Classic Album Review: Houdini by Melvins

Data
Release Date: September 21st, 1993

Music Label: Atlantic Records

Lineup:
Buzz "King Buzzo" Osbourne: Guitars, Vocals
Dale Crover: Drums, Vocals
Lori "Lorax" Black: Bass

Session Members:
Kurt Cobain: Gutars on "Sky Pup", Percussion on "Hooch" and "Spread Eagle Beagle"
Billy Anderson: Percussion on "Hag Me" and "Teet"

Total Duration: 54:41

Song-by-song review:
The album opens with "Hooch", which starts with powerful drums, and then goes to the Sabbath riff and the mysterious voice of Buzz, with lyrics that from what I understand talk about addictions, although it is quite confusing (like almost all Melvins lyrics). Then follows my favorite track of the album "Night Goat", which starts with a bass intro with a lot of distortion, to be joined later by the guitar for a similar riff. In this song I love the screams that Buzz throws, like the one at minute 01:31 and that at minute 03:37 the drums start to give some very dense beats so that the whole song becomes a strange and dissonant mass. The lyrics mean something like a metaphor of the dark feelings towards someone. The next track is Lizzy, which starts with an acoustic guitar and Buzz's echoing voice, and then turns into a very strange and dissonant mass. The lyrics are meant as a metaphor for dark feelings towards someone. The next track is Lizzy, which intersperses a bluesy riff on acoustic guitar with the same riff but on electric guitar and with the whole band playing, which reminds me a bit of Nirvana. This time the lyrics are too confusing for me. The album continues with Goin' Blind, a very grunge song, as the riff is quite melancholic and talks about an old man who sees a 16 year old boy and reflects on aging and the fear of death. The next song is the flagship track of this album "Honey Bucket", whose introduction has a choppy riff that is accompanied by a strong bass presence, and then becomes a constant and aggressive riff accompanied by hardcore drums and Buzz's voice, which here is quite aggressive and has a kind of reberveration. It's quite curious that the song at minute 02:41 stops and is silent for a few seconds. The lyrics are about a person in jail trying to escape with various objects, which can be understood as the search for self-control. It is followed by the song "Hag Me", which has a mysterious introduction where a bass drum is played intensely, and then the heavy and dense guitar comes in. At minute 05:03 comes an intense riff that gives epicity to the song. The lyrics are quite confusing, and seem to deal with themes related to anguish and imbalance. The next track is "Set Me Straight", which I feel as a tribute to the hardcore punk band Black flag, as it uses a structure and sounds similar to songs of this band, and even Buzz imitates the voice of the singer of Black Flag and his characteristic way of lengthening the phrases. The lyrics talk about a person who helps another person to change his way of thinking. Then follows "Sky Pup", which is basically a bass line that plays throughout the song along with the drums, while the guitar makes atmospheric and experimental sounds, giving a Drone touch to the song, and Buzz makes a very funny high-pitched voice. The lyrics are the first person of someone who is smoking cannabbis. The next song is "Joan Of Arc", which has a constant and repetitive riff. At the end there is a soft vocal, and then it closes with some drum beats. The lyrics are abstract and are up to the listener's interpretation, although for me it is a representation of chaos and self-destruction. The song that follows is "Teet", which has an interesting bass line, which plays alone with the drums for most of the song, but at some points it is joined by some pretty dense guitar arrangements. The song ends with a high-pitched jamming sound. The lyrics of this song are abstract and very confusing. Copache" follows, which starts with a noisy guitar sound, only to be joined by the whole band. This song is a bit fast compared to the rest of the songs and here the verses are few. The lyrics seem to talk about the decadence to poverty. "Pearl Bomb" starts with a fast and repetitive 4/4 beat, which is then joined by the bass with a great line that I feel has some improvisation, and then the voice appears, which is mysterious (at no point in the song is there any trace of drums or guitar). The lyrics speak of someone paranoid who finds himself in a situation that makes him lose his sanity. The album closes with "Spread Egle Beagle", which is a long instrumental of pure and hard Noise, having only a percussion part that is repeated throughout the song, with some changes, with one or another change and a slight jamming sound that sounds a little loud from time to time.

General review:
Melvins brings us another great album, which is one of the great Sludge Metal materials, without leaving aside the experimentation and irony that characterizes this band.

I find it interesting how they integrate all the instruments, many times being dissonant, but they manage to put them together making it a "perfect chaos". The fishiness with which the songs are handled is also great. The truth is that the moments in which they experiment too much are a bit boring, but luckily they are short and in a way they have this intention.

This album (and genre) is not for everyone, because if you are not used to dense sonority or experimentation it can be confusing, but I still recommend it to people who want to listen to a different and interesting proposal.

Rating: 8.5/10

Links:
Metallum: https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Melvins/Houdini/11713
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/album/0agYsmUl1uS32ZFHKQ8L8W?si=nztMzVKmQ2ip16u_3B-Z9w