siLLy puPPy GREEN JELLŸ is one of those bands that’s hard to believe actually existed but had its day in the limelight back in 1993 with its huge claymation video hit “Three Little Pigs.” The band actually started out with the moniker GREEN JELLÖ but was predictably sued by the Kraft Corporation for using the name of their profitable squishy food-like substance. The band scored as well with the “Cereal Killer Soundtrack” which displayed a diverse mix of comedy punk and alternative metal but like all novelty acts pretty much fizzled out as quickly as it caught the world’s attention. While they started out as a video only band due to the success of the single quickly sold out their weak morals and released actual albums.

After the unexpected success of “Three Little Pigs,” GREEN JELLŸ released the followup “333” in 1994 but lacked the ridiculous comedic effect and sounded like a very cheap garage band trying to emulate punk rock. That should’ve been the end of GREEN JELLŸ due to the fact that the members Danny Carey and Maynard James both went on to form the mega-selling band Tool but main man Bill Manspeaker seemed to have found his calling adding a sense of levity to the world of metal and continued on. While written off and all but forgotten GREEN JELLŸ reemerged in 2009 with a brand new album “Musick To Insult Your Intelligence By.” Well, all i can say is that the title was fitting and i assumed that this band would never resurrect from the abyss again. Ooops. I was wrong.

Of all the bands to release a comeback album in 2021, GREEN JELLŸ was not on my radar but here we are with the band’s fifth studio album GARBAGE BAND KIDS with an album cover that emulates everyone’s favorite comical trading cards that depict kids with abnormalities, deformities, misfortune and just plain twisted grossness! While a a real group project in the past, GARBAGE BAND KIDS seems to be a mystery as to exactly who is playing on it since Manspeaker is the only one who gets credit however there is a guest appearance by Weird Al Yankovic via a recorded phone message and another message by the 20th century game show host Wink Martindale. Backing vocals are performed by the Trailer Park Boys which includes members of Suicidal Tendencies, Fishbone, The Dwarves, Piledriver and Kittie. LOL.

If it wasn’t a curve ball enough that another GREEN JELLŸ album has emerged in 2021 it came as even more of a surprise that this one doesn’t totally suck. I did very much appreciate the efforts of the “Cereal Killer” soundtrack but after that GREEN JELLŸ really dropped the ball with their unique brand of potty mouth punk metal. After a little investigation it actually shouldn’t be too surprising that this band has emerged again. Manspeaker has appeared on Psychostick albums and in 2017 GREEN JELLŸ released a new music video and single, "Fr3tö F33t” with another titled “Silence Of The Sponge” in 2019 which was a parody to the theme of SqongBob SquarePants. I guess i just wasn’t in the know!

GARBAGE BAND KIDS seems to be a return to form at least if you consider this band to have ever had one. What i mean is that what made the “Cereal Killer” soundtrack so good is that the basic songs were catchy and creative and the lyrics were actually funny even if ridiculously over the top. Topics range from the expected album cover art themes with the opening track “Pukebox” to the hilariously absurd with “Punk Rock Pope.” “Silence of the Squarepants” continues the SpongeBob tribute and the band even pays tribute to the past with a song titled “333” in reference to the album and a re-recording of the band’s classic “Three Little Pigs” but in all honestly seems a little unnecessary as it doesn’t really add any new ideas and reeks of milking past glories. The masturbation song “Beat My Meat” though is primo material!

While i was hardly chomping at the bit for a new GREEN JELLŸ album i am pleasantly surprised that this one is actually a bit of fun. The tracks are all catchy and have that same pop punk quality that “Cereal Killer” featured and the lyrics are actually pretty funny however this isn’t going to win any awards or anything either! For those brave enough to actually buy this they will be treated to beautiful packaging with colorful artwork that was created by the makers of those sicko 80s trading cards! Once again novelty metal makes it mark and to everyone’s surprise the crazy potty mouth punk of GREEN JELLŸ has reared its ugly head once again. This one actually has return value to it however at over 56 minutes long may be a bit too much in one sitting.

Vim Fuego You’ve gotta feel a bit sorry for Green Jelly.

In 1993, when the comedy metal band released this collaboration with Hulk Hogan, it all seemed like a good idea.

“I'm the Leader of the Gang” was originally released by Gary Glitter in 1973, and became Glitter's first number one single in the UK, spending four weeks at the top of the chart in July 1973. A definitive glam rock anthem, it introduced the world to the simple but fun “Glitter stomp”.

Hulk Hogan was the world’s most famous professional wrestler through the 1980s, helping to revive the sports/entertainment’s sagging fortunes through his outstanding showmanship and incredible physique. Hogan had also turned his hand to acting, and decided to add “musician” to his repertoire. He sang a duet with Dolly Parton, and released a rap rock album with the Wrestling Boot Band, which featured his wife and fellow wrestler Jimmy Hart.

And so to this single. The old glam rock stomper was given a bit of a make-over by Green Jelly, a band not adverse to performing the odd cover or repurposing other artists riffs. Hulk Hogan is no singer. He shouts and groans his way through the moronic but catchy lyrics, and the real musicians give him every assistance. And it works well enough. Sure, it’s nothing more than a novelty tune, but it was never trying to be anything deep and meaningful. It’s just good cartoonish, shout-along fun. It also briefly bothered the charts, hitting the UK Top 40. It is backed with one of Hogan’s own songs, “Hulkomaniac” (actually a mis-labelled version of "Hulkster in Heaven"), and a throwaway Green Jelly track “Thing-A-Ma-Bob”.

