Houdini (album)

Untitled

Houdini is an album by The Melvins, which was released in 1993 through Atlantic Records. It is regarded as one of the band's more accessible records. "Honey Bucket" is a fan favorite. Critics and long-time listeners agree that the song is one of the band's finest moments. The Melvins were one of Kurt Cobain's favorite bands (they hailed from his hometown of Aberdeen, WA) and he was friends with the band as well so he went into the studio with them to produce this record. He produced tracks 1, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 along with Melvins. He played guitar on "Sky Pup" and added percussion to the percussion-only sprawling noise of "Spread Eagle Beagle". Though he is listed as a Producer, King Buzzo has been quoted saying that Cobain didn't do very much work, saying that all he did was "turn knobs and sleep" .

The back cover is an illustration of the band, drummer Dale Crover on the left, bassist Lori "Lorax" Black (daughter of Shirley Temple-Black) in the middle and guitarist/vocalist Buzz "King Buzzo" Osborne. Note that in the illustration, each member has 6 fingers.

The entire album was reproduced live and released as A Live History of Gluttony and Lust in 2006.

Track listing

1. "Hooch" (Melvins) – 2:51
2. "Night Goat" (Melvins) – 4:41
3. "Lizzy" (Melvins) – 4:43
4. "Goin' Blind" (Simmons/Coronel) – 4:32
5. "Honey Bucket" (Melvins) – 3:01
6. "Hag Me" (Melvins) – 7:06
7. "Set Me Straight" (Melvins) – 2:25
8. "Sky Pup" (Melvins) – 3:50
9. "Joan of Arc" (Melvins) – 3:36
10. "Teet" (Melvins) – 2:51
11. "Copache" (Melvins) – 2:07
12. "Pearl Bomb" (Melvins) – 2:45
13. "Spread Eagle Beagle" (Melvins) – 10:13

Some vinyl copies include a cover of "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)", originally by the MC5, instead of "Spread Eagle Beagle". A Japanese CD release (catalog# AMCY-625) also contains "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)" as the 14th track at the end of the disc, coming after "Spread Eagle Beagle".

Personnel

• The Melvins - Producer, Mixing
  • King Buzzo - Guitar, Vocals
  • Lorax - Bass
  • Dale - Drums, Vocals
• Billy Anderson - Engineer, Bass, Mixing
• Wolf Kesseler - Second Engineer
• GGGarth Richardson - Mixing
• Joe Marquez - Second Engineer
• Kurt Cobain - Producer tracks 1, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13, Guitar on track 8, additional percussion on track 1 and 13
• Jonathan Burnside - Engineer
• Lou Oribin - Engineer
• Tom Doty - Second Engineer
• Barrett Jones - Engineer
• Bill Bartell - Bass and Lead Guitar on track 4
• Al Smith - additional percussion on track 13, A&R
• Mike Supple - additional percussion on track 13
• Stephanie Wells - David Lefkowitz Management
• Elliot Cahn - Legal Beagles
• Jeff Saltzman - Legal Beagles
• Peter Davis - Booking
• Don Lewis - Band Photo
• Frank Kozik - Art Direction, Illustration
• Valerie Wagner - Art Direction, Design
• Stephen Marcussen - Mastering

Charts

Album

Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1993	Heatseekers	29