The Answer of Whether or Not Humor Belongs in Music for a New Generation
This will always be my favorite Primus album. That might be because it was the first one I ever heard, and boy did I listen to it a lot of times. Back then, I listened to it on a cassette tape. Times change. As album rock is slowly being replaced by legal downloading of MP3s, I hope the idea of the concept album doesn’t get lost. Some music is just simply meant to be an album. An album is like a book. I think that though the formats of books will change in popularity, there will always be books that are in print on paper, in the same way that I think that the cd is an excellent format for music. The amount of audio time available on a cd is definitely just the right size for many applications.
The thing that so endearing about Primus is that there is only one band that is Primus, and they are instantly recognizable. The guitar is usually used for atmosphere, while the bass is used as the most important instrument. It is not the first time something like that has been done, but it is rare to make the bass the central instrument, as opposed to a supporting instrument. I guess I would classify Les Claypool as a virtuoso on the bass. If he is not a virtuoso, then you at least have to credit him for his ability to create an innovative sound.
While Frank Zappa answered the question of whether or not human belongs in music, that was for his generation. Weird Al showed us that humor does in fact belong in music, but with Weird Al, the question unanswered is does humor belong in good music? Primus is good music. They are comical. And, for me they answered the question of whether or not humor belongs in music for my generation.
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