Stag | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 15, 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 50:56 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Melvins, GGGarth, Joe Barresi | |||
Melvins chronology | ||||
|
Stag is the eighth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released in 1996 through Atlantic Records. This is the final album the band released under Atlantic before being dropped from the label. Promotional singles were released for the songs "The Bit" [5] and "Bar-X the Rocking M" [6] with the latter having a music video.
The record is noted for its experimental, varied content, including elements of drone, ambient, country and instruments including sitar and trombone.
According to Spin writer Andrew Earles, Stag leans heavier on "Beefheartian sonic-fuckery" than its two predecessors, as it is "full of sitar jams, spasmodic trombone solos, dark ambient interludes, chipmunk punk, drone-gaze, cottonmouth country, and the comically slow doom-metal lurch of 'Lacrimosa'." [7] According to Ira Robbins, the album is eclectic and humorous, comprising "the inaugural sitar, the wailing trombone on 'Bar-X the Rocking M', the unabashed pop vigor of 'Black Bock', the munchkin gimmickry of 'Skin Horse' and the shocking acoustic blues of 'Cottonmouth.'" [8] Music critic Chris Ott writse that Stag was "incessantly marketed as an 'experimental' LP, and for once-- barring the horn-filled alterna-single "Bar-X-The Rocking M"—the majors were right." [4] He also noted the album's wide array of ideas and variety, including the sitar-laden "The Bit" and continuing through "the ambient guitar work in 'Hide' and the celebrated 'Lacrimosa' to more expected stoner stomps 'The Bloat' and 'Cottonmouth'." [4]
While noting that the song "Lacrimosa" harks back to earlier Melvins material with its slow beats, Sia Michel believes that Stag's "main points of reference" are the more progressive rock-leaning moments from its predecessor, Stoner Witch (1994). She compares "Soup" to post-rock, describes "Captain Pungent" as "[skipping] to Munchkin land", and deems "Black Bock" to be "perverted country-pop" with a 'la-la-la' chorus. [9] Reviewer Tom Cox noted tracks of "Led Zep ambience surfing between songs", and noted that "Black Bock" is a "perculiar song" that is comparable to a hard rock Ween. [10] Ned Raggett called Stag a departure from Melvins' earlier work, as made evident from the "repeating sitar-into-guitar-chord" album intro. He comments on "Bar X the Rocking M" matching guitar riffs with horns and scratching, while he calls "Buck Owens" a "mini-prog epic" with shifting time signatures and "a mid-section trip-out". Stag is further characterized, Raggett adds, by the gentle guitar chime of "Hide" and the "weird, sparkly drones and burbles" of "Soup". [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10 [12] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 2/10 [10] |
Spin | 6/10 [9] |
Sia Michel of Spin, in her contemporary review of Stag, commented on the album's "prog-ier" material and believed that, despite Melvins having landed concert dates with Kiss and support from a major collaborator of Traci Lords, the group were "flipping off every hairfarmer lured by their earlier work's comparatively straightforward crunch." [9] NME reviewer Tom Cox favourably named it a "hugely depraved album" that "makes Rancid sound about as hardcore as moist fishfingers", but nevertheless criticised it for being "totally unlistenable and slightly more metal than the Pompidou Centre. This is, to all intents and purposes, what Metallica sounds like to your Great Aunt." [10]
