What do you all think of the Melvins?

I had a mate who was heavily into grunge tell me about the Melvins according to him they are Black Sabbathx1000 and Nirvana were heavily influenced by them and heres an interesting phenemon just to show how overrated and incompetent Kurt Cobain is he auditioned as a bass player for the band but they rejected him LOL..... What category would you put them in alternative or sludge metal and whats their top albums? Are they any good?

Ah, more Kurt Cobain insults. Funny how he actually knew how to write a great song while the Melvins essentially suck. You want overrated? Listen to the Melvins. They would be like Black Sabbath x 1000...if Black Sabbath sucked.

i like the Melvins. i do not think they are Black Sabbath x 1000, nor do i think they are overrated. i just like them.

Heard'em a few times, don't really care for'em tho.

They are decent, but I don't play their material very often. The melvins have always seemed WAAAYYY overrated to me. Now, I do like some of the side projects that some members of the melvins have been involved in over the years, such as Big Business, who's last album is phenomenal.
I saw the Melvins live opening for nine inch nails, and they were just terrible. But, the sound problems mostly stemmed from the fact that the show was in a huge arena. I'm sure they'd sound much better in a small club, where they belong.

The name puts me off to be honest. there is just nothing about them thats interests me.

Never heard anything by them with the exception of a cover tune or 2 that they've contributed to tribute albums.

Eyesore wrote:

Ah, more Kurt Cobain insults. Funny how he actually knew how to write a great song while the Melvins essentially suck. You want overrated? Listen to the Melvins. They would be like Black Sabbath x 1000...if Black Sabbath sucked.

I agree. I like Nirvana. Don't like The Melvins at all.

I'm fairly unfamiliar with The Melvins, although I have heard a song or two. I have a cover of KISS' "Going Blind" they did that's well done.

Not a fan of Nirvana.

Eyesore wrote:

TheGooch wrote:

The name puts me off to be honest. there is just nothing about them thats interests me.

now i think about it i have confused even me with that one

Not my thing,really. A buddy of mine likes them,so they got that going for them,I guess

I have a couple of Melvins albums, Houdini and Stoner Witch, which were from around 1992-1994, and I must say that I'm quite impressed with both albums except for the last track or so on each which consists mostly of annoying experimental percussion and no actual music to speak of.

While the Melvins wouldn't easily fit into any genre of metal, they certainly did play heavy music that was indicative of an inspiration from metal as well as other sources. Some of their songs, however, would fit into a metal or grunge rotation on a college radio program without attracting any fuss from any but the most diehard purists of each style.

One bit of Melvins trivia that I find interesting is that Shirley Temple's daughter played bass for them (her likeness is included on the back cover of Houdini), but she was kicked out of the band because of her heroin addiction, as hard as that is to believe of a Seattle-area (or close to it) band that influenced so many successful Seattle grunge acts.

HOUDINI is an excellent disc...

MELVINS were unfairly lumped with the grunge wave...while stylisticlly I guess that's what they were...they were around a LONG time before that...

They can go fom being the fastest playing band you've ever heard to playing so slow it's painful...

And who dared tangle with BUZZ' fro?!?!? I think it's gone now

Shiney wrote:

HOUDINI is an excellent disc...

MELVINS were unfairly lumped with the grunge wave...while stylisticlly I guess that's what they were...they were around a LONG time before that...

They can go fom being the fastest playing band you've ever heard to playing so slow it's painful...

And who dared tangle with BUZZ' fro?!?!? I think it's gone now

No I am pretty sure he still has the fro. I seen him in an interview late spring, like May'ish and he still had it there. Course he could have cut it since then.

As far as the Melvins go. I am actually a fan of them. I own every album of theres and the extras, like "Jello Biafra and the Melvins". I think these guys are underated musicians.

With that, they dont take themselves serious enough as far as music goes, they get experimental at times and that can put people off who are not accepting enough of the side of avante garde they can produce. I personally like it, it adds to how good they can be, and they dont always stick to your basic song format, they are not afraid to be different at times. I think they can be very techinical, and I enjoy them very much. They are raw and can give off some stuff that could sound Sabbath influenced, but hardly could be compared to each other at all.

I really like the band and think they are gifted, and they also dont get on the bandwagon of being some great band or whatnot, they just enjoy playing and jamming and messing around. I have seen them live a couple times and they are great but I wish they would drop the overly long jam sessions they break into at times.

If your interested in trying them out, yes Stoner Witch and Houdini are what made them known, but try out others like Pigs of the Roman Empire (very progressive) or Senile Animal and Hostile Ambient Takeover, those last two can have moments of jamming and or a tad experimental moments in the mix but still full Melvins. Stag is pretty user friendly.