Locust Abortion Technician

I admire the anti establishment sentiment, and i like a 'your mum' joke opening as much as the next man, but it was all downhill from there. Art-rock always tends to bullshit when they run out of ideas and adding noise rock doesnt change that

Not one of the best from BHS

Idk. I really liked this. Guess that says a lot about me. Never heard this album before. I do remember BS from back in the day. But man, I don’t remember truly enjoying their madness as much as I did this. 4 Boolean: True

Completely unhinged. Interesting. But not good.

2.5/5 - I didn't hate it per se, but I can certainly say this must be in the bottom 100 let alone bottom 40 albums on this list. Worth the listen? 100% yes, solely for the experience.

Not very good or enjoyable to listen to Most manageable song is human cannonball and the rest are all just a slog to get through not because they’re boring but because they just aren’t good 2/5

2.5

Just not my jam

They are weird and it seems just for weird’s sake

I loved this

Not for me. “Human Cannonball” briefly gave me hope. It actually resembled a song, and for a few minutes I thought the album might dig itself out of the one-star hole. It didn't.

Metalheads take note by this albums diversity and sheer weirdness it is much more subversive and hard than whatever screamo bullshit is trendy now.

Going into this, I pretty much didn't expect anything else. Dear God this is awful. The guitars sound like they're recorded straight out of the incinerator, the vocals are terrible, and the best thing I'm hearing is the Black Sabbath homage (if you can call it that). This might actually be the worst recorded thing on the planet like it's really that bad. At least the Butthole Surfers have successfully made me feel scared and deranged, almost like the clowns on the cover are laughing at me. Speaking of which, I really like the album art. This album really does sound like a Locust Abortion Technician. Records like these do the "challenge" portion of the 1001 album challenge justice. This album is absolutely ruthless, and makes me wonder if this is what grandpas think metal sounds like. When the music isn't earraping you to death, the distorted vocals have time to scare the rest of the listeners that made it through. But this listen makes me kinda sad, because the creators of this list could've picked something amazing, but went with this garbage instead. Why? I don't know, but since the beginning of this record talks about regret and that you tend to regret the things you didn't do rather than the things you did, I still regretted listening to this piece of God awful shit.

In need of attention - band title - tick Hey kids , annoy your parents with a shout out to satan - tick Controversial word in the album title - ABORTION - tick

Why people are allowed to make noise and pretend it's usable as anything, is beyond me. This has no musical merit.

And apparently the river took me to a…very under the influence of certain substances sounding album. I can say for certain that this is one of the weirdest albums I’ve gotten on this site so far. Going in, I’d heard the name Butthole Surfers before, thinking they were big in the 90s, so I kind of expected some kind of alternative rock album, instead, what I got sounded like someone flipping through MTV while high off their ass from taking too much goofy gas at the dentist. This album sounds like something that Beavis and Butthead would make, especially the track Kuntz, surprisingly my first standout, just for the ridiculous premise. It’s a song by a Thai artist that the band got on tape and played around with it because one word sounded like a certain expletive. This album, although random, doesn’t offend my sense in the same way something like Trout Mask Replica would, because it isn’t trying to present itself as high art. It is clearly supposed to be an album that sounds like the lizard scene from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, and that’s ok. I can at least enjoy the fact that they make a song parodying Black Sabbath, but having it end up sounding like listening to Blood Sugar Sex Magic on acid(Sweet Loaf, my second standout track) without being annoyed that the artists are incredibly up their own asses. Also, Sweet Loaf takes a medal as one of the weirdest openings to an album I’ve heard. Continuing the theme of drugged out MTV since I don’t have a better way to get my last two standouts, 22 Going On 23, my third standout, sounds like a weird ass reality show interview, although it is actually a radio interview, and it does send off the album with an unsettling final track, but it honestly isn’t too bad. My fourth standout, Human Cannonball, is a more straightforward punk song, with the weirdness of the album more sprinkled in, so I don’t have much to say about it. Overall, I don’t know if I’d listen to this album again, but I don’t think it was offensively bad. Not a bad experience, overall. Now, I’m gonna make like a human cannonball and launch to the next album.

Is it surprising that the Butthole Surfers are super irreverent in their album Locust Abortion Technician? This was fun. Experimental!

That was quite painful. I'd hardly called that rock Very close to get a one but some songs are fine

Не имею ни малейшего понятия, как это могло оказаться в списке альбомов, которые обязательно нужно услышать в своей жизни

OK, så æ e litt på etterskudd med lyttinga, så i dag har æ hørt på Slipknot, Kid Rock, og det her. Nu vente æ egentlig bare på at Tidal skal sende mæ en bekymringsmelding for å sjekke om alt e ok, siden alle tre e et stykke unna sjangere æ vanligvis befinn mæ i. Æ regne det også som relativt usannsynlig at noen av dem e nokka æ kommer til å høre særlig mye mer på, men det e jo viktig å prøve sånt man ikke tror man like, bare i tilfelle man plutselig gjør det. Kanskje neste gang!

I'm not pretentious to enjoy something this dumb

So that went from silly to bad real quick...

No one with good taste in music would give this higher than a 2. Paul Leary is one of my favorite guitarist. My favorites are Sweat Loaf and Human Cannonball.

The way the first song started off made me laugh and it had a couple decent moments beyond that, but overall, this was a WTF for me. Felt more like noise than songs.

Just a buncha noise

Noisy

Sounds exactly like what you would expect from a band called Butthole Surfers. Overall, did not enjoy this but there were some good elements in there. I liked the song Human Cannonball, but it made me a bit made cause it showed these guys can write an enjoyable song, but instead to choose to make the most abrasive stuff. Hard to take any of it serious from a band called this. Favorite Track - Human Cannonball Least Favorite Track - The O-Men ⭐️⭐️

Quite a crazy punk album, it has some interesting experimental songs. I get why some people will love it, not for me 2/5

I'm sure they had better albums than this one.

Yeah this is super interesting. Awesome Sabbath interpretation in the intro and when they’re not doing normal (to a degree) sounding songs, they’re doing some abrasive industrial sounds in a very listenable manner. Might not come back to it but was a super immersed listen.

Look, I'm a surfer! Glad I finally heard them. Not necessarily "enjoyable" but good.

Another "appreciated more than enjoyed", maybe it'll grow on me.

Très stylé mais chelou quand même. Il faut être dans le mood

Butthole Surfers, from what I've read, epitomise punk rock in their shows and for that I appreciate them. Sadly the music itself was absolutely not to my taste

Pre Listen: Right away from the title, artist name, and album cover, I feel a pit of despair in my gut. Despite never heard of these guys (thankfully?) my expectations are at rock bottom. Notable Tracks: Human Cannonball - Favorite song on the album, in fact it's the only song that really feels like a song to me. Defined start and end, notable progression, good instrumental work, and minimal annoyances throughout. Kuntz - There was a lot of contenders on this album for my least favorite song. All the songs that were just bland noise. All the songs with ugly and stupid vocals. This one though stuck out to me as my least favorite because it just feels like plagiarism. They just took some Thai song (that was better than anything they've made here) and did minimal looping and distortion affects on the part where it sounds like the singers say "Cunt". It probably took this band longer to find the song than to chop it in to this disgrace. 22 Going On 23 - Mixed feelings about this song, because it probably has the best guitar work on the album, but that radio sample it includes throughout feels so gross and slimy to include, along with the ending. Post Listen: The amount of albums on here that are just loud noises with the occasional decent guitar work or weird audio distortion affect make me question the curator's sanity. Genuinely, when this list was being made, did the author go through a car-wreck or sustain some head injury that made it so only the loudest and messiest of sounds got through to their head? I'm so sick of these sorts of junk-food albums where it seems the whole reason for their existence is to spite the listener. Skipped most songs on this piece of trash after 30 seconds to 1 minute or listening. The album cover is accurate in that the creators and enjoyers of this album are complete clowns. 1/5

A lot of garbage to wade through but I really enjoyed some of this. It’s not a particularly long album either so the lows don’t last very long. Sweat Loaf and Human Cannonball were very good in my opinion.

