Anti Pop

On the surface, all Primus albums seem to sound alike, but Primus has never tried to shake things up as much as they do on their seventh album, AntiPop. Primus enlisted a dizzying array of collaborators – Stewart Copeland, Tom Waits, James Hetfield, Tom Morello, Jim Martin, Matt Stone, Martina, and Fred Durst among them – all in the purpose of challenging themselves to find different dimensions to it’s music. Some play or sing, some produce, but it’s amazing how much each individual guest changes the tone of the music. Though there are a couple of good lyrics here, this is by and large an album about music; it would have been even better if it had been primarily an instrumental album, actually, since the vocals get in the way occasionally. Still, it’s possible to get past those and hear AntiPop as one of Primus’ most ambitious and best efforts. No, they’re not always successful, but no two songs sound the same, and some collaborations are among the best things Primus has ever recorded. AntiPop is dense music that isn’t afraid to be goofy or fall on it’s face – and even if it’s not to your particular taste, it’s hard not to respect this.