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is structured in several musical groups of threes to reflect the story's trio of protagonists. Each of the 15 tracks represents part of a day in the lives of the three men in the engine room of a large naval vessel. According to Watt, the boilerman is D. Boon. The fireman is George Hurley and Watt is
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Watt experimented with sounds that could not normally be achieved with a live three-piece band, at one point "rollin' marbles around on a bass drumhead and beatin' on it with our hands to get the sound of thunder." The songs are separated with nautical noises such as crashing waves, foghorns, and
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The opening track, "In the Engine Room," starts just before dawn and it ends 24 hours later with "Shore Duty". It is essentially the story of a guy who has run away from a farm town, joined the Navy, and found a crew that has built a routine together. When their ship pulls into a port for shore
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Watt's father joined the navy when he was 17 and retired when he was 37. He served aboard nuclear vessels, and died from cancer when he was 51. Watt was originally from
Virginia, but his parents divorced during the Viet Nam War, and Watt and his mother remained in California.
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as well as stories that Watt's dad would tell when he came back from being at sea. “The
Bluejacket’s Manual” compares punk rock to boot camp. Watt has compared his father's experience of leaving a farm town to the Minutemen bursting open and getting away from arena rock.
236:
I just had to get it out. I owed it to D. Boon, the
Minutemen, Georgie, all the SST cats. Because it's sad what happened to the Minutemen. Fucking fucked up. But the work we did is why I get to make these records. I wanted to make a big valentine to that, to say, 'Thank
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praised it as "a meditation on the meaning of work, friendship and the quest for adventure" while admitting that it can be a challenging work, "tough sailing" at times. Mark
Athitakis of
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was less complimentary saying that what Watt isn't "is a compelling artist. He can't sing at all, can't write much, and still pretends the bass solo is a viable musical form."
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Watt formed the
Minutemen with his best friend, guitarist D. Boon, and drummer George Hurley, and they toured until Boon's death in a car wreck in Arizona in 1985.
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The collection is a bass-driven opera which begins and ends with the same bass figure. The lyrics and music contain countless nautical references, and elements of
181:. Released in 1997, the album is a punk rock song cycle that uses navy life as an extended metaphor for both Watt's family history and his first band, the
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ship's bells. Watt also played the whole album with the top bass string detuned from E to D to push himself out of his comfort zone.
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185:. The album was greeted with a positive response. The cover art features a picture of Watt's father in his Navy uniform.
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540:"Q&A: Mike Watt; Former Minutemen bassist discusses new solo album, 'Contemplating the Engine Room'"
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said of Watt's punk rock opera "Against all logic, it succeeds, more or less brilliantly" Matt Diehl of
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Watt was a bit intimidated to make such an overtly personal album but he felt that he had to.
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leave, they get drunk, and the boilerman sleepwalks, falls in the water, and drowns.
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In July 1997, Watt posted on his personal website, "I'm gonna call the band
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is boat talk for engine room crew." The album features Watt as the singer,
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Contemplating the Engine Room: Live in Long Beach ‘98 – Five Man Opera
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716:"MIKE WATT PONDERS MINUTEMEN WHILE 'CONTEMPLATING THE ENGINE ROOM'"
950:"BLACK FRIDAY 2017 > Mike Watt - Contemplating The Engine Room"
47:
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209:. It was produced by Watt and engineered by Bobby Seifert.
924:"Picks and Pans Review: Contemplating the Engine Room"
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called it Watt's "most personal, affecting work yet."
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592:"Mike Watt Contemplating the Engine Room..."
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767:Athitakis, Mark (October 31, 1997).
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197:in honor of engine room folk - the
27:1997 studio album by Mike Watt
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538:Chonin, Neva (27 November 1997).
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268:All tracks composed by Mike Watt
195:mike watt and the black gang crew
828:Diehl, Matt (October 21, 1997).
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224:Considered a "punk rock opera",
863:"Contemplating the Engine Room"
830:"Contemplating The Engine Room"
714:Fortunato, John (3 June 2009).
562:Krewson, John (29 March 2002).
897:"Consumer Guide: Turkey Shoot"
1:
1126:The Crew of the Flying Saucer
1026:Contemplating the Engine Room
590:Kot, Greg (17 October 1997).
481:Contemplating the Engine Room
226:Contemplating The Engine Room
166:Contemplating the Engine Room
141:Contemplating the Engine Room
33:Contemplating the Engine Room
18:Contemplating The Engine Room
1033:The Secondman's Middle Stand
798:McMahan, Tim (29 Oct 1998).
