Pebbles 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. 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 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. Track listing All tracks composed by Mike Watt "In The Engine Room" "Red Bluff" "The Bluejackets' Manual" "Pedro Bound!" "The Boilerman" "Black Gang Coffee" "Topsiders" "No One Says Old Man" "Fireman Hurley" "Liberty Calls!" "In The Bunk Room/Navy Wife" "Crossing The Equator" "Breaking The Choke Hold" "Wrapped Around The Screw" "Shore Duty" Personnel Mike Watt - vocals, bass Nels Cline - guitar Stephen Hodges - drums Reception John Krewson of The A.V. Club said of Watt's punk rock opera "Against all logic, it succeeds, more or less brilliantly" Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone called it Watt's "most personal, affecting work yet." People 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 Salon called it "jaw-dropping" and a "post-punk "Ulysses."" Robert Christgau 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." Live album For the November 2017 Record Store Day, Contemplating the Engine Room was re-released on vinyl with a companion album Contemplating the Engine Room: Live in Long Beach ‘98 – Five Man Opera. References 1997 albums Mike Watt albums Rock operas Columbia Records albums