Meat Puppets II

rough vocals. I probably would have liked this type of chaos when I was a teen

Sufficiently weird, hoped I would like more though.

This has its moments but it is at best average.

This was cool wish the list was more wild

Am I a meat man, or am I a meat puppet? If I'm a meat man then I'm a meat puppet of a meat man.

Nunca tinha escutado os Meat Puppets antes e, faixa por faixa, já dava para perceber a influência que a banda teria sobre o grunge que surgiria alguns anos depois, principalmente sobre o Nirvana. E não por acaso: descobri que uma das três músicas que eles tocam no MTV Unplugged vem justamente deste álbum. Kurt Cobain devia ser bastante fã. Falando do disco em si, é muito interessante essa mistura de um pós-punk mais melódico com psicodelia, punk e elementos de country. Tem uma liberdade sonora aqui que realmente parece antecipar algumas das bases do grunge. Boa banda, boas músicas e um disco que merece ser descoberto.

Bob Dylan meets Slightly Stoopid? There’s something else in there, more light punk inspired. I liked it. Will listen again.

Это странный альбом, немного сумбурный, но он мне очень понравился. Я очень рад, что послушал его, и с удовольствием послушаю ещё раз. Теперь понятно, почему Nirvana их каверили, да и в целом это и есть Nirvana... без героина Meat muppets "II", 1984 год, 8,5/10 #слушал

Quite good thx

Angry Chicken Pickin' Core

I mean it’s probably good for some people. I just can’t get over the vocals. Instrumentals do sound great. 2/5

I liked this album much better the second time through while putting together a review. Some great tracks like "lost", "plateau" and "we're here" which move well and have a distinct sound. The instrumental tracks felt natural and like an integrated part of the album. The instrumentation is distinct, frantic and fun throughout. The lack of vocal range on some of the more strained lyrics/songs ("new gods" for example) can be a bit grating at times.

Whenever I see some discussions about more or less any American alternative band, there's always some yank praising them as the greatest thing ever, them being unreal live at this and that date in this and that city and whatnot. Then you actually listen to their material and it's some shite like this. According to Wikipedia, their first album was more akin to noise rock, which I probably would've been a lot more into, but this was one of those albums on this list that actually made me upset. Just intolerable. Never trust a yank when it comes to music.

The most 3 album of all the 3 albums on the list. Firstly, my expectations were set way low as I did not expect to like anything by a band called Meat Puppets. Surprised I was then, that they have a fair old country Americana twang in parts. There's lots of interesting stuff on here but a lot of it just passes by too quick. Admittedly I got bored by the end as I realised half the album linked is bonus tracks that add nothing. But for all the interesting instrumentation in parts the songs are too short and then move straight into something different. Which then does the same. Have more commitment, Puppets. Aurora Borealis and Lake of Fire probably stood out most.

first of all great name. second of all this is how i find out who nirvana covered lake of fire from. overall i enjoyed this but didn’t grip me.

This was very hit and miss for me. It felt a bit like the sort of amateur band you see at the local music venue supporting an up and coming out of town act. The vocals were pretty bad in points and the overall feel wasn't very tight. Clearly they had some alright songs and nirvana realised this in order to incorporate them into the unplugged session. But it wasn't mind blowing. But then some parts kinda fell into place and just worked as an unpolished thing that you could get into. It wasn't great and I think I'd have like to have heard them played better, but maybe that's just what nirvana did.

An album I love more and more with every listen!

Seminal record!!

On first seeing that this was today's choice I was a little alarmed that the 80s are being represented by punk albums that really don't sum up the period for those of us that were there, but as I progressed further I realised that the band had breached out stylistically from their debut and there were country and psychedelic aspects to the work. They still didn't play too well but were more tuneful than Black Flag and did have a lasting underground career. I still could live without it though......

I forgot what I was going to say.

Based on the sounds you wouldn't think this was made in the mid 80s. Really good music.

There is pure intensity to the feeling on this album that sounds effortless and works with, but also transcends, its musical experimentation. Like guys who have something to say, and it’s going to come out however, and it can’t not be wonderful.

Love this. Favourite songs: Plateau, Aurora Borealis, New Gods

The singer only has a vague concept of notes.

Cuando mezclas bebidas y el resultado es un mejunje intragable y terrorífico, un kalimotxo muy mal hecho de cosas diferentes. Mi única canción favorita: Aurora Borealis, justo en la que no abre la boca el cantante. No me ha gustado nada el disco.

Це щось більш в моєму стилі. Ні, насправді не подобається. Пропускаю.

greatness

Wonder how many artists I love quote this as an inspiration. I see it could be a seed of something I enjoy but for the most part, I think this isn't a stand out for me.

This is such a unique album. There’s so much freedom and energy on this album and I can really see why Cobain chose these guys for the iconic performance! This whole album is bursting with quirkiness and rawness! Continuing with my Nirvana comparison, the singer uses a similar vocal style to Cobain’s screeching, pushing their voice past the limits and getting a raspy sound, it’s very impressive! This is definitely an album that I’d revisit and I’d love to explore some more of Meat Puppets’ work, especially if any of it sounds like this!

Gods i love this cover. While i am not one to like abstract, this just does something to my drunk brain.

"I don't like the singing at all. It's so whiny and weak and nothing. It's kind of telling that the best track is the instrumental one." "Not only do I hate this but I hate anyone who likes it." The Kirkwood brothers continue to baffle listeners after all of these years, it seems. This was a huge influence on my shifting musical tastes in college. It all starts with three things: Mark Prindle and his amazing record reviews, lots of album swapping with friends, and my shift from classic rock to punk. My favorite 80s alternative rock bands at the start of college were Minutemen, Melvins, the Replacements, Sun City Girls and Meat Puppets, the latter two hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. While Meat Puppets (and indeed, the other bands) had roots in punk rock and/or experimental music, it was clear that it wasn't at all what they wanted to play in the long run. Meat Puppets' favorite bands include the Grateful Dead and ZZ Top, for Christ's sake. Not the most favored bands in punk rock at the time. If you think this album is noisy, PLEASE AVOID their In a Car EP and debut self-titled album! Influenced from acid-dropping psychedelic jams and sessions, those albums are hectic, chaotic, screaming messes. I love them, they are hilarious, but things got way more listenable on II. Some of the noise is still here: "Split Myself in Two", "New Gods", "Lake of Fire", but what about the rest, eh? "Lost", "Oh, Me", "The Whistling Song"? Can you even call that punk rock? Yes and no! At the time, Meat Puppets were getting very tired of playing simply noisy hardcore music and more interested, in the words of Curt Kirkwood, of "pissing people off". Punk rock was never about having a generic formulaic style, it was about doing your own thing. These guys come from the desert and wanted to play the music from the place that inspired them. This album evokes it in the most soulful, honest way that they could emulate it. "Cow punk", used to classify them at the time by the press, is such a lazy term. This is truly desert influenced psychedelic music with country and punk influences. I've been to Phoenix - it's hot, it's dry, but more importantly, it's cool, irreverent, and very weird. This album really emulates all of the desert moods and climates: the calamity, the darkness, the calmness, the odd, mystic beauty of the great empty spaces. The sunsets and sunrises! As someone with synesthesia, this is one of the most "colorful" albums I know of. Pinks and greens and reds and violets come to my mind, with each strum on the guitar, especially on psychedelic marvels such as "Aurora Borealis" and "We're Here". As disjointed as they may sound, listen to how rhythms combine and glow with the guitar/bass interplay of the Kirkwoods, with Derrick Bostrom holding down the fort as a bit of chaos comes and goes. I've seen them live (without Bostrom), and they were as tight and methodical as you'd ever imagine. I agree that the singing is perhaps a bit of acquired taste, but in the same vein as ALL traditional country/old timey music, they are singing with their natural voices, intently and honestly. Why give Dylan and Jagger a free pass and not these guys? Sometimes they intentionally mess things up, but that's just in their nature. Love it or leave it. Along with the melodies, my other favorite thing is really the lyrics, with mind-boggling imagery and metaphors: "Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau Some belonged to strangers and some to folks you know Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands "There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop And an illustrated book about birds You see a lot up there, but don't be scared Who needs action when you've got words?" "Where do bad folks go when they die? They don't go to heaven where the angels fly They go to a lake of fire and fry Won't see 'em again until the 4th of July" "Walking the breezeways again Thinking of something, my friend I've grown tired of living Nixon's mess Walking the breezeways again" Maybe this album was added because of their guest appearance in Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance, but good on the editors for adding this one instead of Too High to Die or something. SST was signing some of the finest Americana music at the time (which would later be known as post-punk), packaged with irony and dark humor and amazing playing that would set the bar for independent rock later on. Meat Puppets would continue to release lots of interesting stuff. For fans of virtuoso guitar playing, all of their albums are worth checking out. Just come in with an open mind and understand that the music isn't necessarily played for US, the listeners, in mind. This isn't pre-packaged commercially friendly music. But it's definitely meaningful and rewarding, as long as we're willing to listen to their unique vision and approach to rock music. I know I am. Still speaks to me after all these years.