I like it it's fun, I should listen to more of their stuff Will I listen to again: 86%

This shit was weird but interesting

Classic but not my fav

I love Butthole Surfers and haven't listened to this album in forever, excited to hear it again! After a string of bad albums this is really a breathe of fresh air. So weird and heavy and just a complete chaotic mess, in the best possible way. This is what happens when you use every pedal all at once on every instrument including your vocals. Just completely mind-melting psychedelic music. I love that the first 5 songs are just complete chaotic noise then halfway through the album it builds to a coherent song with Human Cannonball - then back to the chaos. Incredible album, a complete mindfuck and it's not even my favorite album of theirs.

I've always known I'm a little strange. Maybe this confirms it. I liked this. Way more than a bunch of the dredge that I've waded through in this list. It's noise rock but focused. There's a vibe here and not just scattered sounds. While Butthole Surfers would become much more known nine years later with Pepper, this is worth the journey through the catalog to listen to this.

Tuesday, 4 August, 2026 Super weird, and amazing. “22 going on 23” was my favorite track.

The normal sounding songs are bangers and the crazy ones excite maddening feelings in me. Oh my gourd

To experimental for me

A bit too chaotic and unhinged for me. I can see how some may enjoy this, but unfortunately, I did not.

That was absolutely awful DNF. Glad we got the #1 worst album out of the way.

Life's too short to finish this garbage

6/10

Hate it. They actually just took an original Thai song from Thai artist and stick it into their own album. Sickening artistic theft

I'm a fan of the Surfers, but I gotta say this is not my favorite of their albums. It just comes off like a bunch of interesting ideas they didn't take the time to flesh out into songs. It's not awful, but it's far from their best.

There has to be better buttholes out there!

This made me want to write a book “1001 ways to day before you listen to this album” It’s shite. Not in the way punk can be deliberately bad. It’s just a sheer assault on your ears and general existence.

I like what Butthole Surfers are tying to do: alternative alt-punk, noise rock. Rock music needs this kind of experimentation. Hell ... it needs more punk.

Absolutely nothing there for me.

I had no idea the Butthole Surfers were around in the late 80s. Always thought of them as 90s fringe band. I'm glad that Pepper has found a resurgence with S.G. Goodman. Anyway, this was fine.

Always that their name was hilarious. They had a couple of songs that made it to mainstream radio in the 90s but I never got into them.

I understand why some people have a lot of hate for this album; they must have lives devoid of risk and excitement. Thirty-one minutes of fucked-up, alternative art rock should definitely be on the list. It's on my shelves. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ ★★★★☆(8/10) Total reviewed : 396 Already owned : 89 Purchased : 21 To buy : 3 Nope : 283

The only appropriate descriptor for this album is “ugly”

What do you get from a butthole?

I was hoping to like this album based off of knowing a couple of their songs from the 90s, but really did not care for it at all

Not sure if psych rock is my taste

Annoying

I can imagine the teenage age version of myself in 1987 loving the Black Sabbath cover of "Sweet Leaf", but I am fairly unimpressed by the idiocy as a middle aged person now. I've never taken this band seriously. They always seemed like a lame novelty comedy act, so I find it difficult to imagine any album of theirs being essential. So, over a half an hour later, I was right. This is just a waste of time silliness by a bunch of idiotic drug users. Nothing of import on here. I'm shocked that the high part of the album was when they were trying to cover a far more competent band. If we are going for weird 80s punk bands, I have many others that I prefer over this junk. How about Stormtroopers of Death's SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE? If we are going for influential noise/industrial, how about about any of Skinny Puppy's albums from 1985 to 1989. Either of those listed above are far more essential contributions.

There's like two good Butthole Surfers songs and neither of them are on this album.

Always was suspicious of Butthole Surfers "thing" which is that they are incredibly abrasive. It works for some bands that I like but I thought Butthole Surfers was a little too on the nose about it. And the midstretch of this album confirmed some of my suspicions that they are incredibly talented players but *get this*, they play really alienating music. I really resented the dialed in irony that pervaded the album but then...they got me with 22 Going on 23, a song which genuinely flips the whole album on its head in tone and recontextualizes the entire mood of the album away from terminal stage irony.

This is undoubtedly interesting, it is just not my thing.

Casi insoportable. Afortunadamente solo dura media hora y tiene por ahí un par de melodías poderosas, pero en general me pareció mucho ruido sin sentido.

I think I’m supposed to think these guys are cool, but I don’t.

2.2 The type of people who put clowns on their album cover are the same people who would make music like this. Graveyard is a burner, though

It’s got weird old voice clips and barnyard sounds. Some of the tracks are mostly just grunting or yelling. And then all of a sudden it’s fucking ethereal for a second. And then they go back to grating the guitar in my ear. And I think I love it.

This was great you guys just hate experimental music

Not my jam

Difficult record

I can see its influence and importance but as far as songs, there’s not a lot here with much staying power.

1 star This was just uninteresting and often annoying. Only interesting song was “Human Cannonball.” Reminded me of teenagers coming up with ideas to shock people, was not enjoyable for people who are not their teenage friends. Interesting note that an album with a spoof of “Sweet Leaf” made the list but the Black Sabbath album with “Sweet Leaf” in it did not.

horrific

Interesting name. I also don’t know how to rate this. 5/10? Not my cup of tea

Mas que merda? kkkk Mistura de barulheira sem objetivo nenhum.. me lembrou um pouco Acid Bath so que MUITO ruim.

Album cover is fitting bc this sounded like the vibe of the old IT movie

okay, the album title AND the artist names are such Nonsense. genuinely baffling. wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be though lmao. one song sounded like donnie from the wild thornberrys

well, that was a fun and weird

1/5

I hated the album title, band name, music, lyrics and vibe of this

noise, 1987 -> 1

I enjoyed that. 3.5/5. Raising to 4.

Rating: 4.8/5 Short Review: Absolutely unhinged. This isn’t an album you “understand.” It’s an album you survive. Noise rock, psychedelia, sludge, tape experiments, parody, and pure chaos are thrown into a blender, yet somehow it has its own internal logic. Favorite Track: “Sweat Loaf.” A gloriously warped Black Sabbath parody that somehow manages to be hilarious, heavy, and disturbing at the same time.

Kind of experimental. Unique sounds

OOP? this one got me curious So disappointed... 22 Going On 23 will be in my mind when I'm 22 about to turn 23 tho

Butthole Surfers. I only knew them from the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. I would love to give this a three. Alas, I cannot.

This is the last thing I would ever want to hear while going through a heat wave. 93 degree weather and this album made me believe I was in actual hell.

dreadful

Fuuuuuuuuuck no

The O-Men

I’m being generous with a 3. There are a few good songs, like Human Cannonball, but several that are total crap.

I was excited for this because I like their song Pepper and I haven’t heard anything else from them. And I was let down. Theres just nothing in here. The O-Men made me laugh because it’s ridiculous, but that’s about it. It’s adolescent experimentation. I mean, cutting a sample to make it sound like cunt and making a song out of it is about all you need to know. No hate, just nothing for me.

