The 40 Weirdest Post-'Nevermind' Major-Label Albums (according to Spin)

pretty sure the a&r guy meant to sign poopshovel instead but just got confused

34 MERCURY REV - BOCES (COLUMBIA, 1993)
27 DRIVE LIKE JEHU – YANK CRIME (CARGO/INTERSCOPE/ATLANTIC, 1994)
26 FLAMING LIPS - HIT TO DEATH IN THE FUTURE HEAD (WARNER BROS., 1992)
17 ROYAL TRUX - SWEET SIXTEEN (VIRGIN, 1995)
4 THOMAS JEFFERSON SLAVE APARTMENTS - BAIT & SWITCH (AMERICAN, 1995)
1 BOREDOMS – POP TATARI (REPRISE, 1993)

I own and like all of these and have heard the Ween, Flipper, and Jesus Lizard records ... probably voting for TJSA

This was the exact time frame that I worked in college radio (1993-97), definitely a weird time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtrFVtAgRo

Notes from the LP back cover:

"Album done in a $50.00 a day studio that friends own. It's in the stone basement of a 3 story house built in the early 1900's. We only broke a few things while there. One reel of half-inch tape running at slow speed. Original title of album was "Harvard Zombie Meat" which basically means "educated people without a clue". The lyrics document this theory, though a few songs MAY be considered "positive."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXXJOUeHQcY

col poo said one of those bands? i need to read better

guess i'll vote unsane then if he voted fudge tunnel

I voted for Ween, even though Pure Guava isn't exactly their best album...

40 CELL - SLO*BLO (DGC, 1993)

oh yeah I also owned this at some point but sold the CD. really don't remember anything about em.

that v-3 album is great

Listening to Possession for the first time in a year or so and it's still the best album on this list.

New ears make it feel like Pretty invents .nu-Swans though.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

nice!

4 THOMAS JEFFERSON SLAVE APARTMENTS - BAIT & SWITCH (AMERICAN, 1995) 8

I am pleased with the results of this poll and the relatively high participation.

Way to go team!

The correct answer is actually The Monks and everything else that Henry Rollins hoisted onto American by way of Infinite Zero.

14 MR. BUNGLE - DISCO VOLANTE (WARNER BROS., 1995) 8
10 GOD - POSSESSION (VIRGIN, 1992) 8

so so happy

poor butt trumpet

*solemnly plays Taps*

*stands up straight and pulls his pants up*

33 MEDICINE - SHOT FORTH SELF LIVING (DEF AMERICAN, 1992) 0

aww i should have voted for this

tbf, 95% of ween hatred is just people hating ween fans

― fuck wit' lysandre day (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, January 17, 2013 10:36 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fwiw a few of my favorite people love Ween, including my former roommate whose taste i otherwise loved where i was forever like "seriousy man you're listening to Ween again?"

although if i'd ever been in the crowd at a Ween show i can easily imagine hating Ween fans in general

Yeah I have a couple of friends with otherwise impeccable taste who like ween

scorn for the 6 people who voted for ween should be transferred over to the 6 people who voted for daniel johnston imo

UGH

i haven't heard that daniel johnston record -- is it bad, or do you just not like him?
voted pell mell btw. listened to several of these last week and enjoyed that one the most.

i just don't think it's that weird that ween got signed either, esp compared to a lot of these bands.

i don't like daniel johnston, mainly due to the typical reservations about being a fan of someone with a serious mental condition. the devil and daniel johnston was great though.

i just don't think it's that weird that ween got signed either, esp compared to a lot of these bands.

― fieri inna babylon (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, January 18, 2013 10:46 AM (19 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

huh why? i know they got biggish later but they weren't very big or popular at the time they were signed.

because they essentially write catchy rock and pop songs, just with a layer of genre pastiche and irony and vocal EFX and shit, but i dunno, they are really "weird" in the most boring way possible imo

I think it was Trouser Press (4th edition) that summed up the secret of Ween as 'poorly disguised musical skills'

i mean i said it upthread but "zappa without all the good things" is really it...the genre pastiche, the insidery dickhead sense of humour, genre parodies, wacky vocals, funny accents and shit

the Ween song that became an alt radio "hit" was p fucking weird though (Push the Lil Daisies)

I kinda like em but definitely had friends who liked em way too much

ween > zappa

I liked Medicine, but I don't think there's much weird about them. The stuff on their second LP is extremely infectious. Did you realize they paid Van Dyke Parks a nice fee to work on one of those tracks? I guess that's kind of weird.

ween > zappa

― billstevejim, Friday, January 18, 2013 11:16 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha i'm not a big zappa guy but on the first few original mothers albums alone that's just a ridiculous statement

That Trenchmouth record isn't my favorite one of theirs, but the first four songs are completely storming.

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments are the greatest rock'n'roll band ever.

That ween hit (daisies) i remember getting MTV play. Sort of a weird crossover between novelty song and catchy hit. But definitely a novelty record I think (in the eyes of the people who made it an MTV hit, at least some of them?)

missed this :(

would have voted for mr bungle, with boces a nominal second and pop tatari third. need to hear god a bit more - first listen was very promising. and as for drive like jehu, i've only heard 'luau' which rules

I think "Push Th' Little Daisies" is great but it's not something that makes me want to dig deeper into the Ween catalog

Yeah, even I like 'Push th' Little Daisies' and I *hate* Ween.

But definitely a novelty record I think (in the eyes of the people who made it an MTV hit, at least some of them?)

yeah I think so. did the same people see "She Don't Use Jelly" as a novelty record too? they probably did, right?

I don't remember actually ever seeing a video for Push Th' Little Daisies. She Don't Use Jelly was on constantly.

You know, I've never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!

ha i'm not a big zappa guy but on the first few original mothers albums alone that's just a ridiculous statement

i'm not into long boring guitar solos.

ok Freak Out! i'll give him that much. but it's not a better album than The Mollusk.

i always forget that Freak Out is amazing when i assess Zappa.

i'm not into long boring guitar solos.

― billstevejim, Friday, January 18, 2013 12:21 PM (1 minute ago)

Dude, stop mischaracterizing original Mothers albums.

I stand corrected! Also I kinda love 200 Motels.

Duke of Prunes, motherfuckers

billstevejim, absolutely free is a lot like freak out but more fucked up you might like that