SAILING THE SEAS OF CHEESE

What do you get when you combine the technical prowess of Rush, the funk of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the loose jamming of the Grateful Dead or Phish, and the mad lyrics of Frank Zappa. You get none other than one of the most important musicians of the last two decades, Mr. Les Claypool. Primus sits it the prog-related genre, but they should really be in prog metal. Sailing the Seas of Cheese is Primus' second album, and Claypool envisioned it as an album in the prog sense, to be listened all the way through. Not to say the album is without strong individual songs. "Tommy the Cat" is a tour-de-force of rhythm instruments, with Claypool pummeling his bass and the very progressive Berklee grad Tim Alexander laying down a fantastic beat. Tom Waits guest stars as Tommy. "Sgt. Baker" sounds like the first 40 minutes of Full Metal Jacket condensed to a song. "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver" is the hilarious ode to an amateur racer who ends his career when he drunkenly plows his car into a pole. "Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers" has an eerie electronic effect similar to those used by Faith No More on their Angel Dust album.

My advice: though it's tempting to listen to Jerry and Tommy the Cat, listen to the album as a whole and revel in this mad masterpiece.

Grade: B