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Friendly Hello and Introduction!
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome! I've been sitting with my thoughts for awhile trying to decide on what I'd want to write about for my first blog, and it's been incredibly difficult to choose. I personally have such a strong connection to so many different artists that range from wildly different genres and time periods, but one culturally significant artist I felt was important to pay homage to was the Melvins.
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Who Exactly Are the Melvins?
The Melvins were formed in 1983, with Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover being the two core members who have stuck around throughout the band's 41 years of existence. They've had members float in and out of the band; however, they have been pioneers behind the curtain of the music scene and have continued to inspire the great artists we know and love today. They've influenced the Seattle sound scene, sludge metal, doom metal, and drone metal. They've worked with artists such as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Matt Lukin of Mudhoney, Shirley Temple's daughter Lori Black, Mike Patton of Faith No More & Mr. Bungle, JD Pinkus of Butthole Surfers, Trevor Dunn, Lustmord, and Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys, just to name a few.
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What Genre Are the Melvins?
The Melvins are truly an artist's artist, and if not for their incredible work, we would likely not have the music that we actively recognize as Soundgarden and Nirvana today. Without their influence we wouldn't have bands like Have a Nice Life, Mastodon, Sunn O))), Boris, Mr. Phylzzz, Earth, Burning Witch, Green River, and so many other artists. Part of the reason why they have such a giant influence on a variety of bands spanning through genres is the fact that they have such a wide range of music. We wouldn't have modern drone and doomgaze without early Melvins' work, which leads to the question: What genre are the Melvins?
It's quite difficult to pin down what genre the Melvins fall under; they are consistently experimenting with their sound. It's unlikely to enjoy EVERY single Melvins album the same, and some of their projects will resonate more than others. But that's one of the beautiful things I, and many other fans, appreciate about their work—they're creating because it's fun, and they want to! This adds to their charm; they don't create to fit into a binary and are constantly experimenting.
Depending on which album you're looking at, you'll find drone metal, doom metal, sludge metal, punk, Seattle grunge, avant-garde, jazz-rock, alternative rock/metal, ambient, electronic, country—the list goes on. A common theme throughout their work is their absurdity, some albums entirely are joke albums with no other noticeable underlying themes, and some albums have breaks in between songs almost to ease tension. It's a very unique quirk that they've developed and helped inspire the absurdist movement in music from the 80s and 90s.
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Top 3 Melvins Album Recommendations for Those Who Are Interested
If that at all interests you, and you've never had the chance to sit down and check out their music, or you've never heard of the Melvins until now, here are the top 3 albums that I would recommend to anyone who is interested, in no particular order.
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Stag
Released in 1996, Stag embodies this raw, droney, inebriated feel, with sludge and experimental metal elements, and comedic absurdity sprinkled in. Stag is one of my favorite albums of all time, not just from the Melvins. It may be unconventional to recommend this album, considering it's not as digestible as some of their other work—it's very all over the place, but Stag grows on you the more you listen to it.
✿ Stag song recommendations: "Goggles," "The Bit," "Skin Horse," and "Lacrimosa."
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Bullhead
Released in 1991, Bullhead is the poster child of their drone, doom, and sludge metal. I hadn't really considered this album to be one of my favorite Melvins albums until I saw the entire live playthrough of Bullhead at The Metro with my dad in 2023. Not only was it my first Melvins concert, but it was just an absolutely hypnotizing live experience. The bass was so strong it shook my entire body, and I physically felt carried by the music—it was an out-of-body experience.
✿ Bullhead recommendations: "Ligature," "Boris," "If I Had an Exorcism," and "It's Shoved."
✿ Fun fact!: The Japanese psychedelic drone-sludge band Boris, who toured with the Melvins in 2023, was named after the opening track on Bullhead, and Boris was also the name of Buzz Osborne's cat.
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Houdini
Released in 1993, Houdini is the most successful Melvins album and their most successful piece in general. While not as experimental and slow as Stag or Bullhead, Houdini is just as groundbreaking. With alternative metal, sludge, grunge, and stoner rock elements, this album has absolutely no skips and is the gateway album for most fans. I personally love this album to pieces. It's popular for a reason and Houdini was one of the albums I heard growing up.
✿ Houdini recommendations: "Night Goat," "Goin' Blind," "Honey Bucket," and "Hag Me."
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Playlist
It's incredibly intimidating to get into an artist with such a vast body of work, especially when much of it is experimental. So, for anyone who made it to the end and is interested, I curated a Spotify playlist and cherry-picked the best songs from all of the Melvins' studio albums. Some of their work isn't available on Spotify, and some albums have only two songs, or none at all (just because, while I am a gigantic fan, I do not find myself enjoying all of their work).
My recommendation for navigating this playlist is to not listen in order, but to pick out a song here or there from one of the albums and see which project's sound sticks with you the best. Happy listening ! :-)
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