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LTTP: Primus

TrainedRage

Banned
So I have always 'known' about Primus. From playing Tony Hawks Pro Skater back in the day; you all have heard them. That funky bass and weird vocalist who sings the South Park song. Clearly I was too young to fully appreciate the band. I had written them off. Well that was a mistake...

Brief History:

Primus is an American funk metal band formed in El Sobrante, California in 1984. The band is currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by drummer Jay Lane, though the latter two departed the band at the end of 1988. Featuring LaLonde and Alexander, Primus recorded the live album Suck on This in 1989, followed by four studio albums: Frizzle Fry, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Pork Soda, and Tales from the Punchbowl. Alexander left the band in 1996, replaced by Bryan "Brain" Mantia, and Primus went on to record the original theme song for the TV show South Park and two more albums, Brown Album and Antipop, before declaring a hiatus in 2000.

In 2003, Claypool and LaLonde reunited with Alexander and released a DVD/EP, Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, before touring sporadically through 2009. In 2010, Lane rejoined Primus, replacing Alexander, and the band released their seventh album, Green Naugahyde, in 2011. In 2013, Lane left the band to focus on other projects, and Alexander rejoined once again. They have released some of their records on Claypool's own label Prawn Song Records. Primus is characterized by its irreverent, quirky approach to music. In 1993, Robert Christgau remarked: "[Primus is] quite possibly the strangest top-10 band ever, and good for them."[1]


Studio Albums:

Features:

South Park
True Detective
Airheads
Zack and Miri Make A Porno
Beavis And Butt-Head
Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey
Tony Hawks Pro Skater
(many more)


Cool Info:

Les Claypool tried out for Metallica but was too "good" according to James...


What could have been?!?!? Or not been?


Many people and musicians consider Les Claypool the best 'rock bassist' of all time.




Primus started doing Willy Wonka style shows and performances... (give me all the LSD)



Personal Favorites...










Pretty much, what I learned is; Primus sucks!
 

MetalAlien

Banned
Having never bought a single record of theirs, and only listening to them when they are on MTV or the radio..... I can say I like them.... but they are still not getting my money.
 
Primus Sucks!

I saw them play at the Roundhouse, in London. Legendry Camden venue and it fucking blew my mind.

Les Claypool wore an animal mask and played Bass with a violin bow for half the gig.

EPIC
 
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Airola

Member
Their best song is on the Beavis and Butthead album.




For some really weird reason this song has always brought my mind into some songs from The Battle of Olympus on NES. The crazy boss battle theme and Tartarus and Hades music. There's really nothing too similar with them but there's this certain insane tone that kinda fit together.
 

MetalAlien

Banned
Their best song is on the Beavis and Butthead album.




For some really weird reason this song has always brought my mind into some songs from The Battle of Olympus on NES. The crazy boss battle theme and Tartarus and Hades music. There's really nothing too similar with them but there's this certain insane tone that kinda fit together.

I personally like Mr Krinkle the best.

 

I_D

Member
Yeah, Claypool is weird as hell. You can't deny the skill, though.

I'm not particularly a fan of Primus or Claypool's solo stuff, but I get down with them every once in a while.
It would have been a pretty wild universe if Claypool had actually landed the Metallica gig. Who knows what music would be like nowadays, if that had happened?


And this just proves he knows how to rock when necessary:
 
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I_D

Member
I will say this, though: This song was my buddies' go-to song whenever it rained -


I have no idea how we even found the song, or how it became a thing, but it lasted for years. Whenever I was hanging with all of my friends and the weather got bad, this song inevitably came up.
 
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TrainedRage

Banned
tumblr_nxy6s31ViO1s3rlr2o1_400.gif


tumblr_p7tbx8XRCB1wc9mieo1_500.gif
 

Scotty W

Member
The guitarist made a legendary death metal album with a band named Possessed prior to Primus. I don’t really like ‘evil’ metal very muuch, but this song is awesome:

 

Clockwork5

Member
I always kinda liked Primus and then I saw them live and they made a diehard fan to the grave out of me. They fucking nailed it. It was one of those shows where you walk away and think “those guys deserve every bit of their fame and fortune.”
They are such a good band.
 

lock2k

Banned
So I have always 'known' about Primus. From playing Tony Hawks Pro Skater back in the day; you all have heard them. That funky bass and weird vocalist who sings the South Park song. Clearly I was too young to fully appreciate the band. I had written them off. Well that was a mistake...

Brief History:

Primus is an American funk metal band formed in El Sobrante, California in 1984. The band is currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by drummer Jay Lane, though the latter two departed the band at the end of 1988. Featuring LaLonde and Alexander, Primus recorded the live album Suck on This in 1989, followed by four studio albums: Frizzle Fry, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Pork Soda, and Tales from the Punchbowl. Alexander left the band in 1996, replaced by Bryan "Brain" Mantia, and Primus went on to record the original theme song for the TV show South Park and two more albums, Brown Album and Antipop, before declaring a hiatus in 2000.

In 2003, Claypool and LaLonde reunited with Alexander and released a DVD/EP, Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, before touring sporadically through 2009. In 2010, Lane rejoined Primus, replacing Alexander, and the band released their seventh album, Green Naugahyde, in 2011. In 2013, Lane left the band to focus on other projects, and Alexander rejoined once again. They have released some of their records on Claypool's own label Prawn Song Records. Primus is characterized by its irreverent, quirky approach to music. In 1993, Robert Christgau remarked: "[Primus is] quite possibly the strangest top-10 band ever, and good for them."[1]


Studio Albums:

Features:

South Park
True Detective
Airheads
Zack and Miri Make A Porno
Beavis And Butt-Head
Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey
Tony Hawks Pro Skater
(many more)


Cool Info:

Les Claypool tried out for Metallica but was too "good" according to James...


What could have been?!?!? Or not been?


Many people and musicians consider Les Claypool the best 'rock bassist' of all time.




Primus started doing Willy Wonka style shows and performances... (give me all the LSD)



Personal Favorites...










Pretty much, what I learned is; Primus sucks!


Been hooked to them since I heard Jerry was a Race Car Driver back in 91. Got the Sailing in the Seas of Cheese vinyl after that. Such an awesome and unique band. Les is a genius of sorts.
 
Primus is great.

Since recently I also like the Claypool Lennon Delirium a lot, but Claypool's singing kind of hurts these albums.



There is also Oysterhead with Claypool in it which I don't like, and several other groups featuring Claypool that I have not listened to.
 
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lock2k

Banned
I didn't watch that video, but is Flea really considered a good bassist? I only listened to Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magic.

Yes, he is, He may not be the most technical but his phrasing is some really smart stuff. I play guitar and bass and sometimes I fail when trying to reproduce some stuff he plays because I don't get that exact flow. And some of his stuff is really simple. I really like Flea. I would say he and Les are in different leagues but he is really good.
 
Terrific band, this is my favorite song:



I'll add that Primus has an underwhelming discography when you consider how insanely gifted they are. Claypool, LaLonde and Alexander are all absolute aces, that's a jazz good line-up. Take the song above and listen to those mental drums, the batshit nuts guitar solo, I mean the least impressive part about it is probably the bass and that's crazy talk. And yet they never did a bonafide masterpiece, the albums really dropped in quality since Brown Album and their sound always felt like it's less than the sum of its parts. Those are some absolutely fantastic parts though.
 
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Chankoras

Member
Love the jam session of drummer Stewart Copeland from The Police with different band's musicians, here is one with Claypool in which he's playing different instruments.
 
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