Melvins to Cover Rolling Stones on Career-Spanning Acoustic Album
Melvins have announced a newly recorded career-spanning, four-LP acoustic album titled Five Legged Dog, which arrives on Oct. 21.
The 36-song set includes acoustic renditions of the sludge-metal trio's most popular songs, including "Honey Bucket" and "Revolve," along with a diverse array of rock 'n' roll covers, such as the Rolling Stones' "Sway" and Alice Cooper's "Halo of Flies."
Commenting on the size of the hefty career retrospective, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne said in a press release, "One acoustic record seems like a joke and two is pretty normal, but doing four?!? That’s like going to war against an army of gorillas on LSD.”
An acoustic album may seem incongruous with Melvins' grungy, sludgy hybrid of metal and alt-rock, but a press release promises the performances on Five Legged Dog are not "soft" in the conventional sense of the word. Instead, fans can expect "delta variants, weighty, plangent, cavernous and often brutal renditions" of Melvins songs. “I used brush sticks on every track," drummer Dale Crover said. "What a pain in the ass!”
You can hear the album's brooding new version of the Houdini track "Night Goat" below.
Osbourne has released two acoustic albums in recent years, 2014's solo This Machine Kills Artists and 2020's Gift of Sacrifice, which also featured bassist Trevor Dunn.
The acoustic format also puts emphasis on the vocal interplay between Osborne and Melvins bassist Steven McDonald, a cofounder of the power-pop group Redd Kross, whose song "Charlie" appears on Five Legged Dog. McDonald said he was skeptical of making an acoustic record at first, “but once I got into the concept, I was hooked to the eyeballs. I think this came out really great! It’s some of my best bass playing and singing. I got to sing ‘Sway’ by the Stones, and they even wanted to do a cover of ‘Charlie’ by my main band."
Five Legged Dog arrives less than eight months after Melvins' last studio album, Working With God. It will be available as a two-CD or four-LP set. You can see the track listing below.
Melvins, 'Five Legged Dog' Track Listing (with original album and cover info)
1. "Edgar The Elephant" (from 2017's A Walk With Love & Death)
2. "Up The Dumper" (from 1999's The Bootlicker)
3. "Hung Bunny"/ "Roman Dog Bird" (from 1992's Lysol)
4. "Hooch" (from 1993's Houdini)
5. "Billy Fish" (from 2008's Nude With Boots)
6. "Shevil" (from 1994's Stoner Witch)
7. "Charlie" (Redd Kross cover from “Escape From LA” single)
8. "A Growing Disgust" (from 2012's Freak Puke)
9. "Eye Flys"/ "Woman" (from 1987's Gluey Porch Treatments – “Woman” is a Free cover)
10. "Pitfalls In Serving Warrants" (From 1997's Honky)
11. "Outside Chance" (The Turtles cover, from “Slithering Slaughter” single)
12. "Evil New War God" (from 2010's The Bride Screamed Murder)
13. "The Bloated Pope" (from 2004's Pigs of the Roman Empire)
14. "Bad Move" (from Dale Crover’s solo album, The Fickle Finger of Fate)
15. "With Teeth" (from Lysol)
16. "Halo of Flies" (Alice Cooper cover from 2005's Sieg Howdy!)
17. "Oven" (from 1989's Ozma)
18. "Sway" (Rolling Stones cover – previously unrecorded by the Melvins)
19. "Anaconda" (from 1991's Bullhead)
20. "Lovely Butterfly" (Honky)
21. "Boris" (Bullhead)
22. "It’s Shoved" (Bullhead)
23. "Honey Bucket" (Houdini)
24. "We Are Doomed" (from 2012's The Bulls & The Bees)
25. "Flypaper" (Brainiac cover - previously unrecorded by the Melvins)
26. "Let God Be Your Gardener" (Ozma)
27. "At The Stake" (from 1994's Stoner Witch)
28. "Night Goat" (Houdini)
29. "Queen" (Stoner Witch)
30. "Everybody’s Talking" (Fred Neil cover – previously unrecorded by the Melvins)
31. "Revolve" (Stoner Witch)
32. "Suicide In Progress" (Nude With Boots)
33. "Prig" (The Bootlicker)
34. "The Bit" (from 1996's Stag)
35. "Civilized Worm" (from 2006's (A) Senile Animal)
36. "Don’t Forget to Breathe" (from 2018's Pinkus Abortion Technician)