Henry Rollins - Human Butt
1992 Quarterstick
by Shev

Quick Summary:
Even if one's tastes do not include spoken word, it's always refreshing to hear something from Henry Rollins now and again.  Rollins has a knack for taking a situation, breaking it down into it's simplest state, and adding his own "alternative icon" flavor while rambling on for hours.  Human Butt could be considered the starting point for Henry Rollins spoken word, as it's a mixture of earlier recordings from 1989 through 1990.  Instead of speaking to a huge sold out crowd, Rollins is in a smaller establishment talking to a much smaller group of people.  It makes Human Butt seem a little more personal.

The prevalent flaw on Human Butt is the sound in which it was recorded.  It literally sounds like most of this double disc set  was recorded by shoving an old, beaten-up microphone into a sandwich bag, then put into a cardboard box filled with Styrofoam peanuts and placed on stage to record Rollins.  Needless to say, these discs are going to have to be listened to at exceedingly high volume.  Sound isn't the only thing, though.  Henry Rollins is a master storyteller.  He touches base on he realest of real life and manages to find something entertaining to say about everything.  For somebody new to Henry Rollins' spoken word, Human Butt would be an excellent start to get a taste of where Henry came from.

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Song Summaries:

1. Adventures Of An Asshole - It amazes me what an audience will laugh at.  The part about the fisherman was a bit bland, but the rest of his experience in Australia was solid.  B
2. Kicked In The Ass By Adventure - Basically, this is the end of Adventures Of An Asshole, and seeing as the first track is monstrously long, it should have just been kept all together.  Rollins makes an excellent point, but kind of loses the crowd as it sounds like they're not sure exactly when to applaud.  C
3. Smokin' The Filter - After the first two tracks, one is going to have the volume cranked because the sound is so horrible, so make sure the volume is turned down because the sound suddenly rises at this point.  Regardless of almost shitting my pants the first time because I had the volume cranked, it's a good and memorable story that would send just about anybody into therapy.  A-
4. Untitled - They don't even give this track credit on the CD for some reason.  Eerily enough, this doesn't sound so much like another quality Rollins tale as it does an explanation of why he didn't rape some girl along with the after effects which he finally caps off with some fairly poor poetry (of course, I wouldn't say this to his face).  C-
5. Decoration - Great story, although a little drawn out, where he makes a ton of comparisons between life in England vs. life in America.  I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be funny, but the delivery is poor.  Crowd seemed to like it regardless.  B
6. Donate Your Bodies To Science, You Fools! - One of Rollins' best spoken word performances about a homeless man he knew ever since he was a child.  A+
7. Romance - The beginning of this is beyond annoying because some guy with a loud "HAWR HAWR HAWR" laugh is drowning out everything around him.  Somebody must have strangled him during the show since his laugh eventually goes away.  Kind of short and more of a comedy routine.  C

Average Track Rating:  B-
Overall Album Rating:  B+