Carnival of Chaos

Carnival of Chaos
Studio album by Gwar
Released	March 25, 1997
Recorded	1997
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	74:36
Label	Metal Blade Records
Producer	Ron Goudie, Mike Derks (uncredited)
Gwar chronology
Ragnarök (1995) Carnival of Chaos (1997) We Kill Everything (1999)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Carnival of Chaos is Gwar's sixth studio album. It is perhaps most notable as their longest album (exceeding 74 minutes), and also as the album that contains Stampe's solo number: "Don't Need a Man". Hunter Jackson also returns in "The Private Pain of Techno Destructo", and there is an ballad entitled "Sammy" about the rotting corpse of Sammy Davis Jr.. "In Her Fear" is Oderus's swan song, and Beefcake the Mighty gives a memorable song in "Hate Love Songs" - Casey Orr's last song as a lead vocalist with the band until his return on Lust in Space. "Sex Cow" seems heavily influenced by bluegrass music and country music and some jokes, "Letter from the Scallop Boat" and "I Suck on My Thumb" round the album out.

Overview

Carnival of Chaos is the last Gwar album to feature Peter Lee as Flattus Maximus - due to recurring stomach problems (stemming from a gunshot wound sustained in a carjacking four years prior), he left the band shortly after the 1997 Halloween Tour (and after "Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Penguins," the video that corresponds with Carnival of Chaos, was recorded).

"Don't Need A Man" was not originally meant to be a Gwar song. It was supposed to be just Danielle Stampe (Slymenstra Hymen) singing and Michael Derks (Balsac the Jaws of Death) on piano. It ended up featuring Brad Roberts (Jizmak Da Gusha), Derks (sequencing the upright bass part, the piano and the guitar) and Stampe. Derks produced the track, but received no credit. Additionally, Derks wrote "Hate Love Songs," and was initially going to sing the lead, but opted instead to have Orr (Beefcake) do it. He is still heard in the background.

Approximately nine minutes after "Don't Need A Man" is a clip of "Drop Drawers." This was supposed to appear on the album, along with a complete version of "The Private Pain of Techno Destructo." The latter had to be changed, due to Paramount's refusal to give permission to use music from the 1967 Star Trek episode, "Amok Time" (there is a "Slave Pit Single, released after this album, that features it). The former, which included a cover of Billy Thorpe's "Children of the Sun," had to be cut, save for a short clip at the end. "Drop Drawers" can be found on Slaves Going Single, an extremely rare B-sides collection released between We Kill Everything and Violence Has Arrived on Slave Pit Records. The latter can be heard, minus the unlicensed cover, on the album (just after Techno sings "You'll just make me..."), and the full song (except for a slight cut-off of Techno at the end) on the Rawgwar Slave Pit Single.

"Sammy" is the longest song on this album, despite "Don't Need A Man"'s 12:40 track length (most of it is silence; the actual song is a little less than 4:30 long). Clocking in at 6:57, it and the title track from their 1999 follow-up, We Kill Everything, are the longest songs by Gwar (it too is 6:57 in length).

Songs from Carnival have not been in the band's setlists for a number of years except for the group occasionally playing "Penguin Attack" and "Back to Iraq". Unlike We Kill Everything, where the band readily admits their dissatisfaction for the content (explaining the absence of songs from that album), they have yet to give a definitive reason why. The songs "Pre-Skool Prostitute" and "Hate Love Songs" have been a part of Gwar's Madness At The Core Of Time Tour 2013 setlist.

Track listing

All tracks by Gwar

Personnel

• Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus) - Lead vocals
• Pete Lee (Flattus Maximus) – Lead guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Derks (Balsac the Jaws of Death) – Rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Casey Orr (Beefcake the Mighty) – Bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Hate Love Songs"
• Brad Roberts (Jizmak Da Gusha) - Drums
• Hunter Jackson (Techno Destructo) - Lead vocals on "The Private Pain of Techno Destructo"
• Danielle Stampe (Slymenstra Hymen) – Lead vocals on "Don't Need a Man"
• Ron Goudie – Producer, Mixing
• Warren Croyle – Mixing
• Gene Grimaldi – Mastering
• Katherine Leatherwood – Photography
• Drew Mazurek – Mixing
• Mark Miley – Assistant Engineer, Drum Producer
• Grant Rutledge – Assistant Engineer
• Eddy Schreyer – Mastering

References