Sailing the Seas of Cheese

by Primus

Sailing the Seas of Cheese cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 14 May 1991
  • Label: Interscope, EastWest Records America
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 45:18
  • Community rating: 4.17/5 from 19 ratings

Artists on this release: Tim "Herb" Alexander, Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool

Album Notes & Community Reviews

On their major-label debut, 'Sailing the Seas of Cheese', Primus established their idiosyncratic funk-metal sound, centered on Les Claypool's virtuosic and revolutionary six-string fretless bass work. The trio's songwriting blends this stunning musicianship with whimsical, narrative lyrics, Zappa-esque humor, and complex, unconventional time signatures. Aided by a direct production style that highlights the band鈥檚 tight interplay and a guest vocal from Tom Waits, the album became a landmark of 1990s alternative rock that redefined the sonic possibilities of the bass guitar in a mainstream context.

Genres

Descriptors: complex, technical, funky, eccentric, witty

Tracklist

  1. Seas Of Cheese (00:42)
  2. Here Come The Bastards (02:53)
  3. Sgt. Baker (04:12)
  4. American Life (04:30)
  5. Jerry Was A Race Car Driver (03:10)
  6. Eleven (04:17)
  7. Is It Luck? (03:27)
  8. Grandad's Little Ditty (00:37)
  9. Tommy The Cat (04:13)
  10. Sathington Waltz (01:40)
  11. Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers (05:17)
  12. Fish On (Fisherman Chronicles, Chapter II) (07:40)
  13. Los Bastardos (02:40)

Credits

  • Les Claypool - vocals, bass, string bass, six-string fretless bass, clarinet, production
  • Larry LaLonde - guitar, six-string banjo, production, vocals
  • Tim "Herb" Alexander - drums, percussion, water jug, production, vocals
  • Mike Bordin - two-skinned foreskin drum, drums
  • Matt Winegar - accordion, guitar
  • Tom Waits - voice of tommy the cat
  • Trouz - whistle
  • Jay Lane - drums (2013 deluxe bonus tracks)
  • Adam Gates - additional fisherman, bass, vocals
  • Brain Mantia - drums
  • MIRV Haggard - guitars
  • Todd Huth - writing, guitars
  • Derek Greenberg - guitars
  • Butthouse - bass
  • Puffster - vocals
  • Ron Rigler - engineering
  • Chris Bellman - mastering
  • Tom Whalley - a&r director
  • Lance Montoya - additional fisherman, sculptures
  • Paul Haggard - jacket design, photography
  • Mark Kohr - cheese coordinator, scenery
  • Michael Lavine - band photo
  • Mitch Romanowski - ship (sculpture)
  • Snap - airbrushing

More from Primus: full discography