Melvins – The Maggot (Ipecac) 1999
This was the first in the trilogy of interesting records that were all recorded at the same time but released in the space of a couple of months at the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000. I own them all and although it’s fair to say that the Melvins have had an interesting (OK inconsistent) career, The Maggot, The Bootlicker and The Crybaby encapsulate their whole career in a nut shell.
I always though The Maggot was a strange one to lead off with. Compared with the other later two in the trilogy The Maggot is just not as interesting. In saying that there is is still a whole lot here to love. The whole sludgy wall of sound confines everything on The Maggot. There is no room for light or compromise. It’s a pretty intense album but if you just love that sludgy, stoner-rock style then this is a pretty decent record to have in your collection. I suppose the most noticeable thing missing from The Maggot is the sense of humour. The Melvins have never taken themselves too seriously but The Maggot sounds like they recorded it whilst in a very black mood indeed. It’s OK but the other two in the series are way better.
Ducks Battle Satan 
July 21, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I’ve only heard a few songs from The Maggot and I’ve been meaning to listen to the whole thing for a while, but it’s my least favourite of the trilogy as well. The Bootlicker is great (with Let It All Be being one of the best un-Melvinsy songs ever) but it all sounds a bit samey after a while: “Melvins with clean guitars and a bass riff, Melvins with clean guitars and a bass riff, Melvins with clean guitars and a bass riff”.
The Crybaby, on the other hand, explores just about every style you could want, and more! And you get a variety of different vocalists to boot. Spineless, Mine Is No Disgrace and The Man With The Laughing Hand Is Dead are probably my favourites, but just about every song on it is incredibly awesome and completely different to the song preceding it. And yes, I’m biased because I love Jim Thirlwell.
The only tracks I don’t really dig are David Yow’s “MOTHERFUCCCCCCCKER” scream-fest (Dry Drunk, which probably says a lot about the guy singing it) and the weird noisy Moon Pie.
July 21, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Oh, and Colossus of Destiny was originally meant to be the third part! But you might have known that already.
I kind of like it. It works a lot better when you consider that it’s really just an hour-long version of Eye Flys.
August 14, 2008 at 6:27 pm
These days I think this is my favourite of the trilogy. I love the songs and they sound so pissed off! Those bloodcurdling screams at the end of “See How Pretty, See How Smart” get me every time. The video on youtube of Buzz going crazy playing ‘Manky’ is well worth a look if you haven’t already: