''Stag'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the 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 eith ...

, released in 1996 through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. 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" and "Bar-X the Rocking M" with the latter having a music video. The record is noted for its

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

, varied content, including elements of

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and instruments including

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

and

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

Composition

According to ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' writer Andrew Earles, ''Stag'' leans heavier on " Beefheartian sonic-fuckery" than its two predecessors, as it is "full of

jams, spasmodic

solos,

dark ambient Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...

interludes, chipmunk punk,

gaze In critical theory, philosophy, sociology, and psychoanalysis, the gaze (French: ''le regard''), in the figurative sense, is an individual's (or a group's) awareness and perception of other individuals, other groups, or oneself. Since the 20th ...

, cottonmouth

, and the comically slow doom-metal lurch of 'Lacrimosa'." According to Ira Robbins, the album is

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

and humorous, comprising "the inaugural sitar, the wailing trombone on 'Bar-X the Rocking M', the unabashed

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

vigor of 'Black Bock', the

munchkin A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Although a common fixture in Germanic fairy tales, they are introduced to modern audiences with the first appearance in the classic c ...

gimmickry of 'Skin Horse' and the shocking acoustic blues of 'Cottonmouth.'" Music critic Chris Ott writse that ''Stag'' was "incessantly marketed as an '

' LP, and for once-- barring the horn-filled alterna-single "Bar-X-The Rocking M"—the majors were right." He also noted the album's wide array of ideas and variety, including the sitar-laden "The Bit" and continuing through "the

guitar work in 'Hide' and the celebrated 'Lacrimosa' to more expected stoner stomps 'The Bloat' and 'Cottonmouth'." While noting that the song "Lacrimosa" harks back to earlier Melvins material with its slow beats,

Sia Michel Sia Michel (born May 17, 1967, in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American newspaper editor. As editor-in-chief of ''Spin'', she became the first woman to edit a large-circulation American rock magazine. Subsequently appointed as the deputy culture edi ...

believes that ''Stag'' "main points of reference" are the more

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

-leaning moments from its predecessor, ''

Stoner Witch ''Stoner Witch'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Melvins, released on October 18, 1994, by Atlantic Records. It is their second release for the label. Recording The album was recorded with Garth "GGGarth" Richardson and Joe Ba ...

'' (1994). She compares "Soup" to

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

, describes "Captain Pungent" as " kippingto Munchkin land", and deems "Black Bock" to be "perverted

country-pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

" with a 'la-la-la' chorus. 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 Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

Ween. 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 Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and Turntablism, turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a phonograph, turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to ...

, while he calls "Buck Owens" a "mini-prog epic" with shifting

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s 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".

Critical reception

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 A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

and support from a major collaborator of

Traci Lords Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...

, the group were "flipping off every hairfarmer lured by their earlier work's comparatively straightforward crunch." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' 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 The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

. This is, to all intents and purposes, what

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

sounds like to your Great Aunt." Retrospectively, Ira Robbins of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' 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." Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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." 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 A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

. All the while, they out-rock, out-metal and outrage the competition." In 2003, Chris Ott of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked ''Stag'' at number 42 in his list of CDs common in second-hand stores. 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." 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 Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

' acts and Hootie & The Blowfish's ''

Fairweather Johnson ''Fairweather Johnson'' is the second studio album by American rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, released on April 23, 1996, through Atlantic Records. Three songs from the album were released as singles: "Old Man & Me", "Tucker's Town", and "Sad ...

''". In 2013, Andrew Earles of ''

'' ranked ''Stag'' at number 11 in its list of the "40 Weirdest Post-''

Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana (band), Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a Record label#Major versus independent record labels, major label an ...

'' Major Label Albums", commenting that Melvins' three albums for Atlantic marked their creative peak. 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." ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'' critic JR Moores contends that ''Stag'' "remains one of the weirdest rock albums ever to appear on a major label."

Track listing

All lyrics by

Buzz Osborne Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and golfer. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas (band), Fantômas and Venomous Concept. Biog ...

unless noted.

Personnel

King Buzzo Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and golfer. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept. Biography Born in Mort ...

– guitar & vocals; all instrumentation (2), backing vocals (7), moog (9), bass (11), drums (12), interlude guitar (13); engineer, producer & mixer (1–3 & 5–15) *

Mark D Mark D, born Mark Randall,Deedes, Henry ''The Independent'', 13 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008. is a British punk musician (guitarist and songwriter). He is also associated with the Stuckist group of artists. Mark D was born and spen ...

– bass; additional guitar (1, 3, 6, 7), all instrumentation (4),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(5), backing vocals (7), moog & drum beat (9), guitar (11, 12), vocals (12), interlude guitar,

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Sche ...

& piano (all 13); engineer, producer & mixer (1 & 3–15) *

Dale C Dale, The Dale, Dales or The Dales may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dale (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Dale (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Dale ...

– drums & percussion; additional guitar &

(1),

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

& backing vocals (7), moog (9), guitar (11), all instrumentation & vocals (16); engineer, producer & mixer (1, 3 & 5–16) ;with * Dirty Walt –

valve trombone The valve trombone is a brass instrument in the trombone family that has a set of valves to vary the pitch instead of (or in addition to) a slide. Although it has been built in sizes from alto to contrabass, it is the tenor valve trombone pitched ...

(3) *Mac Mann –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(3) *Bill Bartell – guitar (11) *

Mackie Osborne Mackie Osborne is an American artist responsible for the design and illustrations of many music albums since the 1980s. She is a member of the band Fleabag and has contributed to many albums on packaging artwork, layout design and art direction. ...

– drums (12); illustration & design

Additional personnel

GGGarth Garth "GGGarth" Richardson, (born ), is a Canadian record producer and sound engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson. He has worked with such musical acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crüe, Nickelback, Rage Against the ...

– engineer, producer & mixer (1, 3, 5–7, 9, 10, 13–15); backing vocals (7) *

Joe Barresi Joe Barresi (nicknamed "Evil Joe") is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Chevelle, Apocalyptica, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive ...

– engineer, producer & mixer (1, 3, 5–7, 9, 10, 13–15) *Alex Newport – engineer, producer & mixer (8) *Chris Kozlowski – engineer, producer & mixer (11) *Stephen Marcussen – mastering *Ron Boustead – mastering *David Lefkowitz – management & fan club

Charts

Album

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

(North America)

References

{{Authority control Melvins albums 1996 albums Albums produced by Joe Barresi Albums produced by Garth Richardson Atlantic Records albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios Experimental music albums by American artists