Review Summary: One of the most mediocre and uncohesive Primus albums by a landslide, although it holds a couple quality tracks inside its belly.
I don't think Primus has ever left an experiment they could do with their sound. No, in fact, they overtly attempted incorporating every single possible iteration of their music, in their music. At times, it led to masterpieces, such as Pork Soda, and other times... it didn't work as well. Does Antipop fall under the label "great album" or "bad album"? Let's find out
Let's not meddle in too much complexity, and get straight to the point. Album starts with "Intro" which is... there. Ensues by far one of the most mixed tracks of Primus, "Electric Uncle Sam". This song is like, a strip-down of what makes Primus interesting, until what you obtain is a mediocre funk metal track with average instrumentals, obnoxious vocals and tryhard political lyrics. Thankfully, the next track, "Natural Joe", is actually one of the better funk metal endeavours of Primus, with its quirky, dissonant guitar, heavy drums, and ascending/descending quick dotted slap bass. Following is another banger of the bizarre name of "Lacquer Head", which is one of the best Primus songs of this album. Structurally, it's simple, but the bass riff is efficient and memorable, the guitars provide harmonic foundation and amazing atmosphere, and the drums are stripped down, but precise(keep in mind Fred Durst collaborated on this song. Fred. Durst. How the hell did he manage to co-create such an amazing track?). In this streak, the "Antipop" is a catchy, memorable, ironically poppy song, and another banger.
But then, you have "Eclectic Electric". "Eclectic Electric" is as inconsistent as someone with anger management disorder, and has an excellent beginning, comprising spacial, hypnotic bass lines and guitars, and deep lyrics but evolves into a sloppy metal section with awful production. Follows two of the songs part of the Triforce of the Trash on the album, "Greet The Sacred Cow" and "Mama Didn't Raise No Fool". Absolutely god awful, no structural imagination, lazy instrumentals, dreadful vocal lines, vapid lyrics, etc... these songs have exactly zero redeeming qualities. Oh yes, they do get stuck in your head, but it's not bothersome as even the riffs are empty. Funnily enough, "Dirty Drowning Man" is a forgettable, mixed bag as well. The song is a mix of many things, and ends up treading in mud, not bringing out the potential of all the components involved, therefore become wholly bland.
Thankfully, "Ballad of Bodacious" bursts out in one of the best Primus guitar riffs, and generally giving me a bloody funky time, in a cohesive, properly constructed manner, in one of the most accessible mixes ever concocted by Primus, while still retaining some sort of experimental flair. And one thing I noticed with this song and "Antipop" is the lovely synth effect on the bass, and the incredibly great lyrics as well.
Sadly, out from the depths of hell comes "Power Mad", which is part of the *** Triforce, although it does attempt to think outside the box. However, what goes into my ear is a rather limp riff, with even weaker guitar parts and lazy structuring(again). I seriously wish Tom Morello didn't participate in this album because he is quite frankly a bad influence on Primus in terms of instrumental and lyrical material.
Finally, we move into "The Final Voyage of The Liquid Sky" which is another mixed, inconsistent funk/prog/whatever metal endeavour, however, its material is already far better execution-wise than three quarters of this album. Thankfully, the album stands on a greater note with "Coattails of a Dead Man", which is a fantastic, swinging, wailing and generally refined collaboration with Tom Waits. Although some components of the track may not appeal to a set population, it is definitely one quality track in Primus' career. Hidden inside "Coattails of a Dead Man" is "The Heckler", which is... subpar, for Primus' standards. It hasn't aged well, and is overly repetitive, so the only redeeming qualities of the track are instantly ruined by the dreadful structuring. Sad, as this is is supposed to close the album.
Overall, Antipop is best described by the RYM user Creechuur who commented on this album: "this has some high highs, and some really ***ing low lows".
Fav tracks: Natural Joe, Ballad of Bodacious, Lacquer Head, Coattails of a Dead Man, Antipop
Least fav. tracks: Mama Didn't Raise No Fool, Greet The Sacred Cow, Power Mad, Dirty Drowning Man
