Reviews (page 5 of 7)
An interesting album, main highlight being the two tracks covered by Nirvana in their MTV live session. 7/10
Pretty solid.
This was wild. Just the combination of grunge, punk and folk was insane. It was a little chaotic, and then I would know a few songs from the Nirvana Unplugged concert.
The Meat Puppets covers by Nirvana are up there with my favourite songs ever and listening to this album I might see why they appealed to Kurt. However, I’m not Kurt and while the potential is there, the singing sounded very out of tune and I much preferred Nirvana’s arrangements (except for Plateau which was fine here). Points for creativity, maybe not so much for execution. Going to push up to a 3 for writing one of my favourite songs ever (Oh, Me)
Cowpunk? That sounds about right after listening to this album. Unfortunately, despite its distinctiveness it never really got into my head and made a mark.
Some of this, mostly the instrumental parts, really caught my ear. Some of this seemed like something that I would have been into back in the 90s. Some of this was irritating to my ear, and that 90s self would have probably been even more irritated.
This was a real mixed bag. There were moments I kinda liked. I guess I can say I never really hated it or anything, but it didn’t grab me in any notable ways either.
I wanted to love this but it's just ok. Also, I can't believe I'm saying this, Nirvana's version was better.
Halfway decent mostly, but not a great deal more and not exactly smart or polished. A few cool sonts including “Aurora Borealis” and “We’re Here” and “What to Do."
The music in this is great and I appreciate the range of different genres they can pull off, but the production of this is pretty awful. I'm not sure if the production was done like this one purpose (for vibes/atmosphere) but either way I believe it takes away from the enjoyment.
First few songs were okay, then I got a bit bored tbh
hated half of this but enjoyed the other half
Kurt’s covers were better.
3.5
Kind of sounds like music my friends in high school wrote, except this is by more talented musicians.
Interesting listen.
Quite influential. I can hear how Kurt Cobain was influenced by these guys. But it is a bit herky-jerky and inconsistent. Still decent and kind of cool. Might grow on me with more listens.
Actually enjoyed this
Pretty good but non-transcendent, really, cowpunk never really having developed into much more than an interesting but minor sidebar within the corpus of late 20th-century popular music. Best cuts: “Aurora Borealis” and “We’re Here” both of which are mellow-groovy. “What to Do” raises a wistful sort of smile, but is borderline novelty. The handful of punkier-thrashier cuts are much less interesting. One supposes the pronounced warble of the singing is intentional (something about the unevenness of modern life, perhaps, or maybe just keeping it real) and certainly it seems effortful, but the returns are mostly mixed and ultimately diminishing.
I’ve had the Meat Puppets’ Plateau on rotation since hearing the Nirvana Unplugged cover. Great song, and I like parts of this album, though some points a bit too raw for me. Fave Tracks: Plateau, Aurora Borealis, I’m a Mindless Idiot 3.2/5
I have mixed feelings about this album, but some of the songs were really great.
So much better than I was expecting
3.2
There are some real gems on this record. Meat Puppets rock!
Meh
Interesting
Interessanter Punkrock mit Country-Einschlag.
I was not expecting cowpunk from a band called Meat Puppets. To be honest, I was surprised about cowpunk in general. I kinda dig it. More of a 3.5.
Really really like the instrumentation but I can't get over some of those vocals, some tracks blend together but I really did like some songs here. Short listen. Fav tracks: aurora borealius, lake of fire
overall good album with some nice instrumentation and a few good vocals. best songs: lost, oh me, 100% of nothing
Never listened to this before, and I'm blown away that this sound was around in 84. They would sound perfectly in place a full decade later.
A bit of a bizarre album. I bounced off the start of it hard, but then parts of it were actually enjoyable. The vocals were just too weak for me, for the most part, but it worked on some songs. It's not something I'll revisit, but I'm glad I heard it.
Whoa- some of the songs are just loud noise. But I preserved and enjoyed a few tracks like Lost.
I know this is good because Kurt Cobain liked it.
