Electriclarryland

Electriclarryland
Studio album by
Butthole Surfers
ReleasedMay 6, 1996
Genre
Length51:22
LabelCapitol
Producer
Butthole Surfers chronology
The Hole Truth... and Nothing Butt
(1995) 		Electriclarryland
(1996) 		Weird Revolution
(2001)
Alternative cover art
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB[3]
NME2/10[4]
Pitchfork8.0/10[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Spin7/10[7]

Electriclarryland is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Butthole Surfers, released on May 6, 1996, by Capitol Records. This album brought Butthole Surfers their first Top-40 hit with "Pepper". The album was certified gold by the RIAA on August 20, 1996.[8] The title of this album is a parody of Jimi Hendrix's third studio album entitled Electric Ladyland. This is the second time the band has used a parody title for one of their releases. The first was Hairway to Steven, which references the song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. The album's original title was going to be Oklahoma!, but fearing lawsuits, Capitol forced the band to change the name.[9]

Although the album has no Parental Advisory label, it was also released in a "clean" version with profanities removed, an alternate album cover, and the band being credited as "B***H*** Surfers".

The song "The Lord Is a Monkey" was featured in two 1996 films, an alternate "Rock Version" in the Beavis and Butt-head Do America soundtrack and the original in Black Sheep. Additionally, the band performed "Ulcer Breakout" on an episode of The Larry Sanders Show.

The basic recordings were made at Paul Leary's house in Austin, Texas, at Arlyn Studios, also in Austin, and Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York. Mixing and mastering was done at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles, California.[10]

Album cover

The album cover depicts a man's eardrum being impaled by a pencil. The original album artwork was inspired by the 1974 Hi-Fi murders.[citation needed] It was then replaced by a cover depicting a prairie dog due to the graphic image.

Critical reception

Track listing

All songs written by the Butthole Surfers.

No.TitleLength
1."Birds"3:10
2."Cough Syrup"4:33
3."Pepper"4:57
4."Thermador"4:35
5."Ulcer Breakout"2:34
6."Jingle of a Dog's Collar"3:08
7."TV Star"3:06
8."My Brother's Wife"5:13
9."Ah Ha"3:31
10."The Lord Is a Monkey"4:46
11."Let's Talk About Cars"4:34
12."L.A."2:46
13."Space"4:25

Personnel

Butthole Surfers

Additional personnel

  • Andrew Weiss – bass (tracks 4, 6, 7, 9, 10)
  • Bill Carter – bass (tracks 2 and 12)
  • John Hagen – cello (track 2)
  • Fooch – pedal steel guitar (track 7)
  • Mark Eddinger – keyboards (track 3)
  • Danno Saratak – drum programming (tracks 3 and 10)

Technical personnel

  • Steve Thompson – production
  • Christopher Shaw – engineer, mixing
  • Stuart Sullivan – engineer, mixing
  • Paul Mavrides – illustrations, cover design, cover art
  • Will Van Overbeek – photography
  • Tommy Steele – art direction
  • Wendy Dougan – art direction, design

Charts

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1996 "Pepper"[10] US Mainstream Rock Tracks 19
US Modern Rock Tracks 1
US Top 40 Mainstream 38

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Butthole Surfers Electriclarryland Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (May 27, 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
  3. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (June 21, 1996). "Electriclarryland". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 8, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Perry, John (August 17, 2000). "Electriclarryland". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Josephes, Jason (August 16, 2000). "Butthole Surfers: Electriclarryland: Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved October 2, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Young, Charles M. (2004). "Butthole Surfers". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698.
  7. ^ Michel, Sia (June 1996). "Records". Spin. pp. 111–2. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  8. ^ "Searchable Database - Search: Electriclarryland". RIAA. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  9. ^ "Butthole Surfers – The Anal Obsession". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  10. ^ a b Burns, James (2015). Let's Go to Hell: Scattered Memories of the Butthole Surfers (1st ed.). Sugerties, NY: Cheap Drugs (CD09). p. 383. ISBN 978-0-578-16439-7.
  11. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Butthole Surfers – Electriclarryland". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2981". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Charts.nz – Butthole Surfers – Electriclarryland". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  14. ^ "Butthole Surfers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  15. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  16. ^ "American album certifications – Butthole Surfers – Electriclarryland". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 7, 2021.