Primus - Miscellaneous Debris Audio CD
A fair review of the Primus "Miscellaneous Debris" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all
Primus reviews here, or go back to the
Primus tabs.
Real good remade versions. This is also a pretty cool album of 5 songs they had remade from other Artists. Primus produces some great music. They did a great job on all of them but, overall I especially like Have a Cigar. Great EP but, many of there other albums are more worth getting. Les Claypool is a amazing, plays the bass like no other.
Primus Sucks!.
yes its great
i reccommend this because of interesting covers of some songs that i had never heard except for have a cigar. i love primus. i really really like 3/5 songs on here and i dont mind listening to the other 2. the songs i like are: intruder, making plans for nigel, and have a cigar.
Primus: Miscellaneous Debris
I own, and have played to death all of their original albums. I've been a huge Primus fan for years now. I never had any interest in this EP or 'Rhinoplasty' because I knew that they were cover albums, and did not contain any original Primus material. After I went and saw Primus' last (kick @$$) show of the 'Tour De Fromage' at the Roseland Ballroom back in '03, there was a period where I was listening to almost nothing but Primus until I went to see them again in Toronto Canada for the 'Hallucino-genetics' tour back in '04. And then I saw them yet again at the 'Vegoose' festival in '05. So I've been a little Primus'd out for a while.
I decided recently that I may as well complete my Primus album collection and picked this up along with Rhinoplasty. This EP contains only 5 cover tunes, and I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed it. The only tune I was familiar with was 'Have a Cigar' by Pink Floyd. I also have a couple of Residents albums, but had never heard 'Sinister Exaggerator'. I loved all of the songs, and enjoyed their take on the one tune I knew. It was definitely a breath of fresh air, and it showcases some of the bands/artists that have influenced this great band. I think of it as a sort of autobiography of Primus. And that's just the reason I'm really glad I waited so long on this one, because it serves well as kind of an afterthought.
If You Have to Have Everything...
When he writes songs for his own voice, the limitations rarely matter. Les Claypool is not a great singer, not really even a good singer, but he has an offbeat and charismatic sound that you won't get anywhere else. But he cannot come close to capturing Peter Gabriel's sinister leer on "Intruder" or the quirkiness of XTC on "Making Plans for Nigel," nor does Primus reinterpret the tunes enough to compensate. "Sinister Exaggerator" gets better, because it doesn't ask as much vocally and because the ending allows Primus to settle into one of their trademark grooves. The real success of the EP, though, comes after a brief "Tippi Toes" interlude: Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar. " Claypool doesn't mimic Roy Harper here; his version of Floyd's record executive is demented rather than just shallow. And unlike the other covers, this one significantly reinterprets the music into the sort of hard-edged hippie funk that made Primus so important. In sum, unless you can buy the last track through an on-line service, this recording is really only for people who feel they have to own everything Primus did.
An Alright Covers EP
What do I say on it? It's interesting. In between the masterpiece that is Sailing the Seas of Cheese and the bizarre twisted artwork of Pork Soda, Primus released Miscellaneous Debris; a 5 song covers EP to tide fans over until the next album. Not the normal primus per say but still definitely Primus. I suggest that you listen to the originals beforehand because then you really see how much Primus "Prima-tized" them. Most noticeably are the first 2 songs which are significantly heavier than the originals.
1. Intruder (originally by Peter Gabriel) 10/10: definitely the best song on the album, a huge improvement on the original.
2. Making Plans for Nigel (originally by XTC) 8/10 another improvement over the original as XTC's version is VERY annoying.
3. Sinister Exaggerator (originally by the Residents) 7/10: a calm relaxing and yet disturbing song that is extremely weird. Of course it's weird, it's the Residents. Two other Residents covers can be found as the bonus track on Frizzle Fry.
4. Tippi Toes (originally by the Meters) 5/10: alright this is definitely the filler song. It's an instrumental but its kind of a waste to put it here on a five song album especially since its only 1:26.
5. Have a Cigar (originally by Pink Floyd) 9/10: yeah this is the second best song here. Primus doing Pink Floyd is cool. The reason it's not a 10/10 is because I have a habit of zoning out during this track.
So that's miscellaneous Debris. The only thing I don't really agree with is the price. Twelve bucks is a little high for a 5 song EP. 6 or 8 sounds more reasonable. So get this for a cheaper price and you have a good deal. Though I don't own all the Primus albums out there (I will eventually), they have never disappointed me. Enjoy.
.
You can see a complete list of all Primus discography, or go back to the Primus tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.