Melvins:-

Houdini - The first three songs aren't very interesting. Things pick up a bit with the Kiss cover (Goin' Blind) but it all gets crack-a-lacking from "Honey Bucket" onwards. I really like the stoner-ish "Hag Me". But otherwise, pretty interesting grunge-metal (even if they predated the Seattle scene). The 10-minute percussion piece "Spread Eagle Beagle" really tries my patience, though.

Stag - Lotsa interesting song and chord structures lift this up from other by-numbers music of this ilk. Love the synthy bits on "Hide" which is somewhat funny as you don't usually hear them in a metal song. Just a small step down from "Houdini" as it doesn't have a good stoner song. Also would like this more if it had more off-beat material such as the Chipmunks-ish "Captain Pungent" and the slowed down folk-blues "Cottonmouth" (which is too short, anyway).

The Cure - The Top - got this on a whimsy as I thought the rest of the album would sound like "Caterpillar". Boy, was I wrong. As it is, it's not bad, though, the booming guitars is prescient to later songs like "Lovesong". I love the chaotic "Give Me It" and the military-style blast of "The Empty World". The only weak song is the meandering dirgey title track but even then, it's not something which annoys me.