Не можу себе віднести до великих поціновувачів нойз-року. Про цей гурт чув, пару треків слухав не так давно. Кобейн його поважав, а я біографію не так давно читав, то вмикнув. Альбом починається з переосмислення моєї улюбленої пісні у Black Sabbath і я подумав, що ми з цим альбомом подружимося. Проте він іноді заходить на якусь психоделічну територію, де втрачається пісенність і починаються шумові вайби. І це трохи не моє. Точно було цікаво слухати

Гурт який загалом пройшов повз мене. Цікавий мікс нойзроку, панкроку та якогось психодела. Місцями це трохи неприємно слухати, але "правильно" неприємо, якщо можна так сказати. Таким і повинен бути гарний нойзрок - некомфортним.

I generally like to try and synthesise my experience with the album into a few lines, maybe a paragraph at the end in this section. But for this one, I'm really struggling to do that. There's actually a couple of tracks here that I like, or liked parts of. Graveyard; Pittsburgh to Lebanon; and Human Cannonball are highlights. But there's other parts that are just weird. Indeed, 90% of the album's running time is taken up by weirdness. I've really not got much of an idea exactly what the band were trying to achieve in making this work. The best guess I've got is "Have some fun, take some drugs, see what we make, and maybe we'll sell some copies of it, to pay for the whole experience". It's puzzling. Some people bought copies of this? Enough people to garner enough attention to end up on a list of 1000 albums you need to hear? I got it for free and I think I might have overpaid. Rating: There is a very stark dichotomy going on here. A very bimodal distribution of my enjoyment. Fun bits, crazy bits, unintelligible bits. I think the only thing I really can do here is to plop it down right in the middle of the scale. 3.

At times fun, at times 'interesting'. But mostly rubbish.

Meh

Initially not as awful as I first feared based purely upon album cover, song titles and artist name…however it didn’t take long to descend into the inevitable madness. Some redeeming qualities but not many.

This is a real puzzle piece in the mind of music now made by psychedelic porn crumpets and tropical fuck storm. Loved it. Weird and groovy and challenging.

This is virtually unlistenable, although I guess that's the point.

Glad to have heard this, but it's just not ween enough for me.. maybe not in the right mood, perhaps will improve my opinion later on

Weird

Abbrassive and eery. Droning guitars, unusual song structure and animal noises to close it out. Transfixed the whole time. The spoken word radio in the final song with the heavy instrumental was a perfect way to end. Human cannabol was also a good standalone song, which is hard to say for the rest of them. Creepy and disturbing experience, but in the best way possible. 4/5. Giving it a 5 feels to far, an album like this almost doesn't want a 5.

I get it- doesn’t mean I like it. Is Kuntz racist? Probably?

Not even close to being good. Experimental but the experiment failed. Human Cannonball is kinda normal, but then you get assaulted with USSA.

My husband (a normal, fairly mainstream kind of listener) and I (notoriously fond of a lot of weird shit) had opposite reactions to this album. Good thing it's the weird shit enjoyer going through the generator, huh?

Penis Music (Affectionate). A lot of this kind of just kinda flies by for me, but "Human Cannonball" and "O-Men" in particular are fun tunes. 6.5, maybe a 7/10.

I like getting these weird experimental albums. Even if the music sounds like a shitpost, at least I get something fun out of it.

No soy tan del metal, pero si algo tiene el metal que me guste es la habilidad instrumental y este album es casi que solo instrumental. Lo disfruté, ¿lo volería a poner? Maybe never. La portada divina, eso sí.

Not the worst ever but can’t say I like it. Punk-ish but just noise and the voices aren’t great.

Incel music. If my kids ever tell me their favorite band is butthole surfers I am sending them to Hogwarts.

Why this album.

Yes yes yes yes what a fucking weird band, very strange very odd I love it all 4/5 Best Song: 22 Going On 23

So so so good, weird as fuck punk that makes you feel uncomfortable , American music at its best at times. Best track: Human Cannonball

Love it when you hear the original of a sample. The rest of the album was an assault. Everything about this was designed to challenge and push boundaries and for that I appreciate it.

Nowhere near as bad as other reviewers make it out to be. Sure, it’s noisy and a bit messy but I found this more engaging than some of the other straight up punk on this list so far. A bit Zappa, other parts Beefheart in places, it’s was a bit of an amalgam of things thrown into the pot. A fair bit of it didn’t land but at least the closing track rounded this off well.

I was not high enough for this one.

The first half of the album was inane drivel. Kuntz and 22 Going On 23 in the second half were standouts. 22 Going On 23 got me choked up a bit. The heaviness of the first radio clip, the bass, and the second clip giving a hint of something like 'the problem with no name' described by Betty Friedan. Makes one consider the weight and impact of one great trauma against a lifetime of little traumas that you are shamed for discussing and chided for not being more greatful. Makes me sad for my grandmothers. They didn't suffer any great traumas like the first caller, but both are 22 going on 80 and have missed out on things they shouldn't have due to the expectations placed on them and the needs of those they care for. They would probably consider the scale balanced, but my heart still hurts for them. Probably not a chord that will be struck in many, but it was in me. For moving me so, I grant Locust Abortion Technician by Butthole Surfers a solid 3. I hate you, I love you.

I don’t think I’ll be coming back. I listened while doing a daycare run with Arch and felt disturbed by the depravity of man that had been channeled into a collection of tunes. Mid 1

two words: Shit Sandwich.

Boy, it's hard for me to tell the difference between music and artistically directed sounds. And it's hard for me to tell if the art is genius and I don't get it, or it's just garbage and someone is testing me. I think I made more coherent music when I was ten. I'm pretty sure this is complete garbage.

At least it was in English. Did not enjoy. I can't imagine myself buying an alblum by the Butthole Surfers. With good reason.

zot lawaai! dat is smullen smullen smullen

I don't love it, but I also don't hate it?? Way too grungy for me, but I can see why you might like it if that's your thing. First and last tracks are decent. The o-men is a bit terrifying.. 2/5 Top tracks: sweet loaf, 22 going on 23

Playing catch-up from a rather exhausting weekend, this was a nice album to start my week with. Weird but not intolerable.

This was horrible. There really wasn’t any singing in it aside from some weird noises. It was terrible.

This album has a clear direction, a cohesive atmosphere, and, at that, it is really great, with some interesting influences. But it is a bit chaotic when it comes to sounds. It feels like a mixture of different sounds that, at some point, feel even conflicting. And there are also some tracks that are a bit too pretentious to be good. So, I feel this album has a nice direction, mainly between being horrific and comical at the same time, and the atmosphere catches that so well, but there is not much there, and the continuous addition of sounds lacks of cohesiveness and some kind of justification. I can see what people see in this album, but I feel it needs some intention, a better development.

Weird and beyond rough around the edges, but not lacking charm.

The sweet spot of weird a raw talent

Ahh Butthole Surfers. Early albums are.... Interesting. If you want to hear more traditional music from them go listen to Independent Wormhole Saloon or Electric Larryland. Pepper even charted! Early Surfers albums were more about seeing how far you could go. Their live shows were something, I never to to see them but I once met a guy that did. They liked to set a cymbal on fire and use it. I've read they had a list of things that would get you kicked out of most venues nowadays. They were weird and wild and didn't care what most thought of their music. They have better albums than this but this one is a memorable experiment.

This should get 0 stars.