Chill enough and they are skillful as can be. Very unique sound but not necessarily one I'd seek out nowadays Highlights: "Split Myself in Two", first "Aurora Borealis", "Teenager(s)"

The instrumental tracks are the highlights of this record. The dissonant vocals and chaotic melodies take center stage and beg for attention. Not a bad album by any means.

It's a little interesting how much the Meat Puppets changed their sound from the 80's to the 90's. I admittedly don't know a ton about them, only their more commercial stuff from the 90's. I guess I wasn't sure what I was expecting in their second album here. It's pretty raw and almost experimental at points, introducing some bluegrass/country on top of a punk foundation. The vocals were lacking, however.

I enjoyed this album more than I remembered, I prefer the live unplugged versions performed with Nirvana but there are some great moments throughout this album that make it enjoyable

kinda bad didn't like it

Good

I've heard Nirvana's cover, but never any songs from Meat Puppets before. Ended up enjoying this quite a bit. They mix up the tone quite a bit on this album. 3.4/5.

I didn't know the influence these guys had on grunge and the Seattle sound. I love the artists that drew inspiration from them, and I can hear where that influence came from. I think this is album is surprising and entertaining. Pops of psychedelic rock with some country and roots in punk. I don't love the vocals, but I usually don't on punk albums. That's not the point of the record. The overall sound makes up for it.

The instrumental songs are fine, but god those vocals suck. 1.5 stars

Get's some stars for the variety of styles ,but that's about it.

I was looking forward to this and the songwriting is great, but the execution, omg. I got more and more upset about the tone deaf vocalist, like why? Also, slow down sometimes. If it was not for Kurt no one would've cared about these guys--he showed that the songs could be good. I can't listen to this again except maybe to cover the songs.

Is it punk? Is it country? Is it grunge? I dunno. And I bet they’re not real sure either. It kind of works, but the contrast between those genres mentioned are very distinct. It’s pretty unique though. 3.0/5.0

Huh. Don't know what u was expecting, but not this. Great instrumentals, strong guitar

It's pretty good!

1984 Second studio album. Largely consisted of noise-filled hardcore punk with unintelligible vocals. While there are hardcore and punk rock-influenced songs, II encompasses a wide assortment of styles including country rock, ballads, and psychedelia. Considered to be their best album. Has a few songs that Nirvana performed on MTV unplugged.

Det er da ret fedt. Troede DAD var de eneste cow punkere, men det her er ret tæt på at være det samme. - Nirvana lavede fede cover sang, men de holder det tro mod Meat Puppets version. ❤️

Det er egentlig utroligt at jeg, i 32 år med Nirvana’s unplugged album, aldrig har fået undersøgt Meat Puppets og deres musik. Nu hvor jeg endelig har fået der hørt har jeg 2 “take-aways”: 1) Vokal betyder virkelig meget. Det behøver ikke være skønsang. Men en vokal kan enten skure en rigtigt eller forkert. Curt Kirkwood skure ikke mega godt i mine øre. 2) Ens heltes helte behøver ikke altid være ens egne helte. Det har klart nogle kvaliteter her og der (de sange Nirvana coverede, instrumentalen, den punkede New Gods og The Whistling Song), men ellers læner der sig for langt ind i en country sound jeg ikke er stor fan af.

Ооочень специфический альбом. Однозначно необычный, но не сильно запоминающийся в целом. Ряд песен весёлые припанкованные. Есть клёвые мелодичные моменты на гитаре в духе последующего инди-рока.

Like probably everyone else, I came to this after Unplugged in NY via the used CD section at Weird Harold's. I get why it was discarded, but it shouldn't have been. Good stuff.

i'm all confused throughout the entire record because it keeps going from an agglomeration of things i hate the most ("plateau" is a perfect example) to things i somewhat enjoy a little bit (honestly, on it's entirety, only "aurora borealis", sometimes other instrumental tracks in part). obviously, scarse ok parts do NOT nearly make up for the horrendous huge bits. sometimes it combines ok instrumentals with terrible vocals (i'm totally OK with singers who can't sing at all, but if it doesn't land it does not land) and i'm left almost mad the track was close to being listeanable. it also left me clueless as to which i hate more: the rock or country music stereotype. i think one redeeming quality which is just really a detail is how this somehow emanates this amateur vibe, coming from a not big hit band and how it being here gives highlight and importance to smaller groups (or at least what feels like it, also given by the fact it's one of the least streamed on spotify so far in the list), but even this fact makes me kinda mad thinking about how many hidden gems made with much less are sooo much better than this and will remain uncovored. what is it about THIS that is the chosen one? so sad. this record gave me a hater day and i hate it for that above all

I liked the instrumental

Very different album and you can really see how it influenced nirvana. I don’t mean specifically the covers that were done on the unplugged album but the loud soft dynamic as well as the unique singing

This is EXACTLY what I want from most album but especially psychedelic rock albums. To make it simple, I want songs that don’t overstay their welcome, I want crazy, wild, insane amounts of variety and genres. I’m even open to genre blending. And I also want a beautiful color filled album cover. This album achieves ALL of those things. It’s also very nearly a no skip album. The only skips on the album for me (and it cause legitimate confusion) was the reprises of “lost” “new gods” and “aurora borealis”. All three of which I thought were better the first time. Especially “aurora borealis”, the second version I felt lost something that made it really special and one of the only songs I knew before starting this review. (The only other song I knew was backwater). I may forever get this band confused with Meatbodies, but I’m so in love with this album now that I’m aggressively hunting it down. I must own this album!

Aside from the songs that would be covered by Nirvana, the best of the bunch is the western-themed Aurora Borealis, a beautiful guitar performance (strangely there is a second Auroroa Borealis on the album). I think if I had heard this in 1984, I would have given it a two star review. The fact that Kurt Cobain fell in love with this music and chose 3 of the songs to be in the unplugged performance gives it another star, in his honor. New Gods is an excellent punk\thrash song and reminds me of Metallica.

Sucks to say but I think I prefer the nirvana versions

Pretty awful. Kind of figures that Kurt Cobain was a fan!

Although I enjoyed listening to this, I think the likelihood of me coming back to it through choice is probably next to zero. The songs I like the most, Plateau and Lake of Fire, are covered by Nirvana in MTV Unplugged anyway and I kind of prefer those versions despite not being the originals.