This is the post punk pre grunge album that could’ve been really big either 10 years earlier or 10 years later. It fell in the middle and I feel the meat puppets don’t get as much credit as they should. Inspiring nirvana is a big deal as they are one of the best and most enjoyable bands for every generation as they age. Also the meat puppets have these guitar interludes that are so jammy and are almost like indie rock nowadays. Pretty funny how cyclical some things can be. This was pretty good overall. Some songs were a stretch but others were very solid. 6.4/10
I’ve listened to the originals from unplugged before but not the rest of the album. Enjoyed
Album Nr. 73 Na ja. Insgesamt mittelmäßig.
Cowpunk. I dig it.
Solid punk rock music
Surprisingly alright, some songs worth listening to again
Better than I was expecting. Not exactly musical, but the boys had a nice fun vibe.
This album has its merits whenever the band strays away from the punk formula and emphasises the groove of their music which is certainly hidden there. Lots of potential but in this form not something I'd put on a list of the greatest albums ever.
Of course there's the Nirvana link. Would anyone have listened to them apart from that? Would they have made the 1001 chart otherwise? I suspect not but this is in fact a really good album and deserves to be listened to all on it own. I found myself dipping into this all day so maybe it's a new discovery?
Not bad! Like pre-90s grunge. I recognized the songs on Nirvana's MTV album, which I got a few months ago. Cool to hear the originals.
I think the 3 tracks Nirvana covered probably are the best ones, but aren’t they weaker without Kurt Cobain’s vocals…? I suppose the Meat Puppets version of Lake of Fire does have an added unhinged edge to it. Regardless, this is a decent listen that sounds pretty unique. Quirky and scratchy and eclectic.
An interesting set of songs of what sounds like country to grunge. Not sure I'll every listen to this album again by choice but happy to have had the opportunity to listen to it once.
I'm significantly split with this one. On one side we have a very good guitar. On the other too much whining without any commitment.
When Plateau came on I was like oh I know this song! So thanks Nirvana for introducing me. I couldn't help but think this sounds a lot like Dinosaur Jr. and I'm not sure if there's a connection there. Anyway, I found myself enjoying more of the bonus tracks. Faves: Plateau, Lost (Demo Version), and Aurora Borealis (Demo Version).
A scuzzy mess, but it has its charm, and you can definitely hear what Nirvana lifted from them. Pretty groundbreaking for 1984! I'd probably go 3.5 if that were an option - can't quite justify rounding to 4 though. Fave track - "Plateau" is fun, and segues into "I'm a Mindless Idiot" quite nicely
i had no idea what to expect when i went into this one. i am actually a bit floored because listening to this album, it sounds like it is from the 90s - contemporaries of bands like pavement or ween, but this album is really ahead of its time. it must have been insanely influential on bands like those. album is a bit rough around the edges, definitely not your easy listening fare, but i enjoyed the way it weaves between a punk-ish sound and a country twang. were it a little bit more coherent, i think i would have more fallen in love the first go around, but i think this is more of a grower to me. definitely can see myself enjoying this more if get more acquainted with it.
honest and straight
Surprisingly varied album. I still don’t like the whiny screams vocals, but I really liked some of the instrumentals. Aura borealis stood out.
Didn't find this album to be super interesting.
Very quick-paced. Fun but not good for restless leg syndrome. A few songs now are almost prog-y. And now we have country?
They sure had interesting ideas. There was a fair bit of range and variety but not all necessarily to my taste with some songs with a good central theme meandering and not building or concluding in meaningful ways.
It was alright. That's the most I will probably ever say about The Meat Puppets.
This album was really interesting. I assume the Meat Puppets inspired some bands with their unique sound and approach to a mix of Jam Band/Psychedelic, Prog Rock, Country, and Punk. There are glimpses of Primus, Grateful Dead, Radiohead, and Violent Femmes. Lake of Fire was cool to hear. I knew the Nirvana version was a cover, but was reminded that it was originally a Meat Puppets song when hearing this album. Plateau and New Gods were also cool.
