The band released their second album in 1991. It was named Sailing the Seas of Cheese. Two singles from the album had music videos that were shown on MTV. These were "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" and "Tommy the Cat". The album was certified gold by the RIAA.[15] Primus went on tour with many bands, such as Rush, U2, Fishbone, Public Enemy, and Anthrax.
Primus was in the movie Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. They played music in it. They also made a song for a Beavis and Butt-Head album. In 1992, Primus made an extended play (EP) of cover songs. It was named Miscellaneous Debris. A song from the EP named "Making Plans for Nigel" was played on the radio many times. It went onto the Billboard charts.[16]
In 1993, Primus released their third album. It was named Pork Soda. It went into the top 10 on the Billboard 200 music chart. It had a popular single named "My Name Is Mud". The band played music to Lollapalooza in the same year. They were the main band at Lollapalooza. They also played music at Woodstock '94.[17] When they started playing "My Name Is Mud" at Woodstock, people threw mud at the band. The band stopped playing music, and Claypool said "the song is called 'My Name Is Mud', but keep the mud to yourselves you son-of-a-bitch".[18]
Primus released their fourth album in 1994. It was named Tales From the Punchbowl. The album has Primus' most successful single. It is named "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". The single was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song's music video shows the band dressed in cowboy clothes. The band played music on the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Later, Claypool made an album by himself. It was named Highball with the Devil. Many other musicians helped him make the music for it.
Brown Album was released in 1997. It had two singles. After the album was released, Primus went on the first SnoCore concert tour. They went with bands such as Blink-182 and the Aquabats. The band released an extended play named Rhinoplasty. It had cover songs and live songs on it. A video version of Rhinoplasty was also made. It was named Videoplasty.
The band released their sixth album in 1999. It was named Antipop. Many popular musicians helped make the music on the album. Some of these musicians were Tom Waits, Fred Durst, Tom Morello, and James Hetfield.[20] Some critics said the album sounded similar to nu metal.[21][22] Nu metal was popular at the time. The band went to Ozzfest (a music festival) after the album was released. They made a music video for "Lacquer Head". This was a song from the album. It was not shown on MTV. This was because it showed illegal drugs. The song did not support using illegal drugs.
The band did not make any music from 2000 to 2003. Claypool said that making music in Primus "wasn't fun anymore".[12] Tim Alexander played with many bands during the break. He played music with bands such as A Perfect Circle and the Blue Man Group. Claypool made his own band named Oysterhead. The other members of the band were Stewart Copeland and Trey Anastasio. He also made Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains. This was a band with Mantia, Buckethead and Bernie Worrell.
In 2003, Primus started making music again. Mantia did not play the drums for the band. Alexander joined the band again to play the drums. They made an EP with five songs on it. They also made a DVD with videos from concerts and music videos on it. The band sold the EP and DVD together. The release was named Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People. The band played at concerts for two months. In 2004, they kept going to concerts. They recorded their concert in Chicago. The video was released as Hallucino-Genetics: Live 2004.
The band played at Lollapalooza in 2005. Claypool made a new music group named Les Claypool's Fancy Band. This band played music at some concerts. The song "John the Fisherman" was put on Guitar Hero II.[23]
Jay Lane joined the band again in 2010.[24] The band went on a concert tour with bands such as Wolfmother. They said they went on the tour to get ready to make another album.[25] When they said this, the Primus website was changed. It showed an elevator with a sign that said "Primus will be with you shortly". In 2011, Primus released an extended play. It was named June 2010 Rehearsal. It had four songs on it. It was released for free on the band's website. The songs are new versions of music the band already made. The music has Lane playing the drums.
In March 2011, Claypool said the band's next album was going to be released around May 2011. He also said the music on it was similar to Frizzle Fry.[27] In May, the band said the album was finished.[28] It was named Green Naugahyde. It was released in September.
The first Primus concert with Alexander was on New Year's Eve in 2013. The band played two sets at the concert. In the first, they played Primus music. In the second, they played with the "Frog Brigade". They played the soundtrack of the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). The band made a studio album after the concert. It was a studio version of the soundtrack. It was named Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble.[31] It was released in October 2014. In 2015, the band made a music video for "Candyman". This is a song on the album.
In 1990 the band released their first studio album, Frizzle Fry, and released singles for "John The Fisherman" and "Too Many Puppies". With a music video featuring Kirk Hammett, a studio album and a tour with Jane's Addiction, Primus' popularity grew to the point where they attracted attention from Interscope Records, who signed them in 1990.
Primus' major label debut was the album Sailing the Seas of Cheese supported by singles "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver," and "Tommy the Cat (featuring Tom Waits)," both of which appeared on MTV. A third single, "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers," was also released but did not feature a video. The band appeared as contestants for the Battle of the Bands in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and made music for a Beavis & Butthead tribute album with a song entitled Poetry and Prose. With a major label behind them, Sailing the Seas of Cheese went gold. The band then toured in support of Rush, U2, Anthrax, and Public Enemy.
In 1993 Primus headlined the alternative rock festival Lollapalooza. They also made an appearance at the Woodstock '94 Music Festival. They were pelted with mud while they performed "My Name is Mud" (Claypool claims to still have mud in his speakers). About a minute into the song the band stopped playing, and Les said "Well I opened a big-ass can of worms with that one, didn't I? The song is called "My Name Is Mud", but keep the mud to yourselves you son-of-a-bitch" and after a short break "You know, when you throw things onstage, its a sign of small and insignificant genetalia." The band was churning out material frequently. In the previous four years they had released three albums, an EP, six music videos, and a home video. To top that all off, they toured with Rush, who they consider to be one of their biggest influences.
During a lull in 1994, the original Primus lineup consisting of Claypool, Huth, and Lane reunited to record Riddles Are Abound Tonight under the band name Sausage. Among the pre-Primus songs they recorded were "Temporary Phase", "Prelude to Fear", and "Shattering Song." The video to "Riddles Are Abound Tonight" featured the band in blue leotards performing on stationary bicycles.
Antipop was released in 1999, and was the first album to feature heavy input from outside musicians and producers such as Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine and Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit. The album was seen as a 'return to form' by most long term Primus fans, featuring harder edge song-writing fans had been craving as well as greatly improved production over the previous album. The band toured with Ozzfest, Family Values Tour, and released a video for "Lacquer Head" that was banned from MTV because of its drug content, even though it was an anti-drug song.
In late 2003 Claypool reunited with LaLonde and, in a surprise move, Tim Alexander to record a DVD/EP called Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, which Claypool described as the first DVD with supplementary music, as opposed to the contrary. The band staged a two month tour in which they performed two sets per show, the second consisting of their 1991 release Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety. 2004 saw them continue touring, and even performing their 1990 release Frizzle Fry in its entirety. For these two tours, the band sold recordings directly recorded from the sound-board online, following an example of other bands such as Phish. The performance in Chicago was video taped as well, and was released on the 'Hallucino-Genetics' Live DVD. The band's style as of their last EP was based on the jam band style with extended soloing from band members and generally more focused on musicianship. This follows the musical evolution of Les Claypool's work during the Primus hiatus, it is unknown whether this style was simply temporary or if the band has permanently switched over to it.
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