Avant garde rock that is still somewhat listenable. Grimy and confrontational, but I also wouldn’t call it serious. The Black Sabbath cribbing is so obvious that it can only be on purpose; I guess I appreciate the warping of that band’s sounds into something new, but that mostly just makes me wish I was listening to a Sabbath record instead. Could do without the rape bookends. It’s provocative, I suppose, but to what end? I don’t love it, sorry. Not sure what it says about this record or myself that the soundscape of “HAY” was maybe the most enjoyable bit.

I’m not the target audience but I love it for whoever is

This is just aggressively bad noise. Why on earth is this in the list? Straight men need therapy.

You either love or hate the Butthole Surfers. They are funny and weird and provide, sometimes, inciteful social commentary. For me, this was their finest hour. The songs sneak up on you and are remarkably catchy for their angular bent and mix of punk, metal, psychedelic and everything else they could think of. Top tracks for me are Sweet Leak, 22 Going on 23, Kuntz and Hunan Cannonball. The sly references, pseudo homages, and creativity that went into this record make it a worthwhile and wonderful experience. This LP regularly makes my turntable as a break from conventional. Again, this is not for everyone and for those who enjoy this chaos forced into pseudo conventional song structures this is can’t miss. 5/5

Enjoyed it

Heavy little monsters emerge dripping and ravenous out of a vat of sludge, wink, and dive back in.

01) Sweat Loaf - 5,5 02) Graveyard - 5,0 03) Pittsburgh to Lebanon - 5,0 04) Weber - / 05) HAY - 3,0 06) Human Cannonball - 5,0 07) U.S.S.A. - 2,0 08) The O-Men - 3,0 09) Kuntz - 6,0 10) Graveyard pt. 2 - 5,0 11) 22 Going on 23 - 5,5 TOTAL: 4,50 (45/100) Current ranking: 917/951

337/1089 very noisy but it was pretty good icl. i might not return to it really but i liked hearing some of the songs that were probably influences for songs i like now 66/100

I love experimental but this got really experimental and not in the best of ways. I am definitely more of a Pepper BS fan than whatever this album was doing.

The Butthole Surfers are rock/punk goblins. They're amusing, chaotic, and at times intentionally grating and even a bit menacing. Mostly harmless, though. I saw the album and initially thought, "Why this album?" from them. I own a few, I've heard a few more, but Surfers' later work is my favorite. They we far more adept at making music that was both a bit atonal and listenable at the same time. This one? Not so much. I then realized WHY it's on the list. Dimery wanted to make my headache I had this morning WORSE. Of course! Asshole. It's inclusion is likely based solely on the fact that the Surfers are way more experimental on this record than later, better albums. I see this as a chrysalis of a better band that emerges later. Interesting but not worth spending much time with. (2.5/5), down to a '2' because I forgot to bring Tylenol on this trip and my headache was made worse. At least it was a short 30 or so minutes and "Human Cannonball" was a glimpse into their (better) future.

I've had limited exposure to these guys, mostly in their later work, but I was pretty optimistic when this one came up. Wrongly so, as this one seems an acquired taste that I was just not interested in acquiring, with large swaths of noise and distortion that I found downright repellent. Almost can't believe this list chose this album over Electriclarryland, but given my experience with its questionable inclusions to this point, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Overall, I found few enough redeeming qualities to round up from the 1.5/5 that I settled on, and am glad that whatever inspiration Kurt Cobain found in this album morphed itself into something resembling music through his lens.

116. Locust Abortion Technician - Butthole Surfers (1987) 6.18.26 Variety: 2 Adequacy: 3 Listenability: 1 Uniqueness: 5 Emotionality: 1 = 2.4 rounded down to 2 "Pardon me, I'm only bleeding" A whole generation likely discovered these guys due to Beavis and Butthead. Just a guess on my part, but seems likely. Outside of ultrahip tastemakers, the local Texas art/ music scene, the only options left for most of America at the time was MTV. That's certainly how I first became aware of them. One of the rare acts that Beavis and Butthead genuinely seemed to enjoy, I'm fairly sure it was the video for "Who Was in My Room Last Night" that hit me first. I'm not sure where I heard "Human Cannonball" first though - maybe a cooler friend had the cd? That's the only track from this album that stands out in my memory, though I know I listened to this whole thing at least once, now decades ago. I generally have liked what I've heard from these guys though I've always been a bit hesitant about diving in. The little I know from interviews, appearances, and articles is that they were early champions of Daniel Johnson, were one of Kurt Cobain's favorites, and put on some crazy live shows, which some ( including band members themselves) believe heavily influenced acts lke the Flaming Lips, though not sure there is any real animosity there at all. Curious to see if I remember any of this aside from the one track. THE TRACKS "Sweat Loaf" - This was an interesting rollercoaster ride, with a twisted acid rock dark ride at the state fair take on the classic Sabbath riff that kind of swings back around every so often in between some calming psychedelic bits. Imagine floating through the nice parts, only to round the bend into a devil's fever dream a few times before being spit back out into the bright of day. This must have lit more than a few mullets on fire back in '87. "Graveyard" - Slowed down, heavily processed vocals, some atonal noodling on an equally distorted guitar, and some deep, dark sludgy drums drag us down the stairs into the damp root cellar where Hayes and company are no doubt waiting in the dark, donning their clown makeup. Imagine your parent's hearing this blasting out of your room at the time. There might have been some worried calls to the local clergy. This feels out of it's time for sure, and not really like when you listen to Meat Puppets or even Sonic Youth who seem to anticipate popular tastes 10 years in advance. This still feels like it could have been put out today by some freaks in their garage with some cheap recording equipment, and feels simultaneously like an invitation to any weirdos who want an experience, and a warning to the normies. It's the bright coloring of a poisonous frog, daring you to eat it. Maybe it'll kill you, but maybe you'll have the best trip ever. "Pittsburgh to Lebanon" - A stomping, gravelly bit of cemetery acid blues. A good four years before Bone Machine was recorded by Tom Waits, this feels like a cousin to it. Angelo Badalamenti was playing around with similar stuff in his "Pink Room" track from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. His is cleaner and more of a demon rockabilly take, but check it out for comparison's sake. All noise and fuzz and darkly growling menace. Hayes proving he's a bit of a chameleon here. "HAY" - A musique concrete noise experiment that does little to fire the musical imagination, but works well enough as a sustained but of horror atmosphere. "Human Cannonball" - The main event. And it does not disappoint. I remember being a bit confused when I read this came out in 1987. I think they could have easily dropped this in '92 or even '93 and most people would not have batted an eye. Driving, and dripping with sinister energy, Haye's vocals put me in mind a bit of Jello Biafra. Awesome shit. Turn this up in you headphones til you can barely tolerate it. Another great driving song from the decade of great driving songs. Side B "U.S.S.A." - Industrial sludge, perfect for being chased around an empty slaughterhouse at night by those clowns from that cellar I mentioned earlier on. As far as pleasant listing goes though? Maybe not so much. "The O-Men" - This sounds like a GWAR song played at double speed on a beat up boombox that's sitting at the bottom of a creepy well on some abandoned farm somewhere. But at least it's recognizable as a song. "Kuntz" - More experimental stuff with what seems to be a world music track that the band has processed and warped through some tape looping and effects rigs. More on the audio installation art piece side of things, and another non music track. "Graveyard" - A much less successful take on the same subject matter as the first track with this title? By this point, while things are still pretty arresting, I can't say I'm enjoying much of it. "22 Going on 23"- This kind of sampling and fuzz would be made much more palatable by Rob Zombie a few years later. Another interesting failure. HIGHLIGHTS - "Sweat Loaf" - "Pittsburgh to Lebanon" - "Human Cannonball" MIDLIGHTS - "Graveyard" - "HAY" - "The O-Men" - "Kuntz" LOWLIGHTS - "U.S.S.A." - "Graveyard" - "22 Going on 23" FINAL THOUGHTS As much as I dig their more melodic stuff, their more experimental avante garde material, while interesting, leaves me uninterested in revisiting this album. I can hear a lot of talented musicians choosing to not engage with that talent in much of any sort of way that could be called a pleasant experience. I'd recommend any of the below as acts who take what's being done here, and one-up it: Jim Thirlwell ( aka Foetus), with all of his purposeful abrasivemess and experimental noise stuff includes sonic hooks and enough dynamism to intrigue me to listen further. Sonic Youth while often touted as the exemplars of noise rock are far more concerned with melody and song structure. They use the stuff as texture more often than not. Tom Waits goes about this sort of thing with a theatricality and deep love for the enchanting dark carnival atmosphere, and still manages to sneak in plenty of catchy bits. Big black is harsh, and hard without sacrificing listenability. Swans understand dark, bristly, unpleasant atmosphere in a way that somehow comes back around ot being pleasant again. The Melvins will bury you in the deepest, darkest, swampy muck imaginable and still melt your face off with catchy ass riffs. Mr. Bungle can terrify with creepy as hell weirdness, but retains a production style and a sort of cabaret like atmosphere that leans into the theatricality and professional musicianship, and provides enough seperation between the music and the musicians to maintain it's integrity as a facade. Butthole surfers, especially here, coud easily be mistaken for some anarchic scuzzball amateurs, who revel in the grimy, aggressive harshness for its own sake. And they don't want you to be able to tap your toes to this stuff, which does not hep to build any good will. This is intellectual anti-music. Butthole Surfers accomplished exactly what they set out to here, which is something to be admired. It's not exactly anything I really enjoyed, aside from those three highlights, but man was it something to behold, and it felt exciting and wholly removed from it's time. It's easy to see why it has the reputation it does, and I'm glad I listened to it, but I'll be happy with just a compilation of the band's catchier, easier to digest stuff. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Keep the highlights. And even the middling stuff is not anything I'd recommend anyone listen to for pleasure. FURTHER LISTENING - "The Pink Room" by Angelo Badalamenti - Children of God by Swans - Hole by Foetus - Bone Machine by Tom Waits - Atomizer by Big Black - Gluey Porch Treatments by the Melvins - Bowl Of Chiley by Mr. Bungle

