Suck on This

{{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Frizzle Fry1990liveSuck on ThisPrimus-Suck on This.jpgPrimusNovember 1989February 25 and March 5, 1989Berkeley Square (Berkeley, California)Template:Hlist41:11Prawn SongMatt Winegar, Bob Cockx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

Suck on This is a live album by the American rock band Primus, released in 1989. At the time of recording, the featured lineup of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander had only been playing together for "about two months".<ref name="liner">Liner notes, Suck on This (reissue), Prawn Song Records 2002.</ref> This release, along with Jane's Addiction's self-titled live album, are seen as popularizing the then-underground alternative metal genre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Background

The album was recorded live at the Berkeley Square in Berkeley, California on February 25 and March 5, 1989, on a TASCAM quarter-inch 8-track Portastudio and mixed on Hi-Fi VHS.<ref name="liner" /> The band borrowed $3,000 from Claypool's father to cover the recording and pressing of one thousand copies of the album for its initial limited run.<ref name="liner" /> They released the record in November 1989 through their own independent label under the name Prawn Song Records before licensing it to Caroline Records in 1990,<ref name="Animals">Illustrated Discography, Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People DVD, Interscope Records 2003.</ref> and later Interscope Records.<ref name="Discogs">Suck on This at Discogs.</ref> On April 23, 2002, Prawn Song reissued the album with remastered audio, together with the follow-up studio album Frizzle Fry.<ref name="Animals" />

All of the songs would eventually be released as studio recordings: "Tommy the Cat" on Sailing the Seas of Cheese in 1991, "Pressman" (as "The Pressman") on Pork Soda in 1993, "Jellikit" on the Airheads soundtrack in 1994 as "Bastardizing Jellikit", and "The Heckler" on Antipop in 1999 as a hidden track. All other tracks were included on the band's debut studio album Frizzle Fry in 1990.

The original liner notes give "hugs and kisses" to a number of bands and local businesses, including Faith No More and Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys. This was followed by "special hugs and kisses" to a number of individuals, including early Primus members Todd Huth, Jay Lane, Vince Parker and Tim Wright, and "Pops" (Claypool's father) "for kickin' down the corn".<ref name="linerold">Liner notes, Suck on This, Interscope Records 1990.</ref> For the 2002 reissue, these sections were omitted in favour of a paragraph written by Claypool detailing the history of the record, leaving only "special thanks" to Claypool's father.<ref name="liner" />

Critical reception

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Ned Raggett describes the album as "not only demonstrating Primus' undeniable live flair for art/prog rock/funk of its own devising, but capturing an already rabid fan base getting off on it big-time", with "its tempo-shifting riffing and Funkadelic-meets-Rush rhythm explosions benefiting from a fairly crisp recording." He notes that "Claypool's voice is sometimes searching for breath or a touch buried in the mix", but "anyone who likes the Zappa/Beefheart goofy voice approach Claypool is fond of will be perfectly happy with his nutty lip-flapping".<ref name="Allmusic review" />

Personnel

Primus

• Les Claypool – vocals, bass
• Larry "Ler" LaLonde – guitars
• Tim "Herb" Alexander – drums

Production

• Matt Winegar – producer, engineer, mixing engineer
• Howard Johnston – editing
• Tim "Soya" – stage
• Leroy – stage
• Lauren Miller – live sound

Visual art

• Paul Haggard – jacket design, photos
• Lance "Link" Montoya – sculpture