Retrospectively, Ira Robbins of Trouser Press considers it an improvement over Stoner Witch, "bringing back the spunk and leavening the behemoth metal snarl with variety and humor". He added that as the group ceased to be "confined to a single design", they "spread their wings and drop a fat sky patty all over rock's ugly landscape." [8] Ned Raggett of AllMusic praises the album's singularity, calling it unlike "anything the Melvins had yet recorded to that point" while also pointing to the variation that characterised the band's later work. He believes that some songs are "at once a mind-f*ck and something that makes total sense", and praises Osborne's vocals ("and various treatments thereupon"), "ranging from dreamy float and gentle croon to rasping roar, paralleling Stag's overall emphasis on trying anything at least once to see what works." [11] In The Rough Guide to Rock (1999), Bruce Laidlaw believes that, with regards to Melvins eschewing metal for obscure outside influences, Stag "upped the ante still further" beyond Stoner Witch. He comments that "folded into the sound recipe are, among other ingredients, trombone solos, fuzz-tone drums, and vocal tracks tweaked at 78 rpm. All the while, they out-rock, out-metal and outrage the competition." [14]
In 2003, Chris Ott of Pitchfork ranked Stag at number 42 in his list of CDs common in second-hand stores. [4] Ott believes that Stag is "a shockingly great used bin find", one which "detonates a twenty thousand-megaton bomb of ideas, its shrapnel scattered across 16 sprawling tracks." [4] He commented that Melvins submitted the album to Atlantic during the label's "dire 90s drought", noting that they "nearly folded after the failure of their 'alternative' acts and Hootie & The Blowfish's Fairweather Johnson ". [4] In 2013, Andrew Earles of Spin ranked Stag at number 11 in its list of the "40 Weirdest Post- Nevermind Major Label Albums", commenting that Melvins' three albums for Atlantic marked their creative peak. [7] Earles commented that Buzz Osborne "had to get the Melvins dropped by letting their rep know it was okay to go ahead with the inevitable...via answering machine." [7]
All lyrics by Buzz Osborne unless noted.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Bit" | Dale Crover | 4:45 | |
2. | "Hide" (instrumental) | Osborne | 0:50 | |
3. | "Bar-X the Rocking M" | Crover, Mark Deutrom, Osborne | 2:24 | |
4. | "Yacobs Lab" (instrumental) | Deutrom | 1:17 | |
5. | "The Bloat" | Osborne | 3:41 | |
6. | "Tipping the Lion" | Osborne | 3:48 | |
7. | "Black Bock" | Osborne | 2:43 | |
8. | "Goggles" | Crover, Deutrom, Osborne | 6:30 | |
9. | "Soup" (instrumental) | Crover, Deutrom, Osborne | 2:39 | |
10. | "Buck Owens" | Osborne | 3:11 | |
11. | "Sterilized" | Crover, Deutrom, Osborne | 3:30 | |
12. | "Lacrimosa" | Deutrom | Crover, Deutrom, Osborne | 4:40 |
13. | "Skin Horse" | Osborne | 5:16 | |
14. | "Captain Pungent" | Osborne | 2:21 | |
15. | "Berthas" | Osborne | 1:25 | |
16. | "Cottonmouth" | Crover | Crover | 1:56 |
Billboard (North America)
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1996 | Heatseekers | 33 |
Melvins are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with either two drummers or two bassists. Since 1984, vocalist and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been constant members.
To Mega Therion is the first full-length studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in October 1985 by Noise Records. The cover artwork is a painting by H. R. Giger entitled Satan I. The album was a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres.
Bullhead is the third studio album by the American rock band Melvins, released in 1991 through Boner Records. The album has longer songs than previous Melvins albums. Before this, most of their songs were under two or three minutes.
Ozma is the second studio album by the Melvins, released in 1989 through Boner Records. It is the first Melvins album to feature Lori Black on bass guitar and was recorded when the band relocated to San Francisco.
Gluey Porch Treatments is the debut album by American rock band Melvins, released in 1987 through Alchemy Records. The original release was vinyl only. The album was later released on cassette tape with the Six Songs EP through Boner Records and appears as bonus material on the CD version of Ozma. Tracks 18–29 can only be found on the 1999 Ipecac Recordings re-release; these songs are taken from a boombox demo.
Houdini is the fifth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released on September 21, 1993, by Atlantic Records. The album was the band's major label debut after releasing their previous albums through the independent label Boner Records.
