Man Overboard (Buck 65 album)

Man Overboard
Studio album by Buck 65
Released 1999
Recorded ?
Genre Alternative Hip Hop
Length 69:57
Label Anticon
Producer Buck 65
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Buck 65 chronology
Vertex
(1997)		 Man Overboard
(1999)		 Synesthesia (2001)
Alternative cover
Man Overboard 2002 re-release artwork

Man Overboard is a 1999 album by Buck 65. Originally released on the anticon. label in 1999, this album broke Buck 65 to an international audience. When re-released on Warner in 2002 it had the track "Up the Middle" edited severely because of a Metallica sample that was used as a part of the music.

Contents

Boy/Girl Fight

The roots of Man Overboard are mainly taken from the album released originally beforehand, Boy/Girl Fight. This album was released on cassette and CD. It contained some songs that would later become Man Overboard, two re-recordings from Vertex plus some unreleased songs.

Track Listing:

  1. "Style #386"- 3:08
  2. "Pack Animal"- 5:11
  3. "Coleco Vision"- 5:48
  4. "Mudslide"- 3:57
  5. "Pants on Fire"- 5:21
  6. "Stupid"- 3:37
  7. "Sketch Artist"- 4:36
  8. "Secret Splendor"- 6:59
  9. "The Centaur"- 3:42

Track listing

A demo of the album was leaked onto the internet, and contained material that did not make the final cut. This pressing included a song that later appeared on Square that was titled "Science Is...".

Anticon Release:

  1. "Off and Running" – 3:10
  2. "Plastic Bag" – 4:17
  3. "Up the Middle" – 4:53
  4. "Hats on Beds" – 5:31
  5. "Lil' Taste Of Poland" – 3:11
  6. "Sunday Driver" – 2:00
  7. "Can of Worms" – 3:22
  8. "You know the Science" – 3:20
  9. "Ice" – 4:54
  10. "Achilles And The Tortoise" – 7:19
  11. "Coleco Vision" – 9:32
  12. "Azazellos Cream" – 1:27
  13. "Secret Splendor" – 6:43
  14. "Pants on Fire" – 6:24
  15. "Mudslide" – 3:54
  • Note: "Ice" does not appear on the vinyl version of the Anticon release, due to a manufacturing error.

The Warner release omitted the track "Azazellos Cream" and lengthened or shortened many tracks:

  1. "Off and Running"- 3:09
  2. "Plastic Bag"- 4:59
  3. "Up the Middle"- 2:03
  4. "Hats on Beds"- 5:19
  5. "Lil' Taste of Poland"- 3:11
  6. "Sunday Driver"- 2:17
  7. "Can of Worms"- 3:06
  8. "You Know the Science"- 3:20
  9. "Ice"- 4:56
  10. "Achilles And the Tortoise"- 7:20
  11. "Coleco Vision"- 10:57
  12. "Secret Splendor"- 6:43
  13. "Pants on Fire"- 6:24
  14. "Mudslide"- 3:58
  • Note: "Ice" does not appear on the vinyl version, for unknown reasons.

Voices

Like many early Buck 65 albums, many of the songs contain various voices, sometimes sound-bites, sometimes recordings from telephone conversations.

  • Track 1, "Off and Running" has lyrics made entirely out of sound-bites.
  • Track 2, "Plastic Bags", contains a telephone conversation about Buck 65 and another of Richard Terfy's alter-egos: Stinkin' Ritch.
  • At the end of track 3, "Up the Middle", a middle-aged-sounding man asks "What...Is it?!?"
  • Before the drum-loop coda of "Hats on Beds", a flight stewardess asks all passengers to extinguish all cigarettes.
  • Half of "Lil' Taste of Poland" contains snippets from a coast to coast am radio interview between Zecharia Sitchin and Art Bell discussing the Annunaki.
  • The ending of "Can of Worms" is a clip from the anime "Ghost in the Shell", where the Puppeteer speaks about the origin of species and the dangers of computerization.
  • The coda to "You Know the Science" is a man reciting a poem and people cheering, all sounding somewhat mechanical.
  • After the eerie coda to "Ice", a woman says "hold your breath...start with death."
  • The middle of "Achilles and the Tortoise" is a philisophical discussion of old age.
  • "Coleco Vision" begins with a collage of phone-conversations.
  • A short clip from the film "Buffalo '66" can be heard at the end of "Pants on Fire."

History

Man Overboard, originally released on the anticon. label, was a significant turning point in his career. The record, and the entire anticon. collective (of which Sixtoo was also a part), were considered hallmarks of a new avant-garde movement in underground hip hop. It was at this time that Buck met Cincinnati DJ Mr. Dibbs who inducted him into the 1200 Hobos, a loosely-knit hip-hop collective named for their proficiency and skill in manipulating the Technics 1200 turntable.

The album explores themes very common in Buck 65's early music. It originally contained material from the album "Boy/Girl Fight", and also, the track "You Know the Science" was a re-recording from his early album "Year Zero". The album was recorded shortly after his mother died, which proved a creative influence, notably on the track "Ice", while the track "Secret Splendor" is about rebirth. Other themes on the album include old age ("Achilles and the Tortoise"), religion ("Plastic Bags"), loneliness ("Pants on Fire"), sexual intercourse ("Mudslide"), and the pressures of being famous ("Up the Middle", "Sunday Driver").