I didn't get the meat puppets when I was younger but as a slightly older person now, they make complete sense to me. This album reminds me of The Gun Club. Both were sort of doing a cowpunk thing which has grown on me with time.

Used to listen to this and it’s like a good few years ago, now I have no ear for it whatsoever. From a nostalgia point of view it’s fine, but it’s just not pleasant anymore. The scuzzy, low fi, hardcore attitude goes countrified and acoustic has its place and earns the stars, but the sloppy vocals and sound don’t. 2.5 star for the nostalgia.

Some sort of weird proto-grunge bullshit. Must have been well received when the rest of the world was listening to bands like Ah-ha and Duran Duran 🙄

Bit bland

I only know Meat Puppets from Nirvana covers. Their music is different, but I'm not sure why it made this list unless it was because Nirvana loved them? The music might be ok, but the vocals on some songs are grating. Favorite track: Aurora Borealis

Previously unknown. A little disjointed but some of it worked.

I like the meat puppets but Nirvana did the Meat Puppets better than the Meat Puppets.

Does this album represent the first true step towards grunge? Is it more post-punk? Why did Nirvana take such a liking to this? All questions I can't really answer. What I can say is that it was very interesting to hear the original versions of some of the songs that Nirvana chose to do on their Unplugged set. Not surprisingly, I came to the conclusion that the original MP versions were generally inferior. That all said, there are some cool tracks on here, most notably Plateau which is an excellent track. I also really liked Aurora Burealis, probably because the lead singer wasn't ruining this song like he does most of the rest of them. It really is him that holds this back a bunch. All the same, the songs are at least interesting and given what they inspired to come, I am going to give this a generous 3 stars.

Never heard of this band before. Didn’t enjoy listening to this.

Clearly a foundation album for the music that would dominate the 90s

Meh.

This was a fun surprise! Never heard of Cowpunk, but I like it!

I do not get this album!

Perfect blend of grunge and country.

some hardcore stuff on here, but it's very apparent that this album is on this list because of it's "cowpunk" country punk blend. I am led to believe that this is the first or best of it's kind. For that reason I think it deserves to be on a list of 1001 albums you should hear before you die. From what I can deduce from this album, the blend of songs and themes and psych inspired elements make it revolutionary for it's time. Personally, the singing is a bit strained, but aside from that the instrumentation is pretty well put together. I'll give it 3/5, as it's an easy listen, and someone from the desert west can really grow to love something like this. I see it's merit.

Jamais écouté avant. Voilà un album qui sur le papier n'a rien pour plaire : une voix que l'on qualifiera généreusement d'hasardeuse, un mélange de genre qui confine à la mixture indigeste (on y trouve du noise, du punk hardcore, de la country, de généreuses doses de psychédélisme et une bonne louchée de rock'n'roll pour lier le tout), une production brute de décoffrage, une pochette d'une laideur ostentatoire... Et pourtant, il y a dans Meat Puppets II quelque chose d'un geste punk, d'un nihilisme esthétique poussé à l'extrême qui capte notre attention pour ne la relâcher qu'une fois l'album achevé. Comme si l'on assistait, dans les intervalles de ce joyeux bordel, quelque part entre ses mélodies minimalistes et ses instrumentaux tranquillement virtuoses, à la naissance d'un son nouveau, celui-là même qu'on appellera grunge quelques années plus tard. Une incroyable découverte, étrange sans doute, mais assez géniale, ça c'est sûr ! Top : Plateau Flop : The Whistling Song

The band without whom we would not have Nirvana (and surely countless other important groups)! Rating a heavy 3.5/5.

Those vocals are wretched and yet they fit the music. I liked this more than I expected. Already knew Lake of Fire from the association with Nirvana.

Weiß nicht. Klingt irgendwie alt und hooked mich nicht

This one I think I’ll need to go back for a second listen to fully grasp. It was amusing. Very interesting sound— alt rock weird indie vibe. Good energy. Wouldn’t say it blew me away though.

why would people invent something like country punk. like im just curious about the thing. like punk is one of the most based genres of all time while country is just this flaming hot turd. yet it is cool and uncanny at the same time. 4/5.

Another band I hadn’t spent much time with and am blown away by. I played this album back twice. There’s some low moments, but there’s a lot of groove and fun being had on this album. I listened to their album after this, Up on the Sun, and that was even better. A lot less punk and more infectious grooves and melodies. I don’t understand how that isn’t on this list. This album feels like the jumping off point for figuring out things to deliver a solid next album.

Creative guitar work left me enjoying instrumental portions like “Aurora Borealis.” Spotty vocals left me with a mixed reaction to the album as a whole. 3.5 stars, with extra credit for having 19 songs on a regular length LP.

Weirrrrrd stuff

Some.good stuff here, was surprised at how much more I enjoyed the Unplugged versions of the songs they did with Nirvana. Was hoping to enjoy this more.

Quirky and cool. Sounds so fresh for '84!

Good alternative from native US band MPs

The best track is an instrumental, which says a lot about the vocals on this. Interesting ideas in some of the songs could have really used another member with vision to hone these in or at least a producer that was... nevermind, self produced. Explains quite a bit about this. This is exactly the kind of mid tier crap music critics will try to convince you is whatever buzzwords might convince some reader they should try harder to "get it". I dont care that Kurt Cobain loved them so Im not going to pretend its better than what it is.

My introduction to Meat Puppets and honestly I'm keen on listening to more of them. A very good alternative rock album. I especially liked recognising 'Plateau' and 'Lake of Fire' as Nirvana covered them on their MTV Unplugged album. 8/10

Hand up - I thought this was going to be terrible after I started the first song but its really pretty decent. Best Song: Lake of Fire Rating: 5.5/10 Stars: 3

This guy should stick to ... not singing. Ooh burn, get burned (1.3/5) Appropriated from other reviews "Not only do I hate this but I dislike anyone who likes this" And "Like being stuck at a party with an annoying know it all who thinks that they’re much cleverer and edgier than they are. Or talking to an ‘artist’ who has no clue, and turns out they’re a real estate agent"

Another case where the vocals ruin what could’ve been a solid 3 or 4 instrumentally

Good album! You can hear the influence on Nirvana, big time.

An interesting take on country-punk to begin with, but this quickly lost momentum and began to grate in a vocal sense. Not for me.

Didn't see the point of this, to be honest.

It's alright, but I really prefer the Nirvana covers

A fun introduction. Nice and short. Musically very much my jam. I give it only the weak four stars mainly just because of the bad vocals. favourite: all instrumental tracks and the Nirvana-like "Plateau", "Lake of Fire" 3,5

Great band that I didn’t have a ton of exposure too. I can hear how influential they were to Kurt now.

Good album. Probably on here for "Lake of Fire". I think there next album is better, but this shows the bands transition into alt country psychedelic music. I enjoy the fact that they are deadheads who mixed that influence into punk music. 3.5/5 Will listen again

Pretty good, though it mostly is nice to hear the original versions of the tracks Nirvana plays on their MTV Unplugged album. Not bad, just not sure if it's "essential". 3/5

Its not bad, but its not particularly good either!

OK mais si je veux écouter le Unplugged de Nirvana, j'écoute le Unplugged de Nirvana en fait.

Lots of misses here. Two hit home. ★★★

3.32

Haven't heard Lake of Fire in years. I don't recall the vocals being so rough. Ok overall

I adore this record -- whatever "imperfections" anyone may hear in this music only seems to add to its charm. Acid soaked Neil Young punks who are really great musicians and gripping singers/lyricists.