A little bit of bluegrass and Gnawa, but mostly chaotic rock
POV cours de chant
Yeah this is a good listen, a bunch of rattling melodic short and sharp songs.
Interesting choice to have seemingly talented musicians intentionally play out of tune
1/24/24. A lot of my favorite bands have cited the Meat Puppets as a huge influence, and I can hear a lot of it on this record. However like the Butthole Surfers, it doesn't hit exactly the same, but still a decent listen. Perhaps I needed to be present when this came out to fully appreciate it!
Meh
Interesting...music was not bad. The instrumentals were good. The vocals, however, were terrible.
Some good music here with a lot of bad singing. Love the nirvana unplugged versions so they get a generous extra star.
Vocals are painful at times but solid songwriting... generous 3
Cool music but difficult vocals to listen to a whole album of
It was okay
Listened twice, it was interesting. The lyrics were good, not a fan of the singing, but it was overall enjoyable. No idea they originally wrote Lake of Fire, only had heard Nirvana's cover prior. 3/5!
Get past the first track and it's not a bad album, but that first track is absolutely awful
Cool! Cow punk! Ik kende het niet, maar leuke plaat, heel gevarieerd, Plateau is zalig, gecoverd door Nirvana op Unplugged; Aurora Borealis ook, afwisselend, goeie energie, punk, maar ook goeie songs. Nice, nog eens luisteren!
I’m really torn on this album. Parts of it are objectively bad, but other parts of it are intriguing and oddly beautiful.
Eclectic Fun listen
Reminds me a little of violet femmes.
You really can't mention this record without talking about Nirvana and their unplugged performance, right? It's really the thing that made this band get some notoriety. There's a part of me that loves pop music and loves super over produced music that you see all over the world today, that listens to this record and thinks "man it's so sloppy and loose and at times bland". And then there's the rebellious, anti-pop, younger brother, underdog in me is like "i love this! It's rough around the edges and it's got emotion!". This makes it hard for me to rate. Of course I love tracks that Nirvana covered, "Plateau", "Oh Me", and "Lake of Fire", because I grew up listening to the unplugged album so much. It's like listening to another band cover songs from a band that I love and know really well, I can't help but enjoy them! I'm landing around a 3/5 for this. Could be a 4/5 with more listens but at first try it doesn't blow me away enough to be that high up.
La seva peculiar barreja de rock alternatiu, punk, post punk... és força interessant. Els temes reivindicats per Nirvana ('Oh Me', 'Plateau', 'Lake of Fire') sobresurten com el millor del disc, però la resta té el seu encant, mig lo fi, mig com desmanegat a propòsit, però en tot moment una proposta original
Cowpunk eh. Well I'll be. Darn tootin'. I knew of the one song Nirvana did on the MTV Special, but the rest I was unfamiliar with. A name I know lots of musicians drop as a band that influences them, but I suppose I hear the skeleton they are referencing but it doesn't quite come together for me in a interesting way. It's close though. 3.5 to 3.
Like the majority of people I heard about the meat puppets through the nirvana unplugged album. But this was the first time I have actually got round to listening to them. Good scuzzy punk album. Glad Iv now listened will I come back, maybe time will tell, for now it’s just a 3 out of 5.
Didn't like every song but I solid album as a whole.
I see the influence on Kurt Corbain
A generally fun 28 minutes of varied and quirky rockabilly punk peychadelia. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: The Whistling Song Date listened: 24/12/23
This record isn't bad, it's kind of interesting, certainly quirky, but I suspect it would have never gotten on this list except for the Nirvana covers of their tunes.
It was sometimes punk, sometimes country and always a mix of everything. Enjoyable.
It’s a pretty interesting solid record. I prefer the cover versions of “Plateau” and “Lake of Fire” by Nirvana, but the rest of the album was surprisingly enjoyable.
This was a mixed bag, but let's call it a three.
Kind of decent! An interesting combination of country rock and punk and early grunge. A few songs really sound like Beck and a few more were covered by Nirvana so this thing definitely had some influence. 6/10
Not bad, not great
Surprisingly tuneful for a band called Meat Puppets.
