(A) Senile Animal

[Vcavallo]

I'm sure the melvins recognize the importance of this site/forum in maintaining their fanbase. I remember reading/hearing somewhere that buzz didn't feel the need to have a website because of all the fansites and what not.

[steve]

Damn you Amazon.com... 

Shipment #1: Not Yet Shipped               
Shipping estimate: October 11, 2006

[(PAUL)]

I'm probably going to write a huge review of this in a little bit, but just one comment right now: The bass line for A History of Bad Men is pretty much exactly the bass line from The Man With the Laughing Hand is dead.

[brian]

Dearest comrades,

As we all anxiously await the outcome of the recent show of strength by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and its 'Great Leader' Kim Jong-Il, a different albeit arguably just as formidable show of strength rears its head across the horizon on this day the 10th of October in the year of OUR Lord Two Thousand and Six. I write not of a devastating natural disaster or another school shooting which calls into question our path of evolution, but one of the few things that can be relied upon as an affirmation of the greatness that is 'WE', (a) Senile Animal, the latest recording from those supremest of supreme leaders, the Melvins.
Now before you clean out your local munitions supplier in the preparation of forcing your entire region into purchasing the album by gunpoint, take note there are reasons you can supply prior to pistol whipping the locals into submission! The Melvins are now officially a four-piece. The new members are Jared Warren and Coady Willis, the guys from Big Business. If you are unaware as to who these people are or what this means take a few moments to grab a switch from the nearest tree, give yourself a few good lashes and then return to this e-mail.
Jared Warren has taken over bass duties in addition to additional vocals, this equals lots of vocal harmonies as there are now 3 people vibrating the vocal chords on this album. Beyond that, the thing that is really going to make your Mother's Kenny G discography literally burst into flames upon bringing (a) Senile Animal home for debriefing is the fact that Coady Willis is the Second drummer of the Melvins. When I first heard the Melvins had a new drummer I feared Dale had lost his arms to a radial saw making those birdhouses he is so famous for in the local craft shows up and down the beautiful Pacific coastline. Rest assured I was wrong! What this means is (a) Senile Animal has two drummers on every track and therefore a sound which is certain to provide a re-definition of your neighborhood watch's list of offenses.
An album of 10 tracks with titles such as "A History of Drunks" and "A Vast Filthy Prison", this is out now in the U.S. and should be available in all countries dependent upon it for music in short order.

I'd also like you to know that this is the last message you will receive regarding melvins news notifications by being a member of themelvins.net bbs. If you'd like to receive further notifications please go to the below address and sign up for the new mailing list.
http://themelvins.net/mailman/listinfo/themelvinsdotnet_themelvins.net

Please visit the below page in order to view the remaining U.S. tour dates for this year, this page is incorporated into the new MelvinsWiki which I've just begun, feel free to contribute!
http://www.themelvins.net/wiki/index.php?title=Melvins_Tour_Dates_2006

Warmest regards,

Brian D Eberlein
www.themelvins.net

Sent out to the users with announcements turned on today.

[ManWithNoName]

motherFUCKER!

I go to pick up senile animal turns out it's been pushed back a week?!? WTF!

[brian]

its in stock according to amazon

[glen]

well done brian.  I dig your interlacing of current events.   funny stuff and well written.

[ManWithNoName]

its in stock according to amazon

in the states.

Apparently it's only coming out on the 17th in Canada.

[Mad Arab]

Let this thread be the repository for all thoughts and reviews regarding the Melvins newest album. Could someone please make this a sticky?

[Vcavallo]

Could someone please make this a sticky?

your wish is my command

[the bloat]

Bought it today. Upon tearing open the sweet smelling cellophane, the first thing I flip through is the liner notes, which although not impressive, are solid with large pictures of the band members' sweaty faces pasted on each page. I am still not used to the cover picture. I don't like it. I think someone mentioned before that it is a little Primus - ish. Oh well, the back cover is cool with all the songs stacked up on one another. Sometimes I wish they would hire other artists instead of using Mackie every single time! Does anyone else agree?

Now, the music is by far their most straightforward in years, more so than HAT and even Stoner Witch. It kills though. The Hawk takes the cake and could be one of the Melvins finest songs - EVER! Other highlights include Blood Witch and a History of Drunks. The Mechanical Bride sounds like it was pulled right out of 1986 and A Vast Filthy Prison makes for a great closer with a subdued drum intro and thick guitar chugging like cough syrup. My SINGLE gripe is no matter how many times I listen to it, A History of Bad Men still reminds me too much of Night Goat. Once the vocals kick in, its not as bad, but that initial bassline is strange and confusing to me.

A Senile Animal pulls from every angle of the Melvins catalog and thats why every one on this board is going to love it. Its like a greatest hits career spanning package composed of new tunes. If you haven't bought this or haven't already been listening to it for months, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

[deatheats]

It's finally October 10th and I'm trying to figure out where a good record store is in downtown washington dc.   I'm here on [big] business, (sorry I couldn't resist the pun) and I know next to nothing about this city.  Anybody know a good record store near the white house (I'm working about 4 blocks from there)?  Maybe GWB is a melvins fan.  I'll knock on the white house door to find out, hehe.  But seriously if anyone knows of a record store close to here I would be eternally grateful to get ahold of this puppy today.

[Vcavallo]

i'll post pictures of the art tomorrow if people are interested/if nobody has done it already.  i'll also post a warning before i do so just in case people don't want to see it

[(PAUL)]

Well okay, here's a longwinded review of (A) Senile Animal. All thoughts are my own.

It seems every time the Melvins change their lineup they release a massive album to mark the occasion. When Joe Preston joined the band, they released Lysol, which featured one track clocking in at 31 minutes. When Kevin Rutmanis joined, the band released the trilogy, a set of three different albums released within a years timespan. Hell, even when Mark D joined the band they released Prick, which could be described as a massive head fuck. And now that (A) Senile Animal is out, it is no different. However, instead of merely gaining one new member to play bass, the Melvins gain another drummer as well, with the boys of Big Business joining the ranks. Thats right, the perenial three piece is now a four piece featuring two drummers! And boy do they utilize them to the fullest. Rather than merely play the same thing, longtime drummer Dale Crover and new recruit Coady Willis compliment each others pounding while playing rather complex passages and there are several instances on the album where the drums are unaccompanied, allowing the two of them to pound the listener into submission. And speaking of pounding, some of these tracks, such as Rat Faced, with an intro similar to Revolve on Stoner Witch, and A History of Bad Men, featuring a bass line earily similar to the one used on the Man With the Laughing Hand is Dead featured on The Crybaby, do just that. But one of my favorite songs has to be Civilized Worm, featuring wonderful vocal harmonies between Buzz Osborne and Jared Warren. Speaking of Jared, the next track, A History of Drunks, brings to mind his earlier band Karp, with the hand claps during the middle section. The sequencing of tracks also needs to be mentioned: the way the tracks are arranged makes it feel like one long song, rather than several tracks merely lumped together. This brings to mind the band playing live, as they rarely take any breaks between songs. While one could argue that perhaps this album is too straightforward for a band that has put out such challenging work as Collosus of Destiny and Pigs of the Roman Empire, but longtime fans will still find plenty to like about this release, and for the uninitiated this is an excellent starting point. Overall it is another excellent album by a band that has been around for over twenty years now, yet still sounds as vital and important as the day they began.

[Vcavallo]

amen