its mark in previous years, and speedier fare, like a thick and weird sludge-thrash driven by catchy, inspired songwriting." AllMusic's Patrick Kennedy regarded the album as a "full fruition" of the outfit's "syrupy distillation of Sabbath riffage and Flipper's noisy anti-punk" that was originally pried open on Eggnog (1991) and Bullhead (1991) releases. Release and critical reception Houdini is considered Melvins' commercially biggest release. It has sold 110,000 copies and peaked at number 29 on Billboards Heatseekers Albums chart. The track "Honey Bucket" also received MTV airplay. AllMusic critic Patrick Kennedy wrote: "With their voluminous output and determination to continuously expand their sound regardless of musical trends, the Melvins oeuvre has begun to rival -- at least on paper -- the career arcs of Frank Zappa and Neil Young." Jonathan Gold of Spin stated: "A few sections are recorded so hot that the guitar distortion literally breaks up into white noise in your speakers; other songs—the hits—are classic Melvins tuneage, which means that they will make you wonder if the batteries are going dead in your boom-box." Chicago Tribunes Greg Kot thought that the album "asserts that a major-label deal hasn't watered them down a bit, though their king-size slam sounds clearer and punchier." Legacy Treblezine named Houdini as one of the "10 Essential Sludge Metal Albums" and "The 30 Best Grunge Albums". Diffuser.fm rated it as number 10 on its list of "10 Best Grunge Albums". The track "Hooch" is rated as one of the best songs of the decade by Pitchfork in the book The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present. Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor listed the album as an influence. In 2005, the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series. Subsequent performances of the album occurred over the next few years, such as their appearance at the Primavera Sound festival in 2007 and on the band's 25th Anniversary tour in 2009. A specially recorded live performance of the album was released as A Live History of Gluttony and Lust in 2006. Largely out of print since the 1990s, the album was reissued in 2016 through Third Man Records. Track listing All songs written by the Melvins unless otherwise noted. Some vinyl copies include a cover of "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)", originally by MC5, instead