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Primus - Pork Soda CD (album) cover

PORK SODA

Primus

 

Prog Related

3.35 | 147 ratings

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zravkapt
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars This album doesn't seem to get much love from PA, odd since it's their most adventurous and dare I say "progressive" album. Although Sailing... is my personal fav, this one comes very close. I personally think that the early-mid 90s was just as open to unorthodox music as the early-mid 70s were. Pork Soda went to #7 on the Billboard charts, and anyone familiar with this album will wonder what was wrong with young people in 1993. I assume the reason for it's success has more to do with Primus playing Lollapalooza that year than it did for the videos of "My Name Is Mud" and "Mr. Krinkle".

The music here is typical Primus: a mix of Rush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Residents and Captain Beefheart...although on this album there is a little bit of(for lack of a better term)"hillbilly" music. Primarily bass-drums-guitar(in that order), there are occasionally other instruments, most notably a bowed upright bass on "Mr. Krinkle". Les Claypool is one of the greatest bassists to walk the earth and I can't remember if he plays a 8- or 12-string bass on this. Having the bass be more important than the guitar seemed like a novelty at the time, but I do remember reading an interview with Claypool around the time of this album, where he said that the Police and ELP also put more emphasis on bass rather than guitar. Larry LaLonde (who began in a death metal band apparently) doesn't play riffs but instead fills space or does the occassional solo. Tim Alexander is a great drummer and the band were never the same after he left years later.

'Prog-Related' doesn't seem fair to this band or this album in particular. Odd time signatures, unorthodox playing and the tendency to keep going long after the singing stops are trademarks of Primus. Les Claypool reminds me greatly of the Residents in the vocal department(although I heard Primus first) and his bass playing sounds like a cross between Geddy Lee, Flea and Hugh Hopper(RIP). "Bob" and "Nature Boy" are actually sort of catchy in a weird way, while "Hamburger Train" shows off the band members' skills. Sure, the music can be repetative but no more repetative than Can or Magma! 3.5 rounded up to 4.

zravkapt | 4/5 |

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