''The Bootlicker'' is the eleventh studio album by the

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 1999 through

Ipecac Recordings Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999, by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles, ex-lead singer of DUH, ex-employee of Mercury Records) and Mike Patton (Faith N ...

. The album is the second part of a trilogy preceded by '' The Maggot'' and followed by '' The Crybaby''. The trilogy was later released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

by Ipecac (''The Trilogy Vinyl'', IPC-011, February 7, 2000).

Production

''The Bootlicker'' was conceived as a more pop-oriented album; ''The Maggot'' was marked by a traditional Melvins metal sound, while ''The Crybaby'' featured many guest appearances.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote: "While ''The Maggot'' offers more familiar-sounding, metal-tinged sludge, ''The Bootlicker'' is a musically richer collection with rock, funk and jazz underpinnings." The ''

Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') was a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, that consisted of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its websit ...

'' called ''The Bootlicker'' "one of the best rock albums of the year: truly beautiful and intelligently (but not pretentiously) presented." ''

Tucson Weekly The ''Tucson Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that was founded in 1984 by Douglas Biggers and Mark Goehring, and serves the Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area of about 1,000,000 residents. The paper is a member of the Association of Altern ...

'' called it "subdued, dark and kind of pop-y sounding in spots."

Track listing

Personnel

* King Buzzo – vocals, guitar, noises *

Dale Crover Dale Crover (born October 23, 1967) is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and has also been the drummer for Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, Crystal Fairy and, for a brief time, Nirvana. He is also guitar ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, vocals *

Kevin Rutmanis Kevin Rutmanis (born October 17, 1958) is an American bass guitarist. He is of Latvian descent. Before getting into music, he was a student teacher. In late 1985, along with his younger brother Sandris Rutmanis, Thor Eisentrager, and then Jayh ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, slide bass ;with *Eric Peterson – piano (track 9)

Additional personnel

*Tim Green – producer * Mackie Osborne – art

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bootlicker, The Bootlicker Bootlicker, The Bootlicker