Sailing the Seas of Cheese was Primus' first cd on the Interscope label, and has the song "Jerry was a Racecar Driver", which is featured on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. This cd... is completely awesome, and whether you've heard it or not, go out and get it. If you have any real musical taste, this is the cd for you. Les' vocals are so out of the ordinary it makes you wonder why he's not dead yet. The wierd sounds and musical styles throughout make this one of the most fucked up cds you'll ever listen to, and if you can't handle it, go listen to your N*Sync. I have yet to hear a band that sounds anything close to Primus. Some people classify them as metal, but they're really not that heavy in most cases. They really can't be labeled, because it would be dumb to make a label for one group, so more bands would have to follow in the way of Primus to get a real title for the style. But as of now, Primus is Primus. Another thing about this cd is the writing style. All of Primus' songs are stories, especially ones like Tommy the Cat and Fish On. Each song is different, and they don't all sound like they're trying to copy the previous one. The prominant bass lines fill your head with ear candy, with lots of use of Les' Fretless Six-String bass. Yes, Sailing the Seas of Cheese is one bad mamma-jamma of a cd, and I give it 5 out of 5 handclaps. Perfect score. Good job, and thank you, Primus.
Seas of Cheese
A short little ditty complete with creaky boat sounds and Les playing a standup bass. It's a song of anti-conformity and trendy new atrocities. It's like Styx's song "Come Sail Away", except only 30 seconds long and not about aliens.
Here Come the Bastards
A very simple song, with a bass line that even Matt could play... wait, it has fifths... never mind. I'm not completely sure what this is about, something about a hammerhead shark, nosehairs and flatus... Best keep your distance because... It's about bastards, but I don't know why they're bastards or what their plans are for. Oh well.
Sgt. Baker
This is my favorite Primus song, it's about an army sergeant, and that's basically all there is to it. I'm particularly fond (pardon my British accent) of the Texan bashing, "steers and queers, steers and queers. Where you come from's just steers and queers. An' you aint got no horns, boy. Yes sir! Yes sir!".
American Life
A very hypnotizing bass riff; you sit there trying to figure out the note patterns and the song blows right by you. Not until you actually learn how to play the song do you discover the notes, but it still doesn't sound right. It's a song about poverty and subtle sarcasm towards "our great american life". Some of the most meaningful lyrics on the album.
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
Say, did you know that Racecar backwards is racecaR? Never mind. This is probably the biggest song off the album, although none of the songs really got that big at all. It's about Jerry (maybe a real racecar driver, Idunno), and Captain Pierce, a fireman, and I see no way how they relate. But anyways, Jerry had one too many cold beers one night and wrapped himself around a telephone pole. GO! Awesome bass riff and guitar solo on this one.
Eleven
The vocals kick ass on this one, he sounds like a little kid. My favorite vocal part is "I I I see no rhyme in the reason". His voice is so creepy on the "reason" part, it sounds kind of like Gwen Stefani from No Doubt or something. Like Seas Of Cheese, it's about not fitting in and not wanting to.
Is It Luck?
A funny little song about who cares what, just regular stuff in life (although "cyanide works oh so fast" may not be part of his everyday life, I wouldn't doubt if "a gramcracker gets you off" is). The bass is really crazy, and the fast talking part near the end is cool. It's hard to understand, but at the end he explodes into one more final chorus of "is it luck? Is it luck? is it luck? Is it lu-hu-huck? Is it luck? is it luckity luck luck luck luck luck luck is it luck? is it luck? is it luck? Is it luck?"
Granddad's Little Ditty
I don't know...
Tommy the Cat
Tom Waits (you've undoubtedly never heard of him; but Lindsey tells me he's real good) guest stars as the voice of Tommy, a story-telling tabby talking of a vivacious feline down in an alley-way... O'Malley's alley. Tommy the cat had many a story to tell. But it was a rare occasion such as this that he did. Tommy The Cat originally appeared on the 1989 live album "Suck on This".
Sathington Waltz
A short instrumental that has some wierd noises going on. I really can't tell you what the lyrics are about, and I'll let you figure out why by reading the first sentence of this.
Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers
Are the backbone of this town. The first few times I listened to it, it wasn't exactly one of my favorites, it just didn't seem that catchy. But lots of listening can make you like almost anything, and this became one of the highlights fairly quickly. I don't know what a damned blue collar tweeker is, and I'm probably going to be mocked for it. It's probably a cop or something, but I really don't know.
Fish On (Fisherman's Chronicles Chapter II)
A fairly long story of 3 of Les' fishing experiences, with Ler LaLonde, his pa & Daryl, and Todd Huth. I believe John the Fisherman, off of Suck On This, was the first of the chronicals, and The Ol' Diamondback Sturgeon from Pork Soda is the third. This has a really good 6-string bass intro, and is a really dark song, a prelude to the style of Pork Soda.
Los Bastardos
A reprise of Here Come the Bastards, and it's basically 2 and a half minutes of "here they come... here they come... here they come... here they come..." with a few variations in the lyrics, like Les yelling "SHUT UP YOU BASTARDS" over and over like some deranged scotsman or something.
Yes, this is a cd that has survived the ages (or just 10 years) and is worth adding to any collection. Except for a rap one, and if you have one, why the hell are you here? This has been Kal, grueling over a damned hot stove all day long and this is the thanks I get?
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