I’m gonna defer to the two greatest music critics of my generation, Beavis and Butthead: “YES! The Butthole Surfers Rule! Heh, heh, heh. The Butthole Surfers kick ass!” The Butthole Surfers would put out some better stuff a little later, but this was a fun 30 minutes. I enjoyed it, even the more “Lets see what happens when we do this!” parts of the album. It maintained an obnoxious charm throughout and didn’t overstay it welcome. The material was interesting start to finish. Kurt Cobain loved the album and I can hear how it may have influenced “In Utero” in its more abrasive moments. Perhaps that is what merited its inclusion. This is definitely the type of album that fosters distrust in snobbish music critics from the general public. Critics will fawn over the aural experience of a track like “Weber.” Would have preferred one of the more accessible later albums, “Independent Worm Saloon” or “Electriclarryland”, but it is what it is. An album to listen to the good tracks and skip some of the more esoteric ones. 3/5

surprised how much I liked this. scratches an itch

interesting

This type of just fucking around is so awesome. The last song and the Thai song do venture into the too far territory for me but isn't that point

This is crazy. And really, there's only like 3 actual songs on here. The rest of it are more like what would be interludes on most albums. The actual music on the album is pretty solid, honestly. It's nothing special, though, so I'm having a really hard time understanding why this made the list. Yeah, this is too odd for its own good. Favorite Song(s): Kuntz

Got a few songs in and was done. Not a fan.

0.5

Honestly when this first started I just thought it was going to be some just lowbrow juvenile humor with some decent rock chops. But I see how it went on, it felt more like a shitpost. I don't know if that closing track was supposed to be funny or a social commentary but it failed on either account quite miserably period. Not the worst stuff I've heard in this project but I definitely have no use for it. (4.2) ★★

Eh. I don't know about this one. I'm all for music that's challenges the conventional wisdom, but it kind of sucks. "Human Cannonball" is the closest thing to an actual song here. It's okay. 1.5 stars.

3.5

It got a reaction from you, you got to give em that. You played right into their hands. They set out to be abrasive and unsettling as well as goofy in the most un-Will Smith way and they got exactly what they wanted so you got to give them that. It is still a horrifically awful listen. There are about two half-songs across this album and one of those half-songs is apparently by Black Sabbath. In terms of overall sound this is kinda like a Mambo No 5 of bad 1001 records - a little bit of Residents my life. A little bit of Throbbing Gristle by my side. A little bit of Sepultura in the sun. A little bit of Shalimar yvan eth nioj on track 9. Also loads of Taz from Looney Tunes on track 8 for some reason. Band are also a more extreme version of Smashing Pumpkins in that rather than being guest stars in a Lollapalooza-themed episode of the The Simpsons, just a single passing reference on Todd Flanders’s donated t shirt is their greatest, main only essential moment.

2/10 - too hardcore for me

It seems like this would be right up my alley but I just couldn't get into it. "Human Cannonball" was alright, but as a whole wasn't taken by it.

Locust Abortion Technician by the Butthole Surfers was a miserable listening experience for me. Going in, I didn’t have particularly high expectations for a band called the Butthole Surfers, but I still wasn’t prepared for just how much I would dislike this album. The opening riff of “Sweat Loaf” had me briefly hopeful, but the song quickly dissolved into noise, repetition, and nonsense that wore out its welcome long before the five-minute mark. From there, things only got worse. “Graveyard” was ear-piercing and grating, “Hay” earned a fast-forward and a skip, and by the time “Kuntz” rolled around I was completely checked out. The only track that came close to connecting with me was “Human Cannonball,” but even that wasn’t something I’d ever choose to revisit. I can appreciate that the band was doing something unique and uncompromising, and I respect artists who carve out their own weird corner of music. Unfortunately, that corner is nowhere near where I want to be. I’ve heard worse albums, but not many. Locust Abortion Technician is creative, distinctive, and absolutely not for me. 0.8/10

There's something in here, I haven't quite found it yet.

Best thing about this album is the band's name.

Incoherent nonsense. A waste of time.

Well, this album was a real challenge. Good thing I won.

This album is ass, literally. Genuinely the worst album so far on this journey. I have no notes other than it's just mindless noise. 1/10.

When people say "Keep Austin weird" this is what they're talking about. Pretty funny to consider this was the state of acid rock in 1980s - did the Woodstock generation leave only the brown acid for the next generation, or was it Reaganism that twisted things? Disappointed they didn't credit Sabbath for their mutation of Sweet Leaf or the Kuntz singers.

