Heavy Petting Zoo

Infobox Album |
Name = Heavy Petting Zoo
Type = Album
Artist = NOFX


Released = January 31, 1996
Recorded = October, 1995
Razors Edge and Fat Planet
Genre = Punk rock, ska punk
Length = 34:54
Label = Epitaph
Producer = Ryan Greene, NOFX
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w88e4jo72wat link]
*Robert Christgau Rating-Christgau|neither [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=nofx link] |
Last album = "I Heard They Suck Live!!"
(1995)
This album = "Heavy Petting Zoo"
(1996)
Next album = "So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes"
(1997)
Misc =Extra album cover 2
Type = album
Upper caption = "Eating Lamb"
Lower caption = 12" LP cover

"Heavy Petting Zoo" is the sixth full-length album by NOFX, released on January 31, 1996 (see 1996 in music) through Epitaph Records.

Overview

The LP was recorded at Razor's Edge Studio in San Francisco. The track "Liza" continues the story of the two lesbians introduced in "White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean"'s "Liza and Louise". The third installment of this tale can be found on "Pump up the Valuum" ("Louise"), having originally appeared on the "Louise and Liza" 7".

The song "August 8th" is about the day that Jerry Garcia died in 1995. After the album was released, it was brought to Fat Mike's attention that Garcia died on August 9th, not on the 8th as the song mistakenly suggests.

Artwork

"Heavy Petting Zoo" is the name of the album in its CD and cassette formats; the LP format of the same album is called "Eating Lamb", and features different cover art.

The cover art by Illustrator, Mark deSalvo depicts a man sexually touching a sheep. The title "Heavy Petting Zoo" is a play with words where with "Heavy petting" and "Petting zoo", together the give the context of taboo human-to-animal interactions. The LP is titled "Eating Lamb", referring to the slang eating that means to give oral sex. Since it's giving to a lamb, the human in the picture is 'eating [a] lamb'.

Interestingly, Peter Singer, the famous Princeton University ethicist, wrote a philosophy article entitled "Heavy Petting" about the topic of bestiality. Singer is the author of Animal Liberation, his well-known work about animal rights that is referenced by NOFX's album "Liberal Animation."

Track listing

* All tracks written by Fat Mike
# "Hobophobic (Scared of Bums)" – 0:48
# "Philthy Phil Philanthropist" – 3:10
# "Freedom Lika Shopping Cart" – 3:43
# "Bleeding Heart Disease" – 3:36
# "Hot Dog in a Hallway" – 2:50
# "Release the Hostages" – 2:29
# "Liza" – 2:55
# "What's the Matter with Kids Today?" – 1:13
# "Love Story" – 2:37
# "The Black and White" – 3:36
# "Whatever Didi Wants" – 3:00
# "August 8th" – 1:35
# "Drop the World" – 3:22

Personnel

*Fat Mike (vocals, bass)
*Eric Melvin (guitar)
*El Hefe (guitar, trumpet)
*Erik Sandin (drums)

* Recorded in October, 1995 at Razors Edge and Fat Planet
* Produced by Ryan Greene and NOFX
* Engineered and mixed by Ryan Greene

External links

* [http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com NOFX official website]
* [http://www.epitaph.com Epitaph Records]
* [http://www.fatwreck.com Fat Wreck Chords]