The Melvins '90s-Era Major Label Albums Get Reissue Treatment via Third Man

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Jun 15, 2016

Start cleaning your Honey Buckets and dust off your record players, Melvins fans, because the iconic Pacific Northwest sludge slingers have announced a series of vinyl reissues. Jack White's Third Man Records imprint is bringing Buzz and co.'s trio of major label releases from the '90s back to wax this month.

A post from Third Man confirms that 1993's Houdini, 1994's Stoner Witch, and 1996's Stag are due June 24, with each release coming remastered from the original analogue tapes, pressed onto 180-gram vinyl and housed in deluxe, gatefold jackets. The albums had originally been released through Atlantic Records and have been out of print on vinyl since the '90s. A press release notes that the Melvins had inked up with Atlantic at a time when major labels had been "looking to sign the next Nirvana."

Houdini, the outfit's best selling album, was "a conscious attempt by the band to make a record that wouldn't alienate their fans but that the band members themselves would also enjoy." Six of its songs were produced by Kurt Cobain, "Honey Bucket" received MTV airplay, and the record landed at  No. 29 on the BIllboard Heatseekers charts. While the CD had arrived through Atlantic, noise rock indie imprint Amphetamine Reptile had delivered the OG vinyl pressing. The Third Man pressing lands on limited-edition yellow vinyl.

Stoner Witch is described as "one of the most praised albums of the band's 30+ year career," and includes fan faves "Revolve" and "Queen." A dark purple vinyl variant is being pressed up through Third Man.

Finally, Stag arrives as a double LP, with the limited-edition variant offering one platter on red vinyl, and the other on aqua swirl. This differs from the original pressing, which had crammed all 16 songs onto one 12-inch. Portions of the set were recorded at the legendary Sound City studios (Nirvana, Neil Young, Kyuss, Fleetwood Mac).

You can find out more about each repress and their pre-ordering options over here. You'll find a trailer for the Third Man project, as well as the music video for "Honey Bucket," down below.

Even beyond the upcoming reissues, it's been a busy year for the Melvins. Already, they've released the long in-the-works Three Men and a Baby release with godheadsilo bassist Mike Kunka, their low-end shuffling Basses Loaded release, and went on tour with Napalm Death and Melt Banana.



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