It's hard to say that I really enjoyed much of anything about this album, but I *do* appreciate having finally gotten the excuse to listen to something by the Butthole Surfers. I was always scandalized in high school (and a bit intrigued) whenever I saw the band's stickers on various skater-punk boards, and assumed (wrongly, apparently) that they were in the same ilk as "Repo Men" bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, etc. So in that sense, this was a much more interesting album than I'd initially feared. It does not, however, have a lick of taste or restraint. which kind of moderates the interesting factor, especially when it just sounds like noise *meant* to sound annoying and non-musical; the album also suffered somewhat from listening to it a day after after the equally experimental and much superior Mars Volta album "Deloused in the Comatorium". But there are plenty of odd and intriguing moments throughout, from the maniacal Black Sabbath "Sweet leaf" adaptation in "Sweat loaf", to whatever exactly is going on in the industrial-adjacent "U.S.S.A", and even the lightly manipulated version of the Thai vintage pop song "Klua Duang" ("The Fear") as "Kuntz". And while one could argue "Hay" is an improved (and reversed and sped up) take on "22 going on 23", there's an undeniable morbid fascination to the latter track, sadly.

A lot more interesting than I thought it would be though I'm okay with never hearing it again.

I like the Butthole Surfers, but this was strange. It was compelling, but I can't say I really enjoyed it. It listened as though it was a parody of like what noisepunk sounds like to people who aren't old school punk fans or noise rock fans. I guess you could say it was atmospheric? Whatever.

horrible

Gnarly grungy punk garage rock that pulls it together pretty well.

2/5

Potentially one of the strangest yet most enjoyable albums I’ve ever heard 5stars

I enjoyed this. Discord and noise are right up my alley. There are times where this album veers a bit too close to sillyness, particularly on O Men, and that stops it getting the full five. Overall though, very good.

Te goofy

beetje TE creatief... 2.5

creepy and weird

I think this would feel better after a few coffees

I like experimenting with sounds, I like noise, I like Sabbath-inspired riffs, I like extreme vocals and weirdos going batshit-crazy on stage. But somehow I never want to listen to this record again- ever.

And what a name! Yeah this was enjoyably weird, not too weird but love a bit of textural recorded spoken word stitched in - who doesn't? Nice one lads!

Massive experimental weirdo banger I love it it’s great fun

This definitely art but not sure it’s music. Or music i like. And it is interesting but not something I’d listen to again.

Not half bad

Wonderful! Brings me back to 1987 in a good way

When Spotify was first released, many moons ago, I was studying music at college. Our tutor said "sit down, your lives are about to change forever". He told us of this magic new service where you can just listen to any song ever recorded. He asked us to shout out the most obscure songs we could think of, and the hefty lad sitting at the front said "Sweat Loaf". My life did change.

Welp, someone must be having a laugh giving me this album today on top of a brutal hangover. I was so ready to give this album a chance, and then I heard “Satan, Satan, Satan”. Look, that’s only works if you’re going to give it your best deathcore scream. The music itself wasn’t horrible to start off though, it was just all over the place. The vocal effects were certainly a choice. There are so many weird sounds and ideas in this album. It’s a wonder it’s somewhat cohesive. Human Cannonball is the closest thing we’ve gotten to a song so far, so I’ll take it. On the other hand, USSA was one of the single worst experiences I’ve had going through this list. The O-men sounded like a metal clown orgy. I don’t think there’s anything I can say about Kuntz. Why is a Thai song being sung as a Bollywood tune, with the use of an English cuss. 22 going on 23 wasn’t horrible as a closer. I think this album isn’t as awful as I was expecting, but it’s still pretty bad. There is some ok music in there, but it’s overshadowed by the weird choices made with these tracks. I’m so glad it was only 35 minutes. 2/5 ⭐️ 149/1089

Maybe I've just heard one too many local punk bands in a sweaty basement, but I didn't think it was that bad. That being said, it was very boring for what it is. Like if it's supposed to be grimy punk, I want more from it. It wasn't that interesting to me. I think that's actually where this album falls the most flat for me. It's not committing hard enough to be noise and punk, and yet it's not melodical or lyrical enough to carry it otherwise. Reminds me of ICP for some reason. Maybe proto-ICP is the whole point of this band, and I have no idea. Positives: the songs and album are short, and the songs are distinct from one another. The last few songs were less boring and committed more to what I expect from a slimy punk album with cool influences. Again, not the worst I've heard by far, but not my favorite album either.

Best Song: Sweat Loaf. After a questionable opener, it ended up landing on an actually pretty compelling groove, which unfortunately gave some expectations that a lot of the rest of the album didn't fulfil. Worst Song: U.S.S.A. I think this is intended to be actively unappealing. Overall: There are some potential diamonds hidden under a lot of rough here. I really find myself wishing that they would stay on a particular sound or groove long enough to develop it into something, because they seemed otherwise really keen to jump around, even within a song.

Pretty great. Can't believe it was an 86 release. Pretty ahead of its time in a lot of respects

Mental but interesting. Enjoyed this more than I expected based on some of the reviews here.

Another abomination that's a product of the noise rock genre.

What can I say, I like their kind of crazy. I'm more familiar with their later albums. I enjoyed going back in time and relistening to this, hadn't heard it since college.

No va

I do love the song Human Cannonball. I find the rest to be unlistenable. One good song isn’t saving this from getting a 1.

Not sure I needed to hear this one before I died

love me some Surfers

Locust Abortion Technician is an album that needed several changes to be anything good in my eyes. I can definitely see a lot of potential for this to be a very good grunge album, most of the regular grunge elements like the guitars are handled pretty well and some of the melodies were pretty solid too and the vocals could work at points. The problem is, this album felt it need to stick out so it decided to add so much of this avant-garde crap to make a lot of the songs really weird and that was where this album fumbled. Almost all of these elements failed to sound even remotely good and made this album painful to get through. It is a shame because if the album dropped all the avant-garde elements and went straight for being a full blown grunge album, it could have been good but alas, this album is just barely going above the realm of awful. Best Song: Human Cannonball Worst Song: Hay

3.0

??? ive never heard an album that feels like this or stuff. most of the songs sounds ironic under the noise yet 22 going on 23 is when it totally goes over the top. 4/5

butthole surfers....I should call him

Yall should’ve aborted this album

Legit just noise. It opened hard and quick but seriously just noise.

Garbage

Listened to it as background music and not really sure what to make of it. I'll give it a 3

Unreal pisstake noise rock album. Never gonna listen again but a fun time whilst it’s on

Very interesting album, not sure what to think of it either, don't hate it but....

The first half is an all timer but this feels a little too short to have as many troll songs as it does, would be curious to listen to a longer record from them or one where they don't have like 4 sound collage tracks

Starts ok but goes downhill very quickly and never recovers. Noise rock.

Actually quite surprised how much I am enjoying this (let alone enjoying it at all). Noisy punk? Punky noise? What's not to love? Punky garage noise? Stupid cover nearly put me off totally. Trolling the dark underbelly of straight American (okay I guess I can see the clowns) top 40 pays off well here. Bad acid anyone?

I usually hate this type of music and it would’ve got a one straight off. But the names and the cover just had me giggling and I persevered. Sometimes it did just sound like offensive noise. But other times I could hear tunefulness and humour. I may never revisit this but I was surprised by how much I warned to it.

More here to like than I was expecting. It got a little weird in ways I wasn't willing to follow, but I've got an appreciation for what they were up to.

I've tried to listen to these guys before, but couldn't get into them. But damn, yesterday's listen had me in a state. I'm not even sure what to say about this other than it's an unpredictable, wonderful, horrifying mess of a record that had me in thrall for the entire duration. It's part punk, part jazz, part who the hell knows what. These guys are definitely Residents fans (and Sabbath, obv.), but other than that, I have no idea where this came from. I need to check out more.

Nope. By the time I got to 22 Going on 23 I felt physically ill.

Love the Butthole Surfers.

Initially I thought this was a weird, cool album, but that slowly changed to me thinking this is a weird, annoying album.

