Brown Album
| Brown Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Primus | ||||
| Released | July 8, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | December 1996 - April 1997 at Rancho Relaxo | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:54 | |||
| Label | Interscope, Prawn Song | |||
| Producer | Primus | |||
| Primus chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Brown Album | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | C |
| Rolling Stone | |
Brown Album is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Primus. It was released on July 8, 1997. It was the band's first album with new drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia, who replaced former drummer Tim Alexander. The album has received a mixed reception from critics and fans.
Brown Album was the first Primus release to not feature drummer Tim Alexander and the first to feature Bryan "Brain" Mantia. Claypool stated "Herb's departure was like a marriage that just slowly decayed to an end." "When it came down to it, we came very close to dissolving entirely, to ending Primus. I went to Ler and said, 'Look, I'm not content anymore. We've got a good thing going between us and we should probably get a new drummer.' When we talked to Herb about it, he wasn't surprised at all--in fact he seemed very relieved. He's got his own thing now. He's writing and singing [with his new band, Laundry] and he's much happier." Regarding the name of the album, Claypool said "This is a milestone record for Primus so it needed to have a milestone title. The Beatles have their 'White Album,' Metallica have their 'Black Album,' now Primus have their 'Brown Album.'"
Claypool stated "Song-wise I think Brown leans back to Suck... or [1990's] Frizzle Fry". "It's a far more aggressive album than we've done in a long time. The differences between this album and [ Punch Bowl...] are far greater than the differences between this album and the very early stuff."
In his review for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine contends that "the replacement of drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander with Brian "Brain" Mantia doesn't affect Primus' sound in any notable way", but also notes that the album "moves Primus even further into progressive and jazz-rock territory". In conclusion, he describes Brown Album as "standard Primus – all instrumental interplay and adolescent humor – but it's delivered with more finesse and skill than ever." For Entertainment Weekly, Wook Kim describes the band as "in decline" since their "satisfyingly eclectic" early albums, noting that with Brown Album they "cross that thin line between novel and novelty." The San Diego Union labeled the album as "flat-sounding".
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