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Prick
Studio album by Melvins
Released	August 5, 1994
Recorded	April 1994
Genre	Experimental rock sound collage experimental
Length	43:31
Label	Amphetamine Reptile
Producer	Melvins
Melvins chronology
Houdini (1993) Prick (1994) Stoner Witch (1994)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Select

Prick is the sixth studio album by the Melvins which was released in 1994 through Amphetamine Reptile Records under the name ƧИIV⅃ƎM. It has been said that because the Melvins already had a contract with Atlantic Records, Prick was released with the band name in mirror writing.

Background

The album displays a distinctly experimental quality, with an eclectic selection including field recordings, electronic effects and loops, band jam sessions, a stereotypical drum solo that segues into an archetypal heavy metal guitar solo, and a track that's introduced as "pure digital silence"—followed by silence for a minute. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne has stated that Prick is "a total noise crap record we did strictly for the weirdness factor. Complete and utter nonsense, a total joke."

The band claimed that they wanted to call the album Kurt Kobain but changed it after Cobain's death to eliminate the possibility of people mistaking it for a tribute record. They implied that Cobain, a friend and collaborator since their teenage years in rural Washington, was actually the titular "prick", because he died and therefore forced them to change the album's name.

Select called it an experimental collection of "noises, snippets and rhythm tracks overlaid with church bells, which under no account could be defined as influenced by Black Sabbath – four minutes of humming amps in front of a restless live audience chanting for Primus. They'd've cheered if it was Neil Young." Trouser Press critic Ira Robbins wrote: "Among the eleven formless tracks are newsreel interviews, acoustic and demi-electric jams that go until the tape runs out, ambient noise, church bells and anything else left lying around an English studio."

Track listing

All songs written by The Melvins.

Personnel

• Mark D - producer
• Dale C - producer
• King B - producer

Additional personnel

• Konstantin Johannes - engineer
• Mackie Osborne - art

References

1. Bromfield, Daniel (April 27, 2016). "Holy Hell! Stag Turns 20". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
2. ^ "Soundbites". Select: 106. October 1994. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
3. AllMusic review
4. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 261. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
5. Guitar World (1995). "The Father the Son and the Holy Grunge". Interview. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
6. Brian Walsby (1994). "MASSIVE MELVINS INTERVIEW FROM THE PRE-"STONER WITCH" ERA". Interview. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
7. Robbins, Ira. "Melvins". Trouser Press. Retrieved September 5, 2024.

• Melvins albums
• 1994 albums
• Amphetamine Reptile Records albums
• Experimental rock albums by American artists
• Sound collage albums
• Experimental music albums by American artists