19 songs, 48 minutes, you know it's going to be punk... except it wasn't for large parts of it. Very eclectic. Apparently they played on a few songs on nirvana unplugged and the singer did remind me of Kurt in parts. I liked lake of fire and lost and a couple of others stood out but I'm not sure I'd say the whole album was good.
I like the Meat Puppets, but all their best songs are on other albums. Plateau is very good though. Discovered Aurora Borealis though. That's a fun one. The version of Lake Of Fire on their album Too High To Die is way better than the version on this album.
you know who lives and breathes Meat Puppets? SHICK does. SHICK is all about delicious puppets of meat poured all over him while he is in a bath full of chicken Bisto. he feels like the beef flavour is to hearty for him. don't get him started on Bovril.
Meat innit
Cowpunk, countryfolk. Escuchable ... Hay un punteo que me recuerda a Guedeon Della (Just For A Day).
J'ai été extrêmement déçu de constater que Nirvana et son leader Mathis avaient bâti leur carrière en piochant dans le répertoire des Muppets. Ceci explique en partie les différents "Maaaa" qui ponctuaient leurs albums.
Cet album fait figure de mise au point, il nous permet en effet de comprendre pourquoi Mathis, le professeur de guitare de robpecunière, est régulièrement pris de crises de MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Liked some of the songs and the guitar riffs, not a huge fan of the guys voice though.
I know nothing about this band but wasn't expecting the style of this album based on the name alone. Really manic vocals but I kind of enjoy the rockabilly otherwise. It vaguely reminds me of some White Stripes.
Living just outside of the second largest city in my home state, while growing up, we were always catching shade for being behind the times. With that context in mind, my friends and I were allergic to anything remotely country and so this "cow punk" album was mostly avoided. Anyone who has dug through the crates, and maybe listened to some Nirvana, could guess this reaction to this album was prior to 1994 and the airing of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance that spawned a Meat Puppets revival of sorts. Not every song on this record is my thing but I enjoy more of it than I would've ever known if not for Nirvana (and I guess this 1001 Records project...).
Really see the influence they had on nirvana's at least on cobain's singing style.
This album is a little to rough
It starts out strong, with a brutal, almost metal-ish punk track. Then as the album went, it stretches and stretches into the country territory, with nice guitar stuff. Overall it's pretty mid, but it's interesting enough to be worth a listen.
This was cool. Surprised I hadn’t heard of them before since I was in college at that time
Weird. After listening to it 3 times, I'm still not sure if good weird or awful weird.
Hey that's pretty good! This album is like trying to milk a cow on coke and ending up depressed for the rest of the day.
You go to a dive bar that happens to have a band playing. After a few drinks you pick up their CD for sale next to the stage to take a look. You put it back down realizing you’ll never listen to it. That is Meat Puppets II.
some cool instrumentals but those were the best parts. never glaringly bad though so probably a low 3
Prefer the instrumentals clever progressions in Aurora, Mindless Idiot where I think they are at their best. Sonically pleasing and inventive mostly, with some very loose interludes. Not especially keen on the vocals, but lyrically interesting. Forerunners of Nirvana for sure in New Gods and Lake of Fire , and thrashy Teenager
The music made me zone out at a couple different points and I would have to relisten in order to figure out how I felt about a given song. Seems like that could have been partly by design and definitely created a unique listening experience, with many songs growing on me. The instrumental tracks broke up the record nicely and I liked them standalone. Could sense the talent in the guitar riffing but I wasn’t enamored by it, but the high tempo helped make it enjoyable. 5.5/10
6/10. Had its moments
A quick excursion to the intersection of punk and folk. 6/10
Respect
I discovered Meat puppets through Nirvana which makes it really tough to not prefer the cover versus the original. I don't like the singers voice but they have some really great songs.
3.5/5. Not terrible. This was my first time hearing the original version of "Lake of Fire" which was cool. There were parts of this that I was huge about, but the instrumentals are pretty solid.