So far, so innocent, in 1993.

Fast forward to 2015, and the innocence has been smashed.

Gary Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) is now reviled the world over following several convictions for various sex crimes against children which earned him a lengthy prison sentence. Despite selling millions of records in the 1970s, it is now almost impossible to find a fan anywhere. In 2015, Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) was fired by World Wrestling Entertainment after a leaked sex tape was found to include racist and homophobic comments by Hogan.

There’s not much Green Jelly can do about this entire situation. This single is out there, and their name is on it. There is no way the band could have ever imagined this fun little novelty song would be later tarnished by paedophilia, racism and homophobia, and no one has ever suggested Green Jelly condones any of this. If you ever chance upon it, try to separate the later revelations from the original intent of this release, and try to imagine it in a more innocent time.

siLLy puPPy Suffice it to say that GREEN JELLY's 3rd album MUSICK TO INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE BY pretty much lives up to its title and I would also add that perhaps this is one of the most unnecessary and underwhelming comebacks in the hard rock / metal world. To be fair this sounds like a throwback to the 90s because this is actually a collection of lost demos that was supposed to be the band's 3rd album then after the lackluster “333” but because that was such a huge flop they were dropped by their record company and left to fend for themselves. The result is another lackluster album that seems even more ridiculous since it was released 15 years after it was intended.

The potty mouth humor became stale on the second album and that continues here, however despite that I actually find a few tracks here more interesting than the 2nd album. “Stabby The Clown” and “Magic Ed” sound a little different than anything the band had done before and the tenderly performed “The Ballad Of Swing Low Scroty” merits a half star simply because i've never heard a song solely dedicated to the outlandish topic of scabs on a scrotum. Most of this album is substandard punk rock and one track “Gefilte Fish” sounds like the music was ripping off “The Beautiful People” from Marilyn Manson, yet this was recorded before that. Listen to the two tracks and the music is mostly the same. A bit of a mystery but all in all life would have gone on quite well had these “lost” demos remained that way and never seen the light of day. The artwork and comic strip inside is actually more interesting than the music so at least it's not all bad.

siLLy puPPy Rushing out a follow-up after the surprise success of the CEREAL KILLER SOUNDTRACK, the next album by GREEN JELLY lost the uniqueness and creativity the last album had. This one has a more straight on punk / alternative metal sound and the humor is mostly absent with a couple exceptions like “The Bear Song” and “Slave Boy,” the latter being a B-52s spoof.

The novelty wore off and on this album they retreated to grounds where they could focus on their musical abilities instead of their paradies. Bad move, because the paradies of the last album are what allowed them to write some interesting music around. This just sounds like mediocre attempts at being a punk / alternative metal band and some songs like “Piñata Head” are just poor ALICE IN CHAINS imitations. Even the paradies are weak. The only song I really like is “Fight.”

siLLy puPPy Anyone around in 1993 probably remembers these guys with their claymation video for “Three Little Pigs.” This is officially the CEREAL KILLER SOUNDTRACK because the entire album was originally released as a video in 1991. In fact the band claimed to be the first video only band. This do-it-yourself band grew in the underground until one radio station in Seattle decided to play their “Pigs” song as a joke. Turned out it was a huge hit and it snowballed from there eventually making it to MTV. Although this is often listed as alternative metal, it is in fact, more akin to comedic punk but traditional, industrial and alternative metal is found.

The music on this is surprisingly good and the comedy isn't as lame as a quick glimpse of the titles could suggest. It does have a GWAR kinda feel to the whole thing. It starts off with “Obey The Cowgod” and then dives into the hit “Three Little Pigs,” a spoof of the nursery rhyme complete with ganja smoking wolf who ultimately meets his demise by Rambo. “Anarchy In The UK” is a hilarious parady about anarchy in Bedrock. Yeah, you know where the Flinstones live! A video for “Electric Harley House (Of Love) featured Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS.

All these songs are utterly ridiculous and although this isn't something you listen to every day, it is an interesting creation of a band that had the gall to say just what they wanted to without really saying anything at all! Two members are now in TOOL. Danny Carey, the drummer and Maynard James Keenan, the vocalist. Whacky stuff worth a spin now and again and it does rock!

Unitron What would happen if Art Clokey, Jim Henson, and Gerry Anderson got together and created some films while on a sick acid trip?

Most likely, Cereal Killer would be created.

Green JellŸ, known as Green Jello at this time before they had to change the name, was probably one of the only bands to make a "video-music album". Yeah, you can go listen to the "Cereal Killer Soundtrack", but you really won't get the same experience. These songs don't really work unless you're watching the utterly ridiculous and zany videos along with them. The videos contain all sorts of use of claymation, puppetry, and weird costumes backed by a soundtrack blending thrash metal, hardcore punk, funk metal, classic heavy metal, and whatever else they wanted to make.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the lyrics are completely absurd along with the videos. You have their famous "Three Little Pigs", which is about a rocking pig, stoned pig, rich pig, and Rambo gunning down the big bad wolf. The title cut is about cereal mascots going to war, with the FruitLoops toucan slaughtering all the other mascots. Finally, the cover of Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." is about the town of Bedrock from The Flintstones with the lyrics of 'Want to destroy Mr. Slate, Cause I wanna be Fred Flintstone'.

If you just want to hear some good music, there's always the soundtrack. However, if you want a good laugh at a party, invite your friends to come watch Cereal Killer. This is a hilarious metal musical for all to see.

Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!