Rhinoplasty is the second album made up entirely of covers (except a few tracks on this one). The album was released in 1998 during the Brian 'Brain' Mantina era, who was the replacement drummer while Tim 'Herb' Alexander left (1996-2002). After this album, Brian went onto play for Guns 'N' Roses, but still maintains contact with Les and Primus as he was the drummer for Claypool's supergroup, Colonel Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains, which played many live gigs and released an album, and Brain is also thanked on Primus's 2003 release, Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People.
The album itself features most of the individual band members favourite artists. This album actually intoduced me to some artists, such as Peter Gabriel. The artists are; XTC, Peter Gabriel, Stanley Clarke, Jerry Reed, The Police and Metallica. Due to this artist selection, the music is very varied on this album, from the creepy '
The Family And The Fishing Net', to the country classic '
Amos Moses]' to the thrashy '
The Thing That Should Not Be'. The 'japanese' release of the album also featured two live bonus tracks, these were Tommy The Cat, from 1991's Sailing The Seas Of Cheese album, and Bob's Party Time Lounge, from 1997's Brown album, both which were recorded from the 1997/1998 New Years eve show. Not only does the CD feature the bonus tracks, it is also a multimedia CD, and when it is put into your computer, it gives you access to a special menu which has many features such as footage from the '97/98 show as well as various other things. Another feature is Primus's re-recording (With video) of the classic tune from the Charlie Daniels Band 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia'. The video is claymation and features a devil playing fiddle against a small boy. The CD-ROM asks for a password to access this video, and the password is 'violin'. The password has become a running joke on the Primus message board which results in people posting threads with no title and mearly writing "violin n/t" (n/t= no text), as
many new users ask this question.
1.
Scissor Man, origionally written by XTC.
This song opens with Larry's clean static guitar and les's snappy vocals. If you have heard the origional, the song is catchy, though the vocal style is difficult to get into for some (on both versions). One major difference between this version and XTC's version is that there is a long jam in the middle. Not too much to say on this song, it is a good opener but I don't like it as much as some of the others.
3/5
2.
The Family And The Fishing Net, origionally written by Peter Gabriel.
This song is the slowest song on the album, and is the creepiest, but one of my favourite. The song has an awesomely eerie guitar line, backed up by Brain's drum roll, which almost sounds reversed, completed by les's bass. The song is quite long, but it never gets boring. Half way through the song it picks up to twice the tempo and the drums gives the song an amazing beat. The difference between this version and the origional is that Les doesn't sing it in an english accent, like Gabriel does, and there are less effects compared to the origional.
5/5
3.
Silly Putty, origionally written by Stanley Clarke.
This song is funky! Ler's guitar replaces the saxaphones and trumpets from the origional version. I actually prefer Clarke's version to this, but thats just my opinion. Les's bass is more audible than Clarke's, which is another difference. One of the main reasons I dislike this version is that it has a DJ at one section, which I think ruins the song.
4/5
4.
Amos Moses, origionally written by Jerry Reed Hubbard.
This is the best song on the record. This song is a country classic and Primus make an expert job of covering it. Catchy, hillbilly guitar from Ler. The origional uses a banjo but this version is just guitar set on treble. The bass line is relativly simple, as is the guitar line, and the vocals are just awesome.
5/5
5.
Behind My Camel, origionally written by The Police.
I couldn't believe this song was origionally written by The Police, as it sounds like a Primus. The bass is ery simple; a note (or two) at the start of each line, but the guitar rings out in dissonance, buy not bad dissonance; contructive dissonance. No lyrics, and the song is short and fades out. Its not a bad piece, I like it.
3.5/5
6.
Too Many Puppies (Spanish Remix), origionally written by Primus.
I'm not gonna say much, as there isn't an amazing difference from the one on 1990's 'Frizzle Fry'. What I find wrong about it is that the bass is too quiet, and it is so overladen with effects that it hides the genious of the origional song. I'm not a fan.
2/5
7.
The Thing That Should Not Be, origionally written by Metallica.
No, no, no, no, NO! I hate this song, so much so that it is the only song of Primus that I haven't played in full according to my iPod (though I have heard in full from me CD). This song is a heavy thrash head-banging piece, I think that everything about it is just bad. Les's vocals are enjoyable on most songs for me, but on this song, it isn't, as he is imitating the scum of the earth; James Hetfield. Larry's guitar playing is better than Kirks from the origional, because the tone is better. Most Primus/Metallica fans don't patricularily like this song either, so me and my úber-Metallica hate isn't biased.
8 & 9.
Tommy The Cat &
Bob's Party Time Lounge, both live and origional Primus songs.
These songs are just like the studio versions except they are recorded from the Kaiser arena (I think) 1997/1998. The songs are 8 & 9 minutes long (twice as long as they are on their CD's) which is basically a combination of each memeber of the band having an extensive solo on thier instrument followed by a jam with the entire band. Interestingly enough, at the show, the tracks were played the other way round (not next to each other). I believe that Bob's Party Time Lounge was played 3rd and Tommy The Cat was played just after everyone in the arena had celebrated new year; hence why at the start of Tommy The Cat, claypool says "It is now officially a big rock show".
Overall, this is a really good album, though I would recommend it to more in-depth fans, simply due to the diversity of the music.
4/5