Pretty expected of Butthole Surfers... And as someone who likes this band, it is a hard sell.

I REALLY wish bands would stop collecting together their jam sessions, B-side cutoffs and various demo efforts and shitting them out onto an album that they expect people to pay money for. This crock of shite has no place in a Top 1001 list anywhere, even if that list is narrowed down to just Butthole Surfers songs. Just plain awful. Off! Off! Off!

Enjoyed Human Cannonball and slightly enjoyed Sweat Loaf, other than that, nothing to write home about. 5/10

Not a fan.

Hard to believe this band eventually had a couple of chart hits. Independent Worm Saloon was always more my jam, but I can see how this is the more relevant record.

It's the Butthole Surfers. You get what you get.

bruh...

Noisy and experimental, but unfortunately, not my kind of experimental (although Human Cannonball is extremely catchy!).

I bet they drink hot dog water.

I SWEAR I was ready to like them, but they are the equivalent of a banana costume, funny as a novelty but it would never make it to the regular outfit rotation. That being said, given how much I surprisingly enjoyed the song 'The O-Men', I was ready to give them 2 stars, but nah

Did not finish

es muy curioso, no se si me gustó pero es interesante

Is this music you'd hear at a circus in hell? Maybe, but this is a crazy fun album and I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I particularly liked Sweat Loaf and Graveyard (Pt. 2).

This is rough sledding but ultimately rewarding. Sweat Loaf still hits as a compassionate, sad and rational critique of societal attitudes towards sexual violence, while still managing to alloy that with detached irony. The prescience of The O-men makes is slightly hair raising. Demonstrates the Burroughs / Gysin maxim “cut into the present and the future leaks out.” Cyborg Lust! Terminate! I’m not sure I consider this easy listening. But in a category of its own.

this is horrible i can’t listen to this

Can't wait to never listen to this again. I do like metal/music with a lot of noise, but oh my god this is just so bad I can't even take it. thank the lord its over. The only songs that stood out even remotely that I kind of liked was Kuntz and 22 going on 23. God this is actually shit.

I really wanted to like this based on what I know of their work, but this just turned out to be some punk avant-garde bullshit.

A masterpiece of psychedelic noise

Psychedelic noise rock at its most accessible, haha. Love this album

This particular album is not for me. I like other butthole surfers but not this one

Weirdly, I first heard about this band about 10 years ago from my Intermediate Accounting professor, but haven’t listened until now. I actually like this noise rock, and have to support fellow San Antonians.

Um yeah. So...OK.

Chaotic psychedelic punk assembled from distorted guitars, primitive percussion, tape manipulations, and unhinged shouted vocals feels like stumbling through a collapsing carnival ride at three in the morning—disorienting, grotesque, and strangely hypnotic, with enough abrasive invention to make the ugliness compelling rather than merely obnoxious. The record weaponizes repetition, noise, and absurdity into something both confrontational and oddly immersive. Unfortunately it stays incoherent for me so I don't want to relisten.

Fun album from the butts

my butthole got surfed!

Funky weird and quite enjoyable I liked. Human Cannonball was large vibe and reminded me of Declan. Only reason for the three stars not four is The O-Men reminded me of KenTON and I didn’t like that.

W butthole surfers, good rock.

Too avantgarde for me, but cool. Great band. I like the artwork

Weird, dirty, jarring. Perfect for a band with this name.

Listening to this is a total mind bender, like walking into a fucked up funhouse. On one side, it's this crazy, abrasive mess, sludgey, and awful. That makes me wonder how it even made the must listen list. Tracks like "Kuntz" with its weird Thai samples and the heavy vibe of "22 Going On 23" are pretty rough to take. But, there's this crazy, chaotic genius hidden in there. The band's wild "Gibbytronics" and turning a Black Sabbath riff into "Sweat Loaf" show they're super out there and influenced grunge and noise rock. It's a short, intense trip into psychedelic punk that doesn't give a damn about comfort. It's not for everyone.

One of those albums where you see the name and the cover and think "Ah shit here we go again". Suprisingly listenable... for the most part. I hate it when a band who could otherwise write decent songs like Sweat Loaf and Human Cannonball decide to deliberately make bad and annoying songs because art. I guess thats punk for you.

I’m pretty sure that the 80s was just a time of people pretending music was good and just making albums that were god awful. I have no idea what this putrid excuse for music is, but my god. It needs to abolished.

Creative chaos

Okey album very experimental but totally not for me

Interesting piece of modern art. Some unique sounds and certainly gets across the chaotic and intense vibe I believe it was going for. As a pure piece of music for listening enjoyment though I think this one didn't quite do it for me. I feel like they have to either lean one way into the pure chaos, or try to maintain some level of actual songwriting. It was mostly chaos but the songwriting blended in just felt too simple and not thought out. Maybe I'm missing the point on this album, but I know other music Butthole Surfers went on to make and it's a ton more genuinely listenable than this...

I first read about the Butthole Surfers in the book Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad. I was immediately intrigued because everything about them in the book sounded somewhat insane. I wish I could have experienced the chaos of their live shows with the costumes, stripping, props, fake blood, lighter fluid filled cymbals, strobe lights, smoke machines, and naked dancers. Unsurprisingly, the music is a similarly chaotic and psychedelic mix of noise and punk rock. This album in particular is another that I absolutely love, but likely wouldn’t recommend to anyone unless I knew they had a similarly strange taste in music.

Mercifully short!

Oof, this one was a miss for me. Started out promising with a weird cover of Black Sabbath's 'Sweet Leaf', but quickly went downhill with progressively stranger songs that were grating to the ears and borderline experimental in nature. I get the feeling the only reason these guys made it into the national consciousness was because Kurt Cobain said he liked them one time. 2/5

Mercifully short 2/5

Worse than the name. Atrocious.

Cooler than I expected. Maybe too cool. Like if the Pixies had all their energy sucked out.

Hilariously dreadful. Fully deserving of a 1/5 but I just can't bring myself to score it so low, given that it really made me laugh at times. The three-track run of USSA/The O-Men/Kuntz is unlike anything I've ever heard. Completely bonkers. So bad, I wanted to keep listening.

Why is this on here?

interesting album. pretty cool

Hot garbage.

Lost my long review

This was a musical dumpster fire. There was one semi ok song in all this nonsense. It's turned me off from exploring their vast catalouge. Great dumb band name tho.

Getting a lot of points for being funny

I feel like ‘The O-Men’ sounds like how it feels to get a lobotomy

I have no idea how this band **EVER** got a hit. It of course happened in the same way that nearly every weird, established underground band did in the '90s, everyone was looking for the next Nirvana, and bands that Cobain liked were first on the list to get a chance in the sun. But the problem was that Cobain's taste in music was *incredibly* cool, and I don't think the label executives ever really even came *close* to getting it. And of all the bands that got a chance, Butthole Surfers may be the weirdest. I know what you're thinking, "their '90s stuff isn't that weird", and honestly it isn't. But anything from Locust Abortion Technician and earlier is a totally different ballgame. And Locust Abortion Technician was the culmination of all of it. The album is basically ~30 minutes of some of the most fucked up, genuinely twisted audio experiments most people will ever be exposed to. The thing sounds sick, as in unwell. Human Cannonball is the most listenable we get, and even it remains somewhat challenging. But everything else here is chewed up, slowed down, distorted, and much, much worse. It is punk taken to a deeply psychedelic place. The first song is mostly just the Black Sabbath Sweet Leaf riff played at incorrect speed, and slathered in Gibby Haynes vocals treated with his unmistakable "Gibbytronics", which was the effects device he used to fuck his vocals up as badly as possible. Gibbytronics are used to great effect on pretty much every song here. Graveyard (Not to be confused with Graveyard) sounds like a sludge 45rpm single played at 33rpm. It plods, and melts and sputters, and the vocals are an unintelligable, pitch shifted mush, in short, it's a fantastic song. U.S.S.A is also noteworthy for sounding a way that I don't think anything else ever has. An exciting new magic also reveals itself on the songs the really push music the farthest past what most people think it should, or even can sound like. Hey is structured like a joke that's kind of funny, then isn't funny, then becomes extremely funny. But compared to Kuntz, it is a mere footnote. Kuntz is built around a mauled sample of Thai folk song Klua Duang, performed by Phloen Phromdaen and Kong Katkamngae, and I cannot effectively describe how this song sounds through writing. But every song here is noteworthy for sounding baffling, disturbing, funny, and frightening, usually at the same time. This is a real landmark for those willing to make the plunge, and it is utterly original, exciting, and *truly*, *uncommonly*, bizarre.