Split myself in two - fast beat, reminiscent of the clash. I like the clash, but this seems like the clash on 45 instead of 33 1/3. I don’t hate it but surely would never put it on voluntarily. Magic toy missing - it Is not getting any better. Is this really a different song? Lost - ok, now it is like the clash at 37rpm. I guess that is an improvement but I still would not put it on without significant monetary inducement. Plateau - this is like the clash at 16rpm. Oddly, it is getting better. Aurora Borealis - the first song so far that would pique my interest if it was playing in the background. Annoyingly, it now sounds like they are switching the RPM during the song. We’re Here - ok, we seem to have plateaued now. At least we are not going downhill yet… Climbing - They seem to have settled on a single RPM now. But really wondering if I should continue…. New Gods - Mostly didn’t notice this one Oh, me - THIS is GOOD Lake of Fire - OK. Definitely would pique my interest if it was playing in the background. I’m a Mindless Idiot - well, you have to love the title! And there is no singing which is a nice break. It is pretty good - now starting to hear some Lynyrd Skynyrd influences and maybe even Charlie Daniel’s Band. The Whistling Song - extended whistling in the song! Nice touch. I can definitely understand why some people might like this. Maybe I would be convinced if I listened enough. Seems like it takes a while for your ears to get used to it and then it improves dramatically. After The Whistling Song, I went back to the beginning and the unexpected speeds and speed fluctuations no longer bothered me. So maybe you just need to spend time with it before trying to form an opinion. I am going to give it a three (but note it definitely was cruising for a one at first! So force yourself to listen to at least half of it before you give up).

At first, I didn't like it & thought it was going to be a slog to get through, but towards the middle, I found it growing on me. Not sure I'd listen again. It was interesting, and I enjoyed the variety of song styles.

Nirvana made me love this album even more

I've heard the term "cowpunk" before, but this is the first time I've felt like I knew what it meant.

besides the nirvana songs, I didn't enjoy this

Proto-grunge. Lovely guitar effects at times.Very good, despite the mumbly vocal.

Woah. There's way more going on in here than I was expecting. Unreal amount of foundation for a lot of music to come.

This lead singer is straight ass. No consistency at all, and you can hear his voice break at times. Most of the songs aren’t good, and two of their actual good songs, Nirvana did better.

It's so funny listening to this so many years after and hearing so much of Kurt Cobain in it. Was this a band that has always been kind of under the radar? Even with the Unplugged album? I think so. I mean I can't say that I've ever heard Meat Puppets come up in any conversation about great/influential bands. But you listen to this and can see that a lot of the rock from the 90s and after owes a lot to this record. I'm not sure I would say that I necessarily like this album, or at least a lot of it, but I do think this is a great album. Not one I would listen to often but certainly important in the history of music. 4/5

Delightfully bizarre.

I don't think I'll enjoy anything named "Meat Puppets"

Early cow punk. Sounds best during the punky numbers. The twangier stuff doesn’t really work. The singing is as rough and out of tune as any thrash metal band. How about some Jason and the Scorchers instead?

Only found 1-2 tracks worth the listen

still not my thing

🎸🦟 🎤🐛 🥁🐝

Scratchy and mean spirited enough to be somewhat enjoyable, yet without the thrust that a similar metal/harder rock project would have to elevate it more for me

I fear I am rating it this highly because of Kurt Cobain's obsession with them, but I think I can forgive myself for doing that.

What a great record. So glad this site made me discover this. A great variety of songs, all well written.

👓

britpop oblige Wholly inoffensive instrumental pieces – I dig

That was confusing at best.

i hear so much of the contemporary music i love tuned into this album. my favorite band's favorite band.

Sounds like it’d be in the soundtrack of a movie of my life

Not really my thing but some of the songs were OK. 2.5/5

I can understand the bad reviews, but this album kept me entertained. Everything seems thoughtful and you really don't know what the next track will hold.

These guys had It. The didn't have IT like Nirvana, but they had It. I don't mean musical talent, but more like a state of being. I see them playing live shows and living fast without second thoughts about their future. At least that's what I have envisioned in my mind. Naturally, it's almost entirely speculative coming from the perspective of a 22 year old UCLA grad. I'm more likely just projecting my own dreams of easy, reckless living.

долбёжка в уши

thank you nirvana for introducing me to this

Really good sound. Clearly an influence to the 90’s grunge/alt sound.

Not really my thing. It was fine, but I don't plan to return to this.

Yeah, pretty ok sometimes. This album isn't amazing. Lake of Fire was good. The instrumentals are fine. I could see myself listening to a song from this album every now and then.

Always wanted to like this band because I thought their name was cool, but they just don't do it for me.

My least favorite part of Nirvana Unplugged was the Meat Puppets songs and yeah still not a Meat Puppets fan; sorry Kurt. Favorite Track - Split Myself in Two Least Favorite Track - Plateau ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This album comes close to many things. Almost country-punk, a hint of neo-psychedelic and beneath the rougher edges melodic songs. Having multiple angles keeps II from getting repetitive and stale, but also makes the record lack cohesion. The group offers interesting versions of these styles, but nothing compelling. The near hardcore of “Split Myself in Two” runs into rapid-fire, but less punk, “Magic Toy Missing.” By the third track, “Lost” the pace slows a bit and the twang comes out in the guitars. This shift sets up one of the album’s famous songs, “Plateau”. Along with “Lake of Fire”, “Plateau” has acoustic guitars that brood over the track creating an updated folk tale of mystery. It makes sense that Kurt Cobain gravitated to these songs at the same time he was discovering Leadbelly. The group shifted gears with the bright sounds of “Aurora Borealis,” which provides a welcome break before they move back to similar sounds as “Plateau” as the album moves towards the end. The vocal skills, production and/or artistic approach give too many songs an uncommitted quality. Not quite demos, but a sense that the band is not throwing themselves 100% behind the material. I suppose this is a deliberate attempt along the lines of some Neil Young records, but he manages to still sound on the edge of some type of catharsis. The Meat Puppets sound similar to Kurt Vile’s slacker style. It allows songs to breathe, but not captivate.

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this. By name I envisioned that a group and album named Meat Puppets would not be my taste but I found a groove with this album. The vocals were grating at times, particularly on the first track were it ruined any possible rhythm I could've enjoyed in the song, but by "Lost" I found it. I wouldn't say I was ever a fan of the singing, but on the best songs my mind was no longer drawn to how distracting, and on the worst songs, how annoying it could be. This made the instrumental songs all the more lovely. "Aurora Borealis" deserves all the credit for this rating, which otherwise would never have reached a status close to this. Followed by "We're Here" in which I didn't mind the singing being here. Any grace earned by "Aurora" could've been destroyed here, but they picked the perfect follow up for me to relaxing into the album. Again thankful that the voice doesn't try overpower the jam on "New Gods" like on "Split Myself In Two." The following two tracks, however, make me groan at the finger being poked in my side. Thank god for "I'm a Mindless Idiot" which is the most apt title for an instrumental track by a band named Meat Puppets. Should've been the closure instead of "The Whistling Song" which I do like, but doesn't end as strong as the previous track did for me.

