Singles 1-12

These tracks were originally released two at a time once a month in 1996 in the form of 7” singles. What we have here could probably be filed as “for fans only,” as the content ranges from cover songs to “live performances” to the loveable studio fuckabout. “Lexicon Devil,” a Germs cover, gets things off to an energetic start but don’t be fooled, you’re in for one challenging listen for a compilation album, as the second track “Pigtro” makes this quite clear, with the middle finger of the Melvins forever and fully extended to the corporate cogs of the biz.

“Leech, ” the fifth track of disc one captures the band in all their sludge-laden glory. This is the heaviest song on the entire compilation and the lyrics provide metaphorical wisdom on the struggle of dealing with other humans. The production is impressive here considering this was recorded to two-track. “Forgotten Principles” is a brief glimpse of what the Melvins were up to in 1983. The liner notes claim that “GGIIBBYY” is a bad song but it’s really not; there are worse songs on Houdini, the album for which it was intended.

Two tracks into the second disc and the Melvins’ proficiency in the “noise” genre becomes apparent. A weird mish-mash indeed. “Specimen” is a spacey and slow burn, with Buzz-O ranting into the mic and the ever heavy drums of Dale C, and again I would have rather had this song on Stag than many of the tracks that were on that album. King B has one of the most profound and distinctive vocal styles in rock music, truly fearless. “All at Once” fools us again with a nice sludgy start but appears to be random clippings stapled together or something, which goes on for three minutes or so until we get to some of the most precious material on the compilation, which is entitled “Jacksonville.” This is taken from a ’94 tour gig with L7 in the “HOTBED of entertainment known as Jacksonville,” where Buzz treats a delightful audience to a personalized message. This song rules.

The remainder of the second disc consists of random weirdness and some outtakes from Stag and Honky, and the album is finished off nicely with Brutal Truth’s cover of “Zodiac.” Although this two disc compilation is pretty much a collector’s affair, it’s a nice encapsulation of the Melvins’ odd humor.