Editing Melvins (section)

===Switching labels and continued experimentation (1997–2004)===
The band signed with Amphetamine Reptile Records and released their next full-length album, ''[[Honky (album)|Honky]]'', in 1997. They recorded an August 1997 concert in Richmond, [[Melbourne, Australia]] as ''[[Alive at the Fucker Club]]'' in 1998. The same year, Melvins opened for [[Tool (band)|Tool]].  (A picture on the Tool website depicts the Melvins along with the words "Melvins say...Tool Sux!" spelled out in [[lunch meat]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://toolband.com/melvinsuck.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021006171546/http://www.toolband.com/melvinsuck.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 6, 2002 |title=Melvins photo on the Tool website |publisher=Toolband.com |access-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref> The photo was taken while on tour with Tool in 2002 in Australia.) In 1998, Melvins played the second stage at [[Ozzfest]].

1999 saw the beginning of a partnership with [[Mike Patton]]'s [[Ipecac Recordings]], which began remastering and reissuing much of the band's back catalog. The band also released three full-length albums dubbed (and later packaged together as) ''The Trilogy'': ''[[The Maggot (album)|The Maggot]]'', ''[[The Bootlicker (album)|The Bootlicker]]'', and  ''[[The Crybaby (album)|The Crybaby]]''. The latter featured a number of guest vocalists and musicians. [[Kevin Rutmanis]], formerly of [[The Cows]], was bassist during this era.

In 2001, the band returned to their experimental tendencies for ''[[Colossus of Destiny (album)|Colossus of Destiny]]'', a live set of synthesizer and sampler experiments presented as two tracks (one clocking in at 59:23 and the other at five seconds). The album was described approvingly by one critic as "more like [[avant-garde]] [[Electro-acoustic music|electro-acoustic]] than anything else."<ref name="allmusic1">{{cite web|last=Schulte |first=Tom |url={{AllMusic|class=album |id=r525643 |pure_url=yes}} |title=The Colossus of Destiny - Melvins |website=AllMusic |access-date=July 6, 2011}}</ref>

In 2002, [[Ipecac Recordings]] released [[Hostile Ambient Takeover]], a record that was not in fact ambient music at all. This album is the first instance of Melvins working with long time producer and engineer [[Toshi Kasai]].

In 2003, [[Atlantic Records]] (UK) released ''[[Melvinmania (album)|Melvinmania: The Best of the Atlantic Years 1993–1996]]'', a compilation of recycled tracks from the band's three major label releases. This release was unsanctioned by the band who had no input into the track selection or (occasionally inaccurate) liner notes.

In 2004, Osborne and Crover toured to celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band, and also released an art book ''[[Neither Here Nor There (book)|Neither Here Nor There]]''. The book is a collection of art by creators of their cover art as well as friends of the band, and also contained retrospectives on the past twenty years of the Melvins. The book included a CD with selected tracks from their albums.