Primus Brown Album 180g 2LP (Translucent Orange Vinyl)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Primus: a fantastic, colourful journey through demented novelty compositions and preposterous instrumental rollercoasters that take The Residents' and Frank Zappa's blueprints to the most bizarre heights. The results are a unique form of psycho jazz, bass-oriented metal and alt-rock psychedelia, in many ways exemplified by their 1997 release, Brown Album.

Led by musical genius and renowned world-class bassist Les Claypool, Primus formed in 1984 and initially released albums at a furious pace, from their live debut, 1989's Suck On This, through to 1999's Antipop, with an average gap of two years between each release. The band's curious song titles and head-scratching live shows resembled a drug-induced circus sideshow or adult-themed amusement park. In short, they were awesome. Though 1990's Frizzle Fry, the following year's, Sailing The Seas Of Cheese and 1993's Pork Soda are arguably the group's most defining albums, it was 1997's Brown Album that saw them take major steps forward in terms of songwriting. It also saw Primus experience their first major line-up change since the mid-'80s, when long-time drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander abruptly quit (to be replaced by Brian "Brain" Mantia), and ex-Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde was drafted in to bolster the line-up.

"We were getting a drummer that plays totally different to Herb", Les Claypool explained in an interview with Consequence of Sound. "Herb was always this Neil Peart type of drummer with so many drums. Brain was much more like John Bonham; it was a smaller kit but with bigger drums. He was a much sparser player, but more groove-oriented. It was also another one of those records where we took all the vintage recording gear and did it all ourselves, so it had the really raw sound to it."

Considering Primus' evolution from their wildly unpredictable funk-metal fusion to country-tinged, alternative psych-jazz, the band ensured that their consistently eccentric approach kept listeners locked in an almost hypnotic state of consciousness across their nine albums. Brown Album ultimately remains a display of extraordinary musicianship and hyper-cross-pollinated musical innovation. Recorded completely analogue at Claypool's rural Rancho Relaxo home, there is a lot of magic between its grooves, along with a tremendous amount of passion and courageous soul that assisted Claypool and co in becoming one of the most highly regarded bands in the alt-metal/rock history books.

"We loved the record when we made it," recalled Claypool. "It wasn't as warmly received at the time, but a lot of people have told me that it's their favorite record because it's this bizarre departure from what we were doing before. It holds a very strong place in the history of the band, but at the time, I don't think the label was nearly as thrilled as we were."

Reissued on 2LP with a new 2018 remaster from the original analog tapes, presented in its original packaging. First time on vinyl since 1997! 180g Translucent Orange vinyl.