The album beings with the fittingly titled "Intro". Tom Waits assists in providing a very creepy horror-movie like sound, setting up the pretty dark sound of this album. "Electric Uncle Sam" opens the album proper. Bassist/Singer/Evil Genius "Les Claypool" provides some of the tastiest bass you have ever heard. Layered in countless effects, his playing is immediately recognizable from any other bassist out there, very unique and the main highlight of this band for me.Next is "Natural Joe". Les' bass sound in incredible here, very funky and heavy, although a tad too distorted for me. I can understand why some have complaints with the sound of this album, it's quite thick with distortion and does sound a little too convoluted, less crisp than earlier albums. As par the course for Primus, the lyrics concern a story. "Natural Joe" is the story of a simple-minded, easygoing everyman. Natural Joe shows how Primus can write and incredibly poetic and hilarious song about even the most common subjects. A great song. "Lacquer Head" comes up next. Continuing the drug theme prevalent in many Primus songs, this one concerns junkies who consume chemicals as narcotics. Very dark, but comedic at times despite the horrific stories. Bryan Mantia proves that he was a great fit with Primus on this track, keeping a very steady beat. Claypool and Larry LaLonde shine as usual, but I find the guitars a bit too "nu metal" sounding on this track, too distorted for Primus as they take away from the impact of Claypool's bass, but a very classic Primus song nonetheless. The title track is next. "The Antipop" is one of my favorite songs by the band, and one of their most immediately accessible. Featuring a fairly catchy chorus, "The Antipop" sings the praises of being unconventional and odd, something that Primus certainly is in the musical world. Elements of Rush can certainly be heard in the song, and it's easy to see how said band influenced Primus to a certain extent. Very progressive sounding song.
"Eclectic Electric" is another quite progressive-sounding song. It features a very spaced-out, almost "Floyd-like" introduction, showing the band's obviously influence from Pink Floyd. The song drags on a bit for me, and I can find no real reason that it had to be over 8 minutes long.The song does pick up halfway through, and Claypool starts slapping his bass again, but again the very metallic guitars sound too loud and distorted, not a very good sounding album or song. "Greet the Sacred Cow" brings in some Eastern influences into the Primus mix. After a sample intro, the band groove over some funky eastern-sounding scales. The song sounds a bit dated and digital, especially with its effects, but is pretty funky and unusual, even for Primus. "Mama Didn't Raise No Fool" features guest guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Pretty conventional for Primus, its really just "nu metal" like riff with some popping and slapping from Claypool over top. This album is certainly more conventional than earlier work by Primus, and it's easy to see why they sometimes got lumped into the nu metal scene, despite being a much different sounding band, and a much earlier forming band. Not bad, but not crazy about this tune. "Dirty Drowning Man" brings back the breakneck playing of early Primus. Claypool is amazing, almost superhuman at times in terms of his speed and virtuosity. Featuring English vocalist of "Tricky" fame, Marina Topley Bird, it's interesting to hear Primus being backed by a female voice, an odd combination to say the least. My only real problem with the song is the very repetitive lyrics, and the fact that Claypool seems to be holding back somewhat. While the playing is still amazing, he seems to be slowing down a bit, less ferocious as before.
One of the weirdest songs by the band is "Ballad of Bodacious". Claypool adopts his hillbilly voice again, telling the tale of a giant riding bull, at times from the bull's perspective. Simply hilarious, it really shows that Claypool is the spiritual successor to the throne of Frank Zappa, extremely gifted musically, but also quite humorous and satirical lyrically. A great song, it's one of the best on the album, classic Primus. "Power Mad" is a rare example of Primus getting political. The lyrics are quite cryptic, but seem to concern those who are on "power trips". In any case, the bass is funky as hell, a classic Claypool bass-line. Very biting lyrics, like Zappa before him, rip apart those who seek to control their small and pathetic empires, but fail to succeed. "The Final Voyage of the Liquid Sky" is a terrific racket. Not a big fan of the effects of Claypool's bass, the rest of the song mostly excels. Very trippy, it shows the direction that Claypool would take in some of his post-Primus work, more psychedelic. Not a bad song, but honestly not one of my favorites. A bit too long, too noisy (guitars and bass), it overstays its welcome quickly. The album ends with "Coattails of a Dead Man". Backed by fellow weirdo Tom Waits, it is very influenced by Wait's brand of warped vaudevillian pop, the style honestly does not really suit Claypool's goofy squeal. Waits comes in later, but too late to save the song. Not bad, but it would have been better as a Waits solo song. There is a bonus track. About six minutes into this song, there is the studio version of "The Heckler" from "Suck On This". A much slicker sounding version of the live track from "Suck On This", it really is mainly for the die-hards. A decent track, it is slightly less shocking than the 1989 original.
"Antipop" is a very good album. Not quite as good as "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" and "Tales From the Punchbowl", it nonetheless is a very decent listen for fans of alternative rock.A little distorted, a tad bloated (too many guests), these things matter not. Primus closed out their first era with a very good album amid a sea of nu metal crap that dominated heavy music at the time.
Rating-9/10
I completely agree that this album is not as great as "Sailing the Seas of Cheese," but I still agree that this album is awesome. I wouldn't call it a "gem," but it still deserves way more credit.
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