- [ ] Never heard of album or band. It’s very clearly indie/alt/whiny however you want to describe it. I’m losing patience for these albums. However I don’t hate split myself in two. Really good songwriting. Cool guitar. Not whiny. Really cool guitar on magic toy missing. Nothing else to this one. Country vibes to lost. Good guitar again. Not very catchy. Singers voice kind of sucks? But the lyrics are good. Vocals are better on plateau. This song is good. Nice guitar riff on it. Fun song I’d say. Maybe have heard plateau? I like this one. I like the guitar again on aurora borealis. I don’t feel like it’s missing something even tho there’s no lyrics which is a good sign. Again I kind of hate the singers voice on we’re here but it’s well written. Back to western with climbing. Ok song. Really good guitar solo on new gods. I just don’t think this guy is a very good singer unfortunately. Because again it’s good production/background music on oh, me but the vocals just don’t cut it. Just an awesome guitar. Again I feel like I’ve heard lake of fire? The bad vocals actually work a lot better on this one. Lake of fire is pretty forgettable. Nothing about it made me stop and think. I like mindless idiot. The musical only songs have been good. Whistling song is more of the same for this album. Cool guitar and drums with some sub par vocals over the top but well written. Again I like teenagers. More guitar less singing. Awesome guitar/drums again on I’m not here. I’m loving the all music songs. Looks like that’s it for the regular album. Overall fine, JAA. The best song involved no singing which is generally half of a good song. 2.3/5 stars.

I liked some of the tracks. It's pretty eclectic - but did not like the entire album

6/10

This album is touted as a big influence on many early 90s bands and I can see why. This album has a unique sound that must have been mind bending back when it was originally released. Today This album sounds a little tired, I don't think it can be blamed on the band. Just a sign of the times.

Little diamond this one, I really must get this album on cd or vinyl - I said that a few times before with their influences

it was a pretty good album but the vocals were not very meaningful. aside from that the guitar was pretty good. the drums were also quite good.

This album was kind of horrible, at least Nirvana made it better. The vocals were so off tune and the instrumentation was not very diverse. Overall, not a good album, but I would recommend this to punk fans looking for some interesting vocals.

I like how the song sounds and how the album cover looks like. Because It looks like they used paint (Which they did) the red paint and yellow. Looks like a Cerberus but with one head and the blue and white. Look like stars or like portals that are in the sky. I would also recommend this song to my family tree :D

If you like weird music you will for sure like this one but if you don't you should still check it out.

me no like. not my tipe

love ti i definently recommend

It's interesting how the guitar solo is at the end, but It still sounds great. The sound of the singer's voice is not my favorite though.

It was alright, I liked the instrumentals and lyrics but the vocals weren't the best. I'd still recommend to any fans of psychedelic rock.

To be honest I didn't like this album, it's definitely different from all of the other albums we got. I don't like whoever is singing and I just don't like how it sounds. Overall I'd give it a 2.

This album wasn't my favorite but it was good. I do recommend.

Pretty awful vocals, saved from a 1 star rating by the instrumental tracks.

High 2. Not a fan of vocals or melodies, but instrumental songs were good

Slacker punk filtered through the desert, Grateful Dead, and LSD.

First time through: Hey, this isn't too bad - better than I thought, I can see what Cobain saw in these guys. Second time through: Wait, this is even better than I thought - the instrumental songs not filler at all, they might be the best songs on the album. Third time through: This is the greatest album I have ever heard, I am naming all of my children "Meat Puppets".

No private session used for Spotify. I have listened to this album quite few times, I like it. Its fun to hear the starts of excellent 90s rock coming out from a sort of country album. Sort of a country album, as its bit all over the place. Yes, the singer's voice is rough, but the guitar work is awesome.

Album carino ma che ti sa anche fare scuotere la testa. 3 stelle se le merita, non di più.

the order of the songs or the album itself didnt really make sense to me

Honestly wasn't sure what to make of most of it

Was just recently trying to get into Meat Puppets through Up on the Sun so this is good timing. Feels kinda Minutemen-esque, which to me is a good thing. Somewhere between them and maybe X. Some Pavement maybe? Feels very West Coast cause I'm also thinking maybe some grungeness here and there. I like that they haven't kept in one pocket. They feel punk but not just punk. Sometimes folk, sometimes close to Country. Hell, Lost feels closer to Creedence than any other influence. I like how loose the songs feel but yeah, sometimes it does start to fall apart. That can be part of the charm but I think it starts to wear thin sometimes. I'm close to giving this a 4 from some of these big swings that don't always work but leave me appreciating their wonderful mess. But without hits I don't think this quite reaches the highs they could. Highlight: New Gods

It's not for me, messy AF and the dude can't sing, but I can at least appreciate the appeal and influence on Nirvana, Pavement, Wilco, etc.

the perfect soudtrack to being ripped apart by vultures deep in the american desert

This was okay. This was in that weird transition era from more traditional rock and roll to the fully bloomed punk & alternative scene of the 90s. I like Nirvanas unplugged covers of them better than the original recordings. By the same token, they were likely one of the influencing groups for what took shape in the 90s. There were definitely some good sounds on here, but my favorite songs were the ones without words.

As most people I am familiar with Meat Puppets because of Cobain covering "Lake of Fire" in Nirvana MTV unplugged live in NYC legendary '94 concert. This is very punkish alternative album, which I've quite enjoyed listening to. One can definitely see how this band was massive influence to Kurt's style. But apart from Lake of Fire and maybe couple of other tracks it's not super memorable, at least 3.5 on RYM and 3 stars here though. Good music

Its a good one

Similar to Pixies. Not sure what everyone else saw in them. I wish I liked it more than I do.

I like a lot of these songs but man the vocals suck. Nothing groundbreaking but listenable as long as the singing isn't getting too whiny (which is way too often). Best songs are the instrumentals. Yeah.

B+

Pre Listen: Title sounds like an album Bender from Futurama would listen to. I've never heard of them, but the cover art is pretty. No expectations. Notable Tracks: Split Myself in Two - Fastest intro song to date that's instantly made me feel as though I'll either absolutely hate this album, or really love it. The distortion effects are bodacious. Aurora Borealis - At this time of year! At this time of day! In this part of the country! Localized entirely within your album?! I like it. Teenager (s) - Least favorite track on the album. My eyes almost rolled clean out of my head. "Guys, being a teenager is so hormonal and depressing!" someone sure got bullied growing up, I just know it. Skipped after 1m 40s. Post Listen: The vocalist cannot fucking sing holy shit. Frustrating as fuck. I think I would've given this album higher, but the vocalist is so amazingly awful, it bumps it down to almost a 1. I've heard some bad, some meh, and some intentionally bad vocals on this project, but this might be the first one where I think he's actually trying and sucks this bad. I've heard children crying on airplanes that sound better. To be fair the instrumentation is also inconsistent. Some songs I really did like, others sounded generic or boring. The psyche rock leaning songs were best, the folk leaning songs were never quite bad, but not good either. Despite that, a purely instrumental song was so, so much better than *anything* including the vocalist. For both issues with this album, many, many such cases, and more to come I'm sure. If it weren't for the fact that this album was composed by more than just the vocalist, and leaving a 1 because of him alone would leave a bad taste in my mouth, I have to leave a 2/5.

Bored. Stop boring me. I liked Plateau the most I guess.

This was fun. There's a really fun garage-punk-band feel that reminds me of my friends' bands I'd go see back in the day. The instrumentation is the real star for me, as I can kind of take or leave the warbling lyrics. But this album as a whole is a lot of fun to listen to. And hearing the original Lake of Fire that Nirvana famously covered in their Unplugged performance is really neat.

I liked this more than I expected too.

A treasure trove of essential songs. A strange synthesis of folk and blues with a hint of maybe country

Loved the music but not the voice…

It’s like punk country, Johnny Clash or The Sex Six Shooters. I liked most of it

Saw the name and title and shat it a bit, thought im not in the mood for this But it sounds fairly decent Im a mindless idiot is great I dont know this makes sense, but I really got a good gauge of how much I was enjoying it when the bonus tracks came on and I didnt like them at all

Cool music, not much of a singer though. Good on him for trying. Some great guitar work.

