''Suck on This'' is a live album by the band Primus, released in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. At the time of recording, the featured lineup of bassist/vocalist

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 ...

, guitarist

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 ...

and drummer

Tim Alexander Timothy W. Alexander (born April 10, 1965), also credited as "Herb" Alexander, is an American musician best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus. Alexander has played on the majority of Primus's discography, including some of the band ...

had only been playing together for "about two months".Liner notes, ''Suck on This'' (reissue), Prawn Song Records 2002. This release, along with

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...

's self-titled live album, are seen as popularizing the then-underground

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

genre.

Background

The album was recorded live at the

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

on February 25 and March 5, 1989, on a TASCAM quarter-inch 8-track

Portastudio The TASCAM Portastudio was the first four-track recorder based on a standard compact audio cassette tape. The term ''portastudio'' is exclusive to TASCAM, though it is generally used to describe all self-contained cassette-based multitrack rec ...

and mixed on Hi-Fi VHS. The band borrowed $3,000 from Claypool's father to cover the recording and pressing of one thousand copies of the album for its initial limited run. They released the record in November 1989 through their own independent label under the name

Prawn Song Records Prawn Song Records is an independent record label owned by Les Claypool of Primus. The name and logo are a parody of Led Zeppelin's label Swan Song Records. Prawn Song is based in San Francisco, California, and distribution is handled by RED Di ...

before licensing it to

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

in 1990,Illustrated Discography, ''

Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People ''Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People'' is a career-spanning retrospective DVD plus bonus EP by American band Primus, released on October 7, 2003. The title was inspired by a crayon-made story book written by guitarist Larry LaLonde's son ...

'' DVD, Interscope Records 2003. and later

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

.''Suck on This''
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. On April 23, 2002, Prawn Song reissued the album with remastered audio, together with the follow-up studio album ''

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 December ...

''. All of the songs would eventually be released as studio recordings: "

Tommy the Cat "Tommy the Cat" is a song by the American funk metal band Primus, released on their second album, ''Sailing the Seas of Cheese''. Recording The song contains spoken word portions (as the voice of Tommy the Cat) interspersed with the singing of ...

" on ''

Sailing the Seas of Cheese ''Sailing the Seas of Cheese'' is the second studio album and major-label debut by the American rock music, rock band Primus (band), Primus, released on May 14, 1991. It spawned three singles: "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", "Tommy the Cat", and "T ...

'' in 1991, "Pressman" (as "The Pressman") on ''

Pork Soda ''Pork Soda'' is the third studio album by the American funk metal band Primus, released April 20, 1993, certified Gold in September 1993 and certified Platinum in May 1997. The 2005 re-issue comes in a digipak and contains a booklet with lyrics ...

'' in 1993, "Jellikit" on the ''Airheads'' soundtrack in 1994 as "Bastardizing Jellikit", and "The Heckler" on ''

Antipop ''Antipop'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on October 19, 1999, through Prawn Records and Interscope Records. Produced by the band, Tom Morello, Stewart Copeland, Tom Waits, Matt Stone, and Fred Durst, ...

'' in 1999 as a hidden track. All other tracks were included on the band's debut studio album ''Frizzle Fry'' in 1990. The original liner notes give "hugs and kisses" to a number of bands and local businesses, including

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

and Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys, followed by "special hugs and kisses" to a number of individuals, including early Primus members

Todd Huth Todd Richard Huth (born March 13, 1963) is an American guitarist, best known as an original member of the band Primus, along with bassist/lyricist Les Claypool. Huth and Claypool began playing together, along with a drum machine, in or around ...

Jay Lane Jay Lane (born December 5, 1964) is an American drummer. He is a founding member of Bob Weir's RatDog, with Weir and Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros, Furthur, Golden Gate Wingmen and Alphabet Soup. He was the 7th drummer to play in Primus, playing ...

, Vince Parker and Tim Wright, and "Pops" (Claypool's father) "for kickin' down the corn".Liner notes, ''Suck on This'', Interscope Records 1990. For the 2002 reissue, these sections were omitted in favour of a paragraph written by Claypool detailing the history of the record, leaving only "special thanks" to Claypool's father.

Critical reception

Reviewing the album for

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 databas ...

, Ned Raggett describes the album as "not only demonstrating Primus' undeniable live flair for

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

of its own devising, but capturing an already rabid fan base getting off on it big-time", with "its tempo-shifting riffing and

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...

-meets-

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

rhythm explosions benefiting from a fairly crisp recording." He notes that "Claypool's voice is sometimes searching for breath or a touch buried in the mix", but "anyone who likes the Zappa/

Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

goofy voice approach Claypool is fond of will be perfectly happy with his nutty lip-flapping".

Track listing

Personnel

;Primus *

– bass guitar, vocals * Larry "Ler" LaLonde – guitars *

Tim "Herb" Alexander Timothy W. Alexander (born April 10, 1965), also credited as "Herb" Alexander, is an American musician best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus. Alexander has played on the majority of Primus's discography, including some of the band ...

– drums * Matt Winegar – producer, engineer, mixing engineer * Howard Johnston – editing * Tim "Soya" – stage * Leroy – stage * Lauren Miller – live sound ;Visual art * Paul Haggard – jacket design, photos * Lance "Link" Montoya – sculpture

References

{{Authority control Albums with cover art by Lance Montoya 1989 live albums Prawn Song Records live albums Primus (band) albums