Metaphysical Graffiti | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1990 | |||
Recorded | February 1989 - January 1990 | |||
Genre | Punk rock, comedy rock | |||
Length | 52:09 | |||
Label | Enigma [1] | |||
Producer | Brian "Bongwizard" Beattie | |||
The Dead Milkmen chronology | ||||
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Metaphysical Graffiti is the fifth studio album by the Dead Milkmen, released by Enigma Records in 1990. [2] [3] The album title and cover art, the latter designed by the band's drummer Dean Clean, [4] parody the 1975 album Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin. [5] [6] Two tracks ("Do the Brown Nose" and "If You Love Somebody, Set Them on Fire") appear on Death Rides a Pale Cow.
The album peaked at No. 164 on the Billboard 200. [7]
Like Bucky Fellini and Beelzebubba, Metaphysical Graffiti was recorded in Austin, Texas, and was produced by Brian Beattie. [4] [8] Gibby Haynes, of Butthole Surfers, appears on "Anderson, Walkman, Buttholes and How!" [1]
The video for "Methodist Coloring Book" had to be reedited before MTV would agree to play it, due to imagery the network was worried may be offensive. [9] Enigma printed and mailed coloring books to promote the track. [10]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [11] |
Chicago Tribune | [12] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [13] |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [14] |
Ottawa Citizen | [15] |
Select | 3/5 [16] |
People wrote: "When the Milkmen played their first punk parodies in the mid-1980s, they sounded appropriately fresh. Now they sometimes seem to be as dated as the music they ridicule." [17] The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "more screaming, more production and less melody." [12] The Ottawa Citizen called it "funny, loud, fast and violent." [18]
The Los Angeles Times wrote that "parody is in safe hands with the Dead Milkmen." [19] The Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph called Metaphysical Graffiti "a savagely sarcastic collection of commentaries on greed and religion." [20] The Washington Post thought that "Milkmen albums usually turn on the existence of a single standout tune-'Bitchin' Camaro', for example, or 'Punk Rock Girl'-and this outing doesn't seem to have one." [21]
All songs written by The Dead Milkmen