I definitely always thought the Meat Puppets were, like, thrash metal or something. Turns out it’s kinda jangly psychobilly. Not really my thing, but I didn’t hate listening to it! Probably won’t return to it. But I can see the talent.

Kurt put us all onto something here

Great musicians. The singing ruined it for me, is it 'microtonal'? The vocal melodies are similar to what my wife sings when she parodies bad singing.

This is very very very good.

Possibly my least favorite SST band. It's not terrible. They are obviously talented musicians. Usually I like "punk outside the box" and this certainly qualifies, but something at its base level here just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe it's the country influence? Tough for me to nail down the root of my disinterest, but it's real.

rythme du galop a cheval // 3.5

not a big fan

I didn't think it was great, but I do think that at 19 tracks that are on average around 2.5 minutes long, there was a surprising amount of variety. And if nothing else, that kept things interesting.

The more I hear from bands like this and Mudhoney, the more affirmed I feel in my long held suspicion that Nirvana was not all they were hyped up to be.

The songs seem good, but the vocalist’s choice to sing poorly was too much for me. Very annoying.

The best part of this album is Nirvana's covers of Plateau, Oh Me and Lake of Fire.

this kinda 80s rock is just not interesting to me at all.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many different distinct genres on one album. I’m not talking about influences of punk, or hints of country… they have straight up country songs on here. Along with grunge, punk, acoustic, instrumentals… it’s wild. It’s good but it’s wild. Definitely ahead of its time.

The out of tune singing is really hard to overlook. I do appreciate that they tried to mix things up stylistically across the album (although within each song there is often a TON of repetition) but some of these notes have me wincing.

Liked it more than the comments said, not too bad... But not very good

1001 albums to hear before you meet the puppets and stars 117# My meat just gives a punk track with awful sounding mixing and production just to put me on edge that I'm before a cool punk album I never heard of... but no the next song is clearer.. but it is joking with you in some way i can't understand. Am I suffering bullying by this Meat guy? Telling my mum right away. The word that comes to mind is jolly. Looking to the genres.. yeah Cowpunk is not a bad way to describe it's sound. Really sounds that those 'its da first of d month' cows getting a blast hearing this too. Enough chit chat, some of the songs begin to take itself serious and then end up on a careless way, with the vocalist giving the most 'why not?' vocals. I want to understand this. It's interesting to an extent. Lyrics that describe nightmarish surroundings.. with walls becoming waterfalls and it becoming.. thoughts that say things..? Way too abstract. Ok he's really joking. And I'm really suffering bullying, cause im not the one laughing. im afraid. My guy just said 'yeah and this doesn't rhyme'

C'est du bon

C'est hyper raw c'est marrant genre on dirait qu'ils sont pas passé par le studio, mais du coup c'est assez intéressant.

They say it was influential, ahead of its time, Cobain. I say it has its moments, more disjointed than cool and eclectic, ehh.

I'll grant this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed the album. I wish I had come across it in 1984, and it holds up really well. It's protogrunge by a band that sounds like a more mature version of Violent Femmes.

Not sure why but Curt Kirkwood’s unhinged vocal style appeals to me. I enjoyed the album - the music in some parts has a beat people could polka to. “Lost” is one of my favorites on the album. “We’re Here” is quieter for the band, but enjoyable.

Love it

That was...eclectic.

Best een vette cover, het eerste wat ik las ging over een super hardcore band dus ik zette me schrap. Maar dat is deze muziek in elk geval niet. Echt totaal niet zelfs, luister bijvoorbeeld eens naar Climbing, wat een soort country nummer is(?). Blijkbaar was hun eerste album wel hardcore, maar dan niet Paul Elstak hardcore(krijgen we daar ooit iets van? ) maar de hard metal hardcore. Het is weer een lekker afwisselend album, met vreemde country nummers, heerlijke instrumentals en saaie indiepoprock. Opzich wel fijn dat alles word uitgeprobeerd, maar ik blijf hier toch altijd het All You Can Eat buffet idee van krijgen - er is werkelijk van alles, maar toch is een hoop niet zo geweldig uitgewerkt. Beetje jack of all trades, master of none. Tuurlijk; ik mag niet klagen, het alternatief was blijkbaar een volledig hardcore album en dan heb ik toch liever dat ik eens in de 8 nummers rechtop ga zitten omdat het goed klinkt dan dat ik bijna een uur lang zit weggedoken vanwege boze muziek van boze mensen. Maar toch he. Het valt me ook weer op dat hier de instrumentale nummers mn favoriet zijn. De zanger is namelijk, zoals zo ontzettend vaak op deze lijst, niet zo best. Zeikerig, nasaal en verveeld klinkt ie. Oftewel; gelukkig is er niet zoveel waar hij prominent aanwezig is! Maar dit album duurt bijna 50 minuten. Niet belachelijk lang ofzo, maar wel veel te lang voor de kwaliteit van de muziek. En al helemaal voor de kwaliteit van de zanger. Jezus wat een slechte week is dit, dit word ook gewoon weer 2 sterren. Luister maar eens naar What to do... Das gewoon echt heel slecht. Dit zou niet moeten worden uitgebracht op een professioneel label, laat staan in een lijst van 1001 albums die je absoluut moet luisteren voor je doodgaat!? Mijn god, ik hoor betere zang en muziek op een gemiddelde karaoke avond. FAVO: Arora Borealis, Im a mindless idiot

Yucky

It's kind of remarkable that Meat Puppets have never come up in any of my grunge (and adjacent) playlists. I had only heard the Nirvana cover of Plateau for instance. I didn't like everything on this album but I have no complaints about the instrumentation. I particularly like that the guitar never felt like it was there just to be there. I definitely enjoyed the experience overall and hope that they come up again later on.

I've taken a couple of cracks at a few Meat Puppets songs and unfortunately I favor the Nirvana covers (feat. the Kirkwood brothers). The album as a whole isn't a bad time, and there's no duds but it definitely doesn't wow me. Sad to say.

Like many I'm only familiar with the Meat Puppets via Nirvana's Unplugged album, so I was interested in hearing this. Unfortunately the strained vocals so low in the mix are pretty unpleasant to listen to at times. The tracks Nirvana covered are the highlights, but Nirvana did them much better.

Messy, gross, and wonderful.

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: Plateau, Lake of Fire, Aurora Borealis (both of them) Oh man, I love these two Nirvana covers, Plateau and Lake of Fire.... oh wait, this album came out 5 years before Nirvana's debut album, and 9 before Live In New York. AND, Meatpuppets helped perform the two songs during that live set in NY. Whoops :) But seriously, this album is a mixed bag. It's musically all over the place, spanning several genres and although its not too long, it seems long because there's 19 songs to trudge though. There are a couple of genuinely good songs, mixed with some stuff I don't like that veers into the country genre a bit too much for my tastes. This album is apparently a lot softer than their first album, and I would be curious to hear Meatpuppets doing hardcore punk. Maybe its even on the List....

Nothing special. Country indie. Proto grunge. Occasional glimpses of hardcore. Based on that, you'd think it would be a fun, cool listen, but I was kind of bored. It's not a long album but I thought it was nearly over when I was halfway through. Most alternative music from the 80s is very similar, and none of it is particularly impressive or interesting to me. It does seem ahead of it's time, however, could have definitely been a 1990 release. Country music seems to be an american thing that you have to be exposed to at a young age in order to normalise it and enjoy it. I was not raised on it and I find anything vaguely Country-esque to be asinine, unwanted, and performative, with their cowboy twang and their yodelly inflections that magically vanish when they speak. Therefore, to me, a very average 80s alt album is only diminished by the presence of Country influences. Aside from that, this album is okay, it's nothing special and I was mostly bored. None of the songs warrant my attention, they're very half formed, meandering, uninteresting, filler. Omg can this album just hurry up and be over already, how is this 47 minute album 2 hours long, and why are none of the tracks worth the effort. Everyone's like ohh but Cobain loved them, they must be good, yeah Cobain loved heroin too so what? It's okay in places, but not essential by any means.

