Melvins: The Bride Screamed Murder
In The Melvins long and illustrious career, they have been on major labels as well as indie labels. They have garnered critically acclaim as well as amassed a legion of faithful followers that include such icons as Kurt Cobain and Maynard James Keenan. However, their twentieth album, The Bride Screamed Murder is the first time the band has ever cracked the Billboard 200.
The Bride Screamed Murder debuted at number 200 on the Billboard 200. The album sold just over 2,800 copies which does not make it the Melvins most successful album. Cracking the charts probably says more for the music industry than it does for the Melvins.
It is not like the Melvins sold out, but The Bride Screamed Murder might be the Melvins’ most accessible album to date. The album opens with “The Water Glass”. The track starts as sludge-core track, pretty much what fans have come to expect from the Melvins. But it takes a strange turn for the weird and poppy as it breaks into a march with a pop-punk-esque call and response of “here we go”. Odd, unexpected turns are nothing new for the Melvins, but this type of pop sensibility is.
Also showing off the band’s pop sensibility is their cover of The Who‘s “My Generation”. While the nearly 8-minute cover is hardly radio-friendly, it does show a certain sensibility to even attempt to cover such a well known classic. It is the first cover to grace a Melvins’ album since 2001’s Electroretard featured a cover of Pink Floyd‘s “Interstellar Overdrive”.
Overall, its hard to argue with anything the Melvins do. They have been at it so long it is hard to think of them as making a major misstep. Actually, The Bride Screamed Murder might be the best album they have made in a decade. The album is accessible without being predictable, something the Melvins have often striven for but not accomplished until now.
Rating: 8.5/10
MP3: Melvins “My Generation”
Buy: iTunes or Insound!
Melvins: The Bride Screamed Murder