Surprisingly broad scope of sound and style
Fun album, can't believe I've never listened to it. It's not something I loved but it's neat to hear what influenced Kurt Cobain so much.
Yea pretty good mix of sounds
I mostly knew these guys from the Nirvana covers. I liked some stuff, like the instrumentals, a lot. Particularly Aurora Borealis. Really, the playing and songwriting was good throughout. The main detractor for me is the singer's voice. I get that the style isn't intended to be raw, but the lazy-sounding off-key stuff was a bit much for me at times. I see why Nirvana liked them. But mostly I'd prefer to hear the Nirvana covers, with slightly more competent sounding singing.
Beter als verwacht Proto punk
C'était bon, masi pas toujours facile à écouter. Certaines pièces, les chants sont durs à écouter, clairement c'est volontaire par contre. On voit comment cette musique a évidemment été une fincluence majeure pour le mouvement grunge. Je peux pas dire que j'ai tant aimé, mais un autre album qui valait la peine d'être écouté. 6/10
I recognized the band name from the last track on the Sublime album 40 oz to Freedom, called Thanx, basically a list of people and bands they want to thank. Listening to this album, I can hear how this band influenced Sublime with some of the more punk tracks. This album is all over the place with genres, country, punk, early grunge, basically anything they wanted to play, also similar to Sublimes music. I can definitely hear how this influenced Nirvana, two of the tracks, Plateau and Lake of Fire, were covered on the Nirvana live from NY album.
Prob this is somewhere between 2 and 3 but overall it's interesting enough to make me generous
Scrappy, pre-grunge rock.
First off, this cover looks almost exactly like Since I Left You by the Avalanches in my brain. The actual music I was mostly surprised I didn't hate because I got real offput by the vocals at the start. Fortunately, it grew on me and I liked the variety of genres they went through from song to song. It wasn't anything amazing but I wasn't itching to turn it off by the end. Only other note is that I swear I've heard plateau before but maybe it's because it sorta sounds like nirvana.
Seems unpolished and unfinished. Interesting sound, but more tailored for a garage than a venue.
Not having heard this before, what is most striking is how good Nirvana's covers of the three songs on this album. Kurt takes what is delivered here as a 5 or 6 and makes it a 10. It does highlight the weakness that the lead singer has a relatively uninteresting tone and delivery. An ordinary conversation. With that said, the music is very interesting and intricate. The instrumental pieces are some of the best (Aurora and Idiot), though the Whistling Song is also strong.
Not bad! Kept my interest while driving, even if not all tracks were to my liking.
With a decent vocalist, this could have been a 5-star album for me. Because the music is so often sublime. The three instrumentals are among the real highlights. Nowhere moreso than in Magic Toy Missing, where Curt Kirkwood’s guitar playing flows from country picking to the psychedelic with such ease. Aurora Borealis & I’m A Mindless Idiot are also thoroughly interesting. And, despite the shitty vocals, the songs are well-written, but I just can’t get over that voice. At least someone knows how to whistle.
The cover really gives it away; this was written and recorded quickly, with minimal editing and on drugs. Obviously, the Kirkwood brothers had some country knowledge and chops, and when they let those influences into their punk framework (along with a healthy dose of psychedelia), you get a quite interesting thing. Much more interesting than the bulk of the early 80s SST hardcore thing. Using Spot, the eclectic in-house producer at SST, obviously helped. I can hear the influence on subsequent lo-fi bands like Pavement or Guided by Voices (especially the "no editing" thing) and on psychedelic bands like the Flaming Lips et al. That said, this is pretty sloppy, the singing ain't great, and there is a fair amount of material that probably should have been left on the cutting floor. I saw the Meat Puppets at the Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney in 1992 (I think), and my memory is that they were sloppy as all hell, and not in a particularly fun way. I was unimpressed. Would this album have made this list if it wasn't for the three songs that Nirvana covered (with guest appearance by the Kirkwoods) on the Unplugged session? I've never really heard a satisfactory version of why they did those three songs, except for speculation that Kurt Cobain was so disengaged and out of