Standard midwest punk sound. Nothing amazing.

Had high hopes for this after the first track but it loses it's way at points.

Just don't have the patience for this craic (or rather lack thereof).

5/10… cowpunk / 80s alternative / *1984

Heard of these guys before, seeing as they were SST contemporaries to one of my favorite bands of all time, The Minutemen, but this is my first time checking them out. They're pretty damn good, carrying a lot of what I love about the fellow label mates: prominent (but simple) basslines, witty lyricism, country twangs, and other perplexing genre fusions, it has it all. They're certainly much slower than your typical punk act, focusing more on creating these dense guitar-filled environments, like with 'Lost', which feels almost like a spoof on a tried-and-true '70s country rock cliche. Or the hilariously reverbed guitars closing out 'Plateau'. The guitar work here might be the overall highlight; it's pretty ahead of its time for the early '80s, containing all these shimmering arpeggios and liberal use of heavenly pedal effects. 'We're Here' was another highlight, with the guitar effects eliciting this feeling of sitting in a warm hot spring; there's something almost ambient about it. You also get the weird psychedelic and almost acid turn of the noiser interlude 'New Gods' which was a nice change in pace. Vocals here need a shout-out as well; they're the sort of off-kilter, awkward thing you'd expect out of later '90s slacker rock acts. The bass is great as well, especially on the swelling psych-infused outro of 'Teenager(s)', which is one of the most gorgeous moments on the album. The bass on the following 'I'm Not Here' also gives heavy Watt vibes, with its simple but catchy and almost nursery-rhyme-esque melody. Apparently, this album is genre-tagged with "Cow Punk" which is hilarious, but it really does feel like a drunken, misguided, but introspective afternoon out on the ranch, in all the best ways.

05/21 Meh

I listened to this and immediately forgot it. Can't remember it being offensive to the ears so must have been alright 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3 ⭐️

It was ok

Split Myself in Two Lost Plateau Climbing The Whistling Song

Quirky indie pop. Some of it better than others. Never heard anything by the band before but they seem to have a flavour of Velvet Underground and They Might Be Giants. Quite a pleasant listen. 3

Finally something interesting to listen to! Worthy of the list, but not a masterpiece.

3/5

No... no....no....

You can see why Kurt was so inspired here. You just had to be there

I have always loved Plateau when Nirvana played it. Turns out I love the original as well. I almost docked a star for the jam bandinness of parts of the album, but what the hell I would definitely listen to this anytime.

Huhhuh, olipa melkosta kamaa, sillee ei hyvästi sanottuna. Kamalaa laulantaa. Jotain happorokkia. Hauskaa kitarointia siellä oli välillä. Mutta ei mene jatkoon mitenkään.

Eriskummallinen kombo jotain kantria/folkkia ja hardcorea ja jotain muuta siltä väliltä. Ei oikein lähteny omaan makuun.

slightly punky, slightly grungy, lo-fi. Not bad

Not bad but a bit forgettable

Really good. Surprising how much influence they had on Nirvana.

i was always told to listen to them but i never did. i enjoyed it. mix of punk and country. a couple of these songs became famous through Nirvana's "Unplugged" album.

This was an odd listen. I appreciate that this app is trying to introduce you to unique, different stuff you wouldn't normally listen to, and it IS called 1001 albums to listen to before you die and not best 1001 albums ever, so I need to keep reminding myself that. This was unique, not good. I like the (I assume) two different lead singers and I do like that they sound like different bands at times. But overall it was just lackluster, not bad. Nothing noteworthy, other than some interesting lyrics.

Never heard of them. Expecting the worse based solely on the group's name but I was pleasantly surprised. This why one should not judge a book by it's cover. Glad i was exposed.

Another surprise. I was expecting the worse but it wasn’t bad

It’s funny, this doesn’t really sound like anything else I’ve ever heard, but it also doesn’t really sound remarkable to me.

AURORA BOREALIS?!? At this time of day, in this part of the country, LOCALIZED ENTIRELY INSIDE OF YOUR KITCHEN?!?!

Listened 10 May 2026 Interesting vocals

Its a bit annoying and the singing is shit. They sound completely stoned on every song its so funny. Yeah Nirvana made these guys look cool in their MTV Unplugged but theyr really not lmao. Ok its not that bad its just that its caught me out guard because I only knew them from the awesome covers Nirvana did. Obviously they cant be as good as them but its still decent. Too much drugs guy/5

It’s kind of baffling this is from the first half of the 80s. It really has some exceptional peaks but also has some stretches of uninteresting filler. I think the best Meat Pullets album is a greatest hits

A classic when it comes to noisy indie rock. I really like it. I would actially say I like it more the more I listen to it.

idk what the connection (if any) to Ween here is, but Meat Puppets give off that same vibe. i’ve heard a couple of these songs mainly from the Nirvana covers which i prefer but that’s mainly because i grew up with those. this album is just alright

Y pasó lo que más temía, que el álbum no estuviera disponible en ninguna plataforma de streaming de música. Solo los afortunados que tengan el disco en físico pueden presumir que lo pueden escuchar cuando sea. Afortunadamente, un buen samaritano subió las dos versiones del álbum. Y tengo que decir que me sorprendió lo mucho que me gustó, hay algunas canciones que combinan country con rock y haya esas me gustaron. A mi parecer no cantan bien pero aún así disfruté las canciones con letra, y aún más las instrumentales.

The first time i hear the name Meat Puppets is from a book that talk about Nirvana, now i understand something and why they were influential for the works of Kurt. Onestly this is a good album, from punk to psychadelic rock, there's a lot to talk and listen about. Need to listen of a lot of contemporary artis and previous/next work by them,

Nope

Bad album

Such an obnoxious voice

This guy cannot sing but somehow this album is lowkey awesome

Wyobrażam sobie świat w którym komuś się to podoba

This is alright. The music is pretty interesting. Sort of an eclectic mix with some countryish aspects, some psychedelic aspects, some heavier stuff, etc. Nice guitar work, nice mixing, it all works together pretty well. I'd heard the Nirvana cover of "Lake of Fire" but I didn't realize it was a Meat Puppets song. But I didn't really know anything about Meat Puppets before this. I'd heard of them, that's about the extent of my knowledge. The vocals are less for me. "I'm a Mindless Idiot" is a nice instrumental. Another inoffensive album I'm not disappointed that I listened to, but that probably won't stick with me.

Eh

Wild, inspiring to Nirvana

Too country for me

I really wanted to like this because of its ties to Nirvana Unplugged. And while I find the Meat Puppets tunes on that album to be the best of the bunch, the original versions here aren't as strong. The rest of this album is just okay as well. Glad I finally listened to it, but sadly it didn't hit the spot.

i feel like i should like this more than i did

The vocalist sounds like a cross between lou.Reed and jonathan richmond except that he can't sing

I can see why Kurt Cobain was such a fan.

