''Antipop'' is the sixth
studio album by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Primus. It was released on October 19, 1999, through
Prawn Records and
Interscope Records. Produced by the band,
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
,
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...
,
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
,
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was interes ...
, and
Fred Durst
William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums.
He ap ...
, it was the final release by the band before their hiatus from 2000 to 2003. It was also the last album with drummer
Brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...
. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Production
The album features several well-known guest musicians and producers, including
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
,
James Hetfield (of
Metallica),
Jim Martin (former member of
Faith No More),
Fred Durst
William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums.
He ap ...
(of
Limp Bizkit) and
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
(of
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
).
The band has regarded the album's production as tense and uncomfortable, with the members of the band not getting along well with each other during recording. Claypool has stated "''Antipop'' was the most difficult record we ever made, because there was a lot of tension between the three of us, and there was some doubt at the label as to whether we knew what the hell we were doing anymore. But there was some great things to come out of it, like the tune we did with Tom Waits, 'Coattails of a Dead Man'. I love that song." It is said that the song is about
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...
- her husband (which in this case:
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
frontman
Kurt Cobain) suffers from substance abuse and when he tries to find comfort from his wife, he commits suicide when receiving none. Instead of grieving, his wife finds fame and fortune from his death. None of the members from Primus have confirmed nor denied this.
After the release of the album the band went on a three-year hiatus from 2000 to 2003. Claypool said "We went on a hiatus, which is a fancy way of saying we just didn’t like being around each other and we wanted to break up but we didn’t have the balls to actually break up. I think we stopped before we totally shit our pants, but I think the closest we came was doing the ''Antipop'' record,"
While producing the song "
Lacquer Head", Durst encouraged Primus to return to the more aggressive
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
sound of their earlier albums ''
Sailing the Seas of Cheese
''Sailing the Seas of Cheese'' is the second studio album and major-label debut by the American rock band Primus, released on May 14, 1991. It spawned three singles: "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", "Tommy the Cat", and "Those Damned Blue-Collar T ...
'' and ''
Frizzle Fry
''Frizzle Fry'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on February 7, 1990, by Caroline Records. Produced by the band and Matt Winegar, the album was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco in Decembe ...
'' for ''Antipop''.
Reception
The album received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
gave the album a positive review, describing the album as "one of Primus' most ambitious and best efforts", noting that "some collaborations are among the best things Primus has ever recorded". Towards the end of the piece, Erlewine sums up his views by admitting that "they're not always successful, but no two songs sound the same
..and even if it's not to your particular taste, it's hard not to respect this."
[Antipop review](_blank)
at allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
. A more negative review came Mike Wolf of
CMJ New Music Monthly
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
in November 1999. He wrote, "in the last couple of years since their last proper release, ''
The Brown Album'', the Bay-Area trio has had to watch as a bunch of other bands tagged as 'funk metal' dully thudded their way to superstardom. But bands like
Korn and Limp Bizkit lack everything that sets Primus apart; an eccentric sense of humor, and the musical skill to bring weirdness to life. A pity then that on ''Antipop'', Primus merely embraces the knucklehead approach of the
Family Values crowd."
Legacy
The band themselves were not pleased with how the album turned out, their dissatisfaction being a contributing factor to their brief dissolution.
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
said "We were reaching the end of our creative rope. The well was just dry, so we just started sucking mud". In a 2015 interview, Claypool additionally characterized the album as "somewhat directionless", adding that "for the most part, it’s my least favorite Primus record.
Regarding their association with the
nu metal scene around this time, Claypool reflected in 2022, "a lot of these bands ended up touring with us. I always joke that we were the leapfrog band because you open for Primus and you become huge. I remember
Interscope really wanting us to do Family Values and
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both ...
. And I was just not super comfortable in those worlds. I mean, we did them, and we made a lot of great friends from them, but it just didn’t feel like we fit."
Track listing
All lyrics written by
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
, all music composed by Primus except tracks 2 & 8 by Primus &
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
* Around 38 seconds into the title track, the phrase "They're Here", from ''
Poltergeist'', can be heard right before the music starts playing.
Personnel
*
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
- vocals, bass
*
Larry LaLonde
Reid Laurence "Larry" LaLonde (born September 12, 1968), also known as Ler LaLonde, is an American musician best known as the guitarist for Primus, a position that he has served since 1989, where he is known for his experimental accompaniment t ...
- guitar, synthesizer (on "Eclectic Electric")
*
Brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...
- drums, percussion
Guest musicians
*
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
- lead guitar and production (on tracks 2, 8 and 11)
*
James Hetfield - rhythm guitar (on "Eclectic Electric")
*
Jim Martin - additional guitar (on "Eclectic Electric")
*
Martina Topley-Bird
Martina Gillian Topley-Bird (''née'' Topley; born 7 May 1975) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, '' Maxinquaye'' (1995). S ...
- backing vocals (on tracks 9 and 13)
*
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
- vocals,
Chamberlin
The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are several ...
and production (on tracks 1 and 13)
Guest producers
*
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was interes ...
- "Natural Joe"
*
Fred Durst
William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has released seven studio albums.
He ap ...
- "Lacquer Head"
*
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...
- "Dirty Drowning Man"
Charts
References
{{Authority control
Primus (band) albums
1999 albums
Interscope Records albums
Prawn Song Records albums
Nu metal albums by American artists