''Stoner Witch'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Melvins, released on October 18, 1994, by

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 ...

. It is their second release for the label.

Recording

The album was recorded with Garth "GGGarth" Richardson and Joe Barresi in 19 days at the A&M Studios in Hollywood. Most of the tracks were captured in a single take, and all of the tracking and mastering was completed in a single, continuous session. The title comes from a term that drummer Dale Crover and his friends used to describe "the stoner chicks" at their high school.

Music and composition

Described as a

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sl ...

and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

album, ''Stoner Witch'' melds hallmarks of the band's earlier work, such as "molten tempos and guitarist Buzz Osborne's nonsensical lyrics" with a relatively radio-friendly ear towards arrangements. According to

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 ...

's Patrick Kennedy, the album picks up on the "basic framework of '' Houdini'', resolving into an ear-catching workup of

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

themes, tempered, of course, with a fairly judicious sampling of acid-trip detours." Grant Alden of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' noted that "many of the songs are built around conventional

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

structures." ''Treblezine''s Paul Pearson described the record as "the

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

band's happiest album, which is meant to say they took it upon themselves to reconstruct classic rock and metal themes and run them through their typically hazy filter." Peter Buckley, the author of ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', wrote that the record showcases the band's "dual allegiances to industrial noise and Southern rock."

Release and critical reception

Upon its initial release, ''Stoner Witch'' sold approximately 50,000 units, with particularly strong sales in New York City and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. The songs "Revolve" and "Queen" were both released as promotional singles with accompanying music videos. AllMusic critic Patrick Kennedy wrote: "Where ''Houdini'' resided more in an expansive—though lugubriously heavy—metal vein, refining the techniques built up through the band's early struggles, Stoner Witch truly showcases the band at the apex of their wide-ranging creative abilities." ''Rolling Stone''s Grant Alden stated: "Oddly enough, the Melvins don't really have to contend. They seem quite content simply being, doing what they do."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', who gave the album a C rating, wrote: "They're always slow, always ugly, always protodeath, always protoindustrial. And always slow. Faster here, actually, up to

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

speed at times, with nine minutes of din at the end to shore up their cred."

Legacy

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...

'' magazine inducted ''Stoner Witch'' on its Hall of Fame. '' Spin'' listed the album as number 9 on its list of "The 20 Greatest Grunge Albums of All Time". The album was also featured on ''Treblezine''s lists of "The 30 Best Grunge Albums" and "10 Essential Stoner Rock Albums". Largely out of print since the 1990s, the album was reissued in 2016 through Third Man Records.

Track listing

All words written by Buzz Osborne and music written by the Melvins ( Dale Crover, Mark Deutrom, and Osborne), except where noted.

Personnel

Melvins * King Buzzo – lead vocals, guitar and bass * Mark D – bass, guitar and backing vocals * Dale C – drums, guitar and backing vocals Additional personnel * GGGarth – producer * Joe Barresi – engineer *Geetus Guido South Aguto – assistant engineer *Mike "Elvis" Smith – assistant engineer *The Magic Eight Ball – spiritual guidance * Scott Humphrey – door squeaking & pencil sharpening *Paul Dicarli – digital editing, back cracking & Moog *David Lefkowitz – management * Mackie Osborne – art direction *Annalisa – photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control Melvins albums 1994 albums Albums produced by Garth Richardson Atlantic Records albums