Enjoyed the variety on this. 3.0/5.0: Good

strong start that wanes over time

Too Long

Je n'avais jamais entendu le mot "cowpunk", j'achète! C'est un intéressant mélange de genre (country punk psychedelic), qui de ce que je connais n'a pas souvent été revisité depuis. J'aime le son de bass, super punchy. Des parts de guitare magnifiques aussi. Les autres auditeurs semblent parfois hair la voix du chanteur, ça se passe ou ça se casse. Super weird, mais super bon album, du moins pour moi ça se passe. C'était un des bands prefs et influence directe de Kurt Cobain. Ils ont d'ailleurs joué sur le live de Nirvana à MTV. 3 tounes de cet album d'ailleurs. Je vais y revenir certainement, belle découverte

This was okay. A lot of inspiration was taken from this album from Nirvana. Had a mix of folk rock, punk rock?

mid

6/10 - I couldn't really get into this. But I think there's something really special here that I might come back to. It has a lot of personality Fav Tracks: lol the nirvana covers Heard before? ---–- ❌ Saved a Song? ----- ✅ Saved Album? --–-- ❌ Will Listen Again? -- ✅

ok folky music.

Scruffy desert punk and psychedelic country built on loose guitars, dry basslines, loping drums, and slurred, offhand vocals drifts with strange, sun-bleached looseness. Listening feels like wandering through a dusty landscape where songs blur together in a hazy, half-focused daze. The result is distinctive and through its slack delivery feels unfocused.

long

Muy para jugar en la pc. Sorprendió. Nota: 3.6

I have always enjoyed this album as a whole better than the sum of its parts. I think that is what makes this one hard to digest for a lot of people.

Not for me. 1/5

It was a pretty cool album after I got over the disappointment of a band called Meat Puppets not being a girl group.

"All of these songs are off their second record." Very familiar with the tunes from Nirvana MTV Unplugged.. I've heard them in their original form (here) several times, but certainly prefer the "give a fuck" effort from the Unplugged versions better. It's actually not even close. That said.. Holy shit, the remainder of this album is pretty enjoyable. I like their departure from their earlier unorganized scream punk. It's like, they learned how to play.. This is a solid slice of cow punk, with its fair share of twangy charm. A hidden honky-tonk in the middle of a mosh pit. I'm going the opposite direction here.. I know the Unplugged songs (and prefer those versions), so let's snag some of those tasty instrumental tunes for the playlist. Spins: 2 Playlist Additions - Magic Toy Missing - Aurora Borealis - I'm A Mindless Idiot - New Gods

Meat Puppets II was an album that came so close to getting 4 stars but just barely missed the mark. When i first heard this band's name, i thought that these guys would maybe be folk or blues but they are psychedelic rock which was kinda close to what i was thinking. I am very into the rough sound that this album is going for and each song had that fun groovy vibe to it which never really hitched but i still feel like there is a hint of laziness to this album which kinda holds it back for me. This album was paced pretty well though so there was never a point where i was begging for it to end. It is a good album, just not quite great. Best Song: Aurora Borealis Worst Song: What to Do

This feels like a high garage school/college band that isn't quite there yet. Lake of Fire is a good song, but could just be a little more polished. Mindless Idiot was another that I enjoyed. They were mellow rock for a while, then teenagers came in and kind of felt unnecessary moving into a song or two that was just guitar (not bad but just different). And then it goes to this even more mellow almost island music by 100% of Nothing sound by the end. It felt really all over the place and I don't really know who they are as a bad. I don't dislike the album just felt like a teeny bit of polish would have made this a gem that shined.

This is some guitarwork that is all over the place and pretty creative. I appreciate the guitar playing. I'm also really impressed that this is from 1984 and sounds very 90's. I've heard of this band but never listened to them. I can hear how they probably influenced alot of my favorite artsist: Nirvana, Beck, Ween, Butthole Surfers, Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr... I was a 3 at first listen but after giving this a deeper listen, I'm gonna go 4. I would like to listen to more albums by these Meat Puppets.

Today I learned cow punk is a musical genre. I'd say that fits this vibe pretty well! I was familiar with Plateau and Lake of Fire, but I think I only knew the Nirvana versions. So I guess this whole album was technically new to me. It was pretty good. I thought the instrumentals broke up the rest of the album nicely. Sometimes the vocals are a little annoying when he leans into the screamy/whiny thing too much, but I enjoyed it overall.

The vocals are off

Vocals were god awful and the album didn't have much flow or direction, which sucks because the rest of the band were pretty good and deserved better

Not sure what genre this is meant to be. Wacky

Forud for sin tid, cool album

Elsker at Nirvana valgte at dedikere 1/4 af deres MTV Unplugged til covers fra den her plade. Den er fed!

Clearly a Curt Cobain inspiration. I like how the vocals didn't match the instruments at all.

Was an interesting mix of tunes. I probably wouldn’t listen to the Meat Puppets, but I am glad I did.

I was never much of a Puppets fan, but I sure love the name, and use it often.

While this is often nonsensical and gristly, it's a million times better than the fifth Elvis Costello record being forced on you. I did not know this is where "Plateau" came from, but it made so much sense right away. Can't unhear Kurt Cobains voice, but the guitar passage at the end of the original here made up for it. "Climging" was also a super pleasant road-tripper. Contemplative, sweet, and direct. "Teenagers" was a perfectly timed instrumental, helping to round out this albums dusty atmosphere. Overall jus ta really simple record I enjoyed at face value. 3/5 the right amount of not over-produced

I really liked this album. I love the super chill guitar rock vibe. Some really nice melodies. I haven't listened to these guys a lot but I like a handful of songs, and didn't know they were the original artists for some of these songs.

Nein! Nein! Nein! Cover, Sound, Gesang, passt alles nicht!

No los conocía, ta gracioso que su álbum anterior era puro hardcore noise y aqui estan de chill

This album was before my time, but holy crap did it influence so many of my favourites. I should listen to it directly more than I have

8/10

Good commute listen

It for me

Fine

sure nice al bum

I would have LOVED this in my CIRRIE days. I still like it! What a mix of styles.

Известна мне по участию в Unplugged Nirvana. Собственно, все 2 кавера, спетые Куртом, находятся на этом альбоме. Неплохой альбом альтернативного рока. Этакий предвестниик гранжа. Но вокал что-то прям не в кассу.

Even at 48 minutes, it’s too long. I started checking halfway through for when I’d finally reach the last track

It was a good album. I really liked Plateau and Aurora Borealis. There was some garbage songs on here, but there was like 13 other good songs. Overall, I would give this album a 3.8/5!

I will not include the bonus tracks from the 1999 CD reissue in this review. If you're familiar with Nirvana, then you're likely also familiar with Meat Puppets. This psychedelic cowpunk outfit would prove to be influential to many alternative and grunge artists. In the case of Nirvana, it was to the point where Curt and Kris Kirkwood were invited to perform songs from this album with them for their MTV Unplugged performance. After giving Meat Puppets II a spin, I can hear the influence they had on those later bands. This is a pretty manic country punk record, this side of the Gun Club. Opening up with the rapid-fire flurries of "Split Myself in Two" and "Magic Toy Missing", I can make out some cool twangy guitar licks from Curt alongside the tight rhythm section of Cris and Derrick Bostrom. Pair that with Curt's shaky vocal ramblings dealing with trepidation and self-discovery, and the resulting sound of this album feels very timely for the alternative acts that would follow. Sure, the lo-fi production made some songs lack a certain punch, and I wasn't much into the repetitive "New Gods" or the closing track "The Whistling Song", but it's amazing how much craftsmanship they fit into such a tight package. Obvious highlights are the songs Nirvana would later cover with them, like "Plateau" and "Lake of Fire", but I also dug the atmospheric exploration of the instrumental "Aurora Borealis", the straightforward country tune "Climbing", and the acid-drenched angst of "Lost". Overall, Meat Puppets II is a solid record; a stylistic shift for the band that proved substantial.

2-3 chillig aber vllt bisschen langweilig