You forget sometimes just how forward thinking and innovative these guys are. An excellent album.

What was this supposed to be?

Not my vibe; can you really embrace the musical mashup of a group, given all the words in the English language, that chooses to call themselves Butthole.

Muy malo, inentendible que alguien escuche esto. 0/10

I gave this album the benefit of the doubt despite the juvenile album name and band names. Turns out that was a mistake, content is exactly as bad as you'd suspect. Only good thing with this album is that at least it doesn't steal much time from you.

With a name like Butthole Surfers, you’d expect this album to be terrible, but it was actually quite okay. The first riff was really good, but then I realized it was a Black Sabbath riff. Slightly disappointed, I continued. The next few songs were what I had feared, but then came “Human Cannonball,” which is a pretty solid punk track. The album is an eclectic mix of styles, ranging from Indian-inspired sampling to unlistenable messes of tracks, along with some sludge. Not the best album, but it was an experience. Also, at 30 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Strong 2.

Kinda crazy lol. Album was pretty enjoyable, the last three songs were my favorites, with Graveyard (Pt. 2) being the best imo. Crazy name also. 5.7/10.

Worse than their namesake.

This was the first truly weird album I ever heard or owned. It holds a soft spot for me. That's said it's annoying crap that I have a soft spot for. I'll listen to it again.

Quite enjoyed the weirdness of this one

Truly awful. There was only one track I’d even consider a “song.”

This is why people hate music critics

для панков.

I don't like Sweat Loaf, but the rest of this album is utterly brilliant at being complete dog water. On multiple listens, it becomes so bad that it's good. Then you realize what this inspired and it all starts to make sense. An album from the darkest depths of hell. Respect (as of now) - (6/10, 3/5 on this scale)

I thought I might enjoy it but it wasn’t very engaging . Not awful though. 2.8

Edit: There is a not 0% chance that “Human Cannonball” will be my most played song of 2026, so for that alone I have to round this up to a 4. I totally understand why people hate this album, but there’s a certain charm to it. A mix of actual good music and actual nonsense. Also not trying to take itself too seriously. “Sweet Loaf” is a great song, and I kind of hate that “Human Cannonball” is about to become one of my most played songs this year. I’d rate this 3.5 if I could. It’s just a bit too irreverent for my taste to make it 4 stars, but it’s a high 3. Hate the cover, though, but not taking points off for it.

Sweat leaf hehehe

Couldn’t bring myself to go through and finish this. Trash alternative

W sumie to całkiem niezłe. Takie 3,5

... I have lots of things to say about this album, and none of them are nice 1 ⭐️

Nope, terrible band, terrible album, terrible name.

O nome da banda me irrita, o nome do álbum me irrita, mas pelo menos a capa é legal. É um disco repleto de distorção e efeitos repulsivos porém charmosos. É um álbum curto, com o objetivo claro de chocar e irritar. Há algo apreciável nisso, em um álbum que realmente não deseja ser amado e nem ser fácil de ouvir, mas claro que os efeitos são inconsistentes. Achei que a banda tinha potencial de fazer um disco muito bom. Há passagens aqui que quase parecem música de verdade, mas essas passagens são rapidamente abafadas por outra faixa que tenta apenas te irritar ou te espantar, algo que foi completamente ineficaz em mim que não fiquei nem irritado nem espantado. Não achei as canções mais “experimentais” surpreendentes, de forma alguma. Achei todas bem amadoras e básicas. Nos momentos mais melódicos a banda conseguiu fazer um som legal, então eu senti apenas decepção em ouvir tantos números desnecessários. Bem, arte é subjetiva né, imagino que os membros da banda gostaram disso que criaram, mas eu não gostei. Achei perda de tempo. Ao menos é um disco curto. 2/5

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: Sweat Loaf, Human Cannonball, 22 Going On 23 I thought I saw this album on the bottom 20 list of worst albums, but I checked last night, and it might be competing with one of the upper, bottom 20 albums. It's not on there presently. I thought this album was kind of cool. Its definitely psychedelic and completely out there, but I think that's kind of the point, especially after reading more about the Butthole Surfers and the kind of music they make, the kind of shows they do and clearly also the names of their other albums (and this one). I like weird, and this album has it in spades. I like most grunge music, and this album is definitely showing some pre-grunge guitar distortions. The homage to John Wayne Gacy as the album cover is pretty twisted, as is the subject matter of several of the songs. I think my point is that most people simply misunderstand this album and what it's trying to say. Do I know what it's trying to say? Absolutely not, but that's part of the fun.

Ka faan last song kinda ok

I happen to really enjoy the butthole surfers

Kind of cool, but noisy.

Lo amee, muy yo 10/10

I like the Strangeness of it all, the sound is weird and nasty. It works somehow

Off to a great start with an amazingly offbeat Black Sabbath "cover" and some sage wisdom. I feel like this album and I are going to be friends. This feels spontaneous and fresh all these decades later. This has aged very well and I love it more than I would have in...holy hell 1987. USSR is repetitive and dissonant, not a fan. The O-Men has a more metal-mixed-with-Devo feel to it that I enjoyed. Sort of if Smooth-Noodle Maps had been metal. This was an excellent album overall with just USSR rubbing me the wrong way.

Ничего не понял.

I think I might have been having some sort of medical emergency, because for the first four songs or so of this record, I didn't mind it. I didn't enjoy it, obviously, because I've got functioning ears, but I thought maybe it had some worth. The remaining songs disabused me of that notion. It turned into one of the longest, stupidest and most unpleasant 32 minutes of my existence.

None of y’all see the vision here. It’s like if Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas started a band. That being said, I’ll probably never listen to it again.

This ain't music, just a bad joke made by people who desperately need to be the center of attention

I thought my favorite song was the 33 second one (because it was the shortest). Then I listened to it again...and it's just as bad as the rest of the album. Worst album yet.

Understandably a tough album to love. Released in March 1987 between the polished slickness of albums like Peter Gabriel's "So" and the packaged rebellion of GnR's "Appetite for Destruction." It's very easy to see how the Butthole Surfers were trying to be anti-commercial to the point of being unlistenable. Anything to avoid making the music industry happy. When listening to "U.S.S.A." can you hear a demented Beatles "Back in the USSR"? Or the early influence on the White Stripes? Now go listen to their one MTV hit, "Pepper" from 1996's Electriclarryland. The early ingredients from "Locust..." are all there. Did they make a listenable track on purpose or by accident?