306:"In The Bunk Room/Navy Wife"
150:The Secondman's Middle Stand
1085:Mike Watt and the Secondmen
1317:
1090:Mike Watt + The Missingmen
806:. www.lazy-i.com "lazyeye"
683:""Mike Watt & Masina""
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315:"Wrapped Around The Screw"
800:"Contemplating Mike Watt"
597:. Chicago. Archived from
368:
365:
312:"Breaking The Choke Hold"
125:
37:
334:Mike Watt - vocals, bass
1301:Columbia Records albums
681:Drvo, Izniknami Badem.
280:The Bluejackets' Manual
1141:The Jom and Terry Show
475:For the November 2017
309:"Crossing The Equator"
239:
205:on guitar and drummer
1243:Minutemen discography
1171:Jumpstarted Plowhards
1110:Il Sogno del Marinaio
1058:"Ring Spiel" Tour '95
652:Mike Watt's Hoot Page
297:"No One Says Old Man"
1253:New Alliance Records
1156:The Hand to Man Band
1019:Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
868:Entertainment Weekly
621:"Q&A: Mike Watt"
414:Entertainment Weekly
356:Professional ratings
272:"In The Engine Room"
132:Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
1105:Unknown Instructors
930:. November 24, 1997
895:(1 December 1998).
357:
291:"Black Gang Coffee"
1207:J Mascis + The Fog
1166:Big Walnuts Yonder
1136:The Pair of Pliers
601:on October 9, 2015
355:
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1248:The Reactionaries
1197:The Reactionaries
902:The Village Voice
893:Christgau, Robert
509:"AllMusic Review"
507:McLeod, Kembrew.
435:
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426:The Village Voice
162:
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16:(Redirected from
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1291:Mike Watt albums
1236:Related articles
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842:on July 26, 2008
838:. Archived from
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646:(22 July 1997).
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437:John Krewson of
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303:"Liberty Calls!"
300:"Fireman Hurley"
252:The Sand Pebbles
249:'s naval novel,
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288:"The Boilerman"
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229:the machinist.
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63:October 6, 1997
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285:"Pedro Bound!"
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738:""Mike Watt""
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569:The A.V. Club
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439:The A.V. Club
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361:Review scores
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264:Track listing
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1264:We Jam Econo
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959:. Retrieved
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932:. Retrieved
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906:. Retrieved
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872:. Retrieved
866:
856:
844:. Retrieved
840:the original
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808:. Retrieved
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778:. Retrieved
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745:. Retrieved
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719:. Retrieved
690:. Retrieved
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603:. Retrieved
599:the original
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573:. Retrieved
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516:. Retrieved
513:AllMusic.com
512:
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318:"Shore Duty"
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48:Studio album
1296:Rock operas
1286:1997 albums
1227:The Stooges
1190:Other bands
1050:Live albums
908:24 February
769:"Mike Watt"
294:"Topsiders"
275:"Red Bluff"
1280:Categories
1068:Main bands
961:October 4,
934:October 4,
804:The Reader
780:October 4,
644:Watt, Mike
491:References
471:Live album
338:Nels Cline
327:See also:
203:Nels Cline
199:black gang
189:Background
121:chronology
1075:Minutemen
1004:Mike Watt
351:Reception
323:Personnel
183:Minutemen
179:Mike Watt
175:Minutemen
173:opera by
171:punk rock
119:Mike Watt
113:Mike Watt
53:Mike Watt
1217:Hellride
1080:Firehose
846:March 8,
340:- guitar
177:veteran
109:Producer
102:Columbia
60:Released
50: by
810:12 June
747:12 June
721:12 June
692:12 June
657:12 June
605:12 June
575:12 June
518:12 June
459:Ulysses
346:- drums
154:(2004)
145:(1997)
136:(1995)
1176:Fitted
1100:Banyan
928:People
874:May 3,
450:People
369:Rating
366:Source
80:Length
774:Salon
455:Salon
237:you.'
220:Album
169:is a
97:Label
69:Genre
1181:mssv
963:2019
936:2019
910:2019
876:2019
848:2019
812:2017
782:2019
749:2017
723:2017
694:2017
659:2017
607:2017
577:2017
520:2017
461:.""
74:Punk
1161:CUZ
1095:Dos
1282::
952:.
926:.
899:.
884:^
865:.
832:.
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479:,
431:C+
419:B+
89:08
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87::
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