Prick is the sixth studio album by the Melvins which was released in 1994 through Amphetamine Reptile Records under the name ƧИIV⅃ƎM. It has been said that because the Melvins already had a contract with Atlantic Records, Prick was released with the band name in mirror writing.
Stoner Witch is the seventh studio album by American rock band Melvins, released on October 18, 1994, by Atlantic Records.
Honky is the ninth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released in 1997 through Amphetamine Reptile Records. It is widely considered to be the band's most experimental album. Their first studio album after being dropped from Atlantic, it contains a mixture of traditional Melvins-sounding rock, experiments with drones and soundscapes, and some rather uncharacteristic electronic pieces. A video was made for "Mombius Hibachi". The final track, "In the Freaktose the Bugs are Dying", concludes with more than 25 minutes of silence. As of 2010, the album has not been added to streaming services. Whether this involves the poor reviews the album received is unknown.
The Maggot is the tenth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released in 1999 through Ipecac Recordings. It is the first part of a trilogy followed by The Bootlicker and The Crybaby. The Trilogy was later released on vinyl by Ipecac Recordings.
The Crybaby is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released in 2000 through Ipecac Recordings. It is the last part of a trilogy preceded by The Maggot and The Bootlicker. The trilogy was later released on vinyl by Ipecac Recordings, although the song "Divorced" was edited down and the last four tracks were excluded.
Melvinmania: The Best of the Atlantic Years 1993–1996 is an album by Melvins, which was released in 2003 through Atlantic Records (UK). Tracks 1–5 are taken from the 1993 Houdini album. Tracks 6–10 are taken from the 1994 Stoner Witch album. Tracks 11–15 are taken from the 1996 Stag album.
Metal Heart is the sixth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released in 1985. Although the group had recorded before at Dierks-Studios, this was the first album produced by Dieter Dierks himself. It marked the return of guitarist Jörg Fischer after a two year absence, with Herman Frank having been his replacement. This album was a cautious attempt to crack the lucrative American market with more accessible songcraft and emphasis on hooks and melodies. Although critically panned at the time, today Metal Heart is often considered by fans as one of the band's best records. It contains several of their classic songs such as "Metal Heart" and "Living for Tonite". The band also makes a detour into jazz metal territory with the unusual song "Teach Us to Survive".
All in One is a studio album by Bebel Gilberto, released on 29 August 2009 by Verve Records.
The Bulls & the Bees is an EP by American rock band the Melvins, released on March 13, 2012 through Scion A/V for free download. It was also released as a free CD for their May 2012 tour with Unsane and released as a 10" vinyl later that year for the 51/51 tour. On June 2, 2015, an expanded CD containing the Electroretard album was released on Ipecac Recordings.
Let Me Know You is the eighth studio album by American bassist and record producer Stanley Clarke. It was released on April 13, 1982, through Epic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California. The album features contributions from various musicians, including Darlene Love, David Lasley and Marcy Levy on backing vocals, Denzil "Broadway" Miller, Greg Phillinganes and Todd Cochran on keyboards, Michael Sembello and Carlos Santana on guitars, Paulinho da Costa on percussion, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Rick Shlosser, Steve Ferrone, Gordon Peeke and Roger Linn on drums.
Toshi Kasai is a Japanese record producer, engineer, mixer and musician. He is most well known for his strong vocal production work with hard rock and metal groups such as his long standing relationship with The Melvins and his work with Tool.
Working with God is the 24th album by American rock band Melvins, released on February 26, 2021, through Ipecac Recordings.
Five Legged Dog is the 25th album by American rock band Melvins, released on October 15, 2021, through Ipecac Recordings. It contains acoustic versions of songs that appeared on earlier albums and is the first acoustic album released by the band.
Walk Around the Moon is the tenth studio album by the American rock band Dave Matthews Band. It was released on May 19, 2023 through RCA Records. Recording primarily took place from August 2020 to September 2022; the track "Break Free" dates back to 2006.