18.00 for it. I throw it in the car on the way home and I have my sons with me also. We like it. After a while we want to see what else is on the disc and get ass-jammed like everyone else, curious as to what we just purchased. Now we have to start the cd over again to listen to the 45 minutes that we didn't hear the first time! And you can't skip ahead!  Anyway it made perfect sense to us for some reason just knowing the band.

My next COD story is taking Bad Ronald SFO to a Melvins show. He loves it.

Next time I see him he say he bought COD. I think to myself, "Not a good first Melvins cd to get", but he liked it also.

What does this have to do with the Maggot ? Fuck if I know, but great story V.

Here's what I remember about when the Maggot was first released.
Every fucken Fred Meyers, every record store in town had one Melvins release, The Maggot; stores that never had anything by the Melvins stocked it. So somehow Ipecac got the release out. I looked at it and was confused about the 1 on the front. Didn't pick it up until the tour though because I knew I could get it for $10. Yeah,  paying $18 for cd's bugs me.

Melvins were on KISW promoting the Maggot and I remember they played Green Manalishi from the Maggot on air. I wish I would had recorded this show, and if someone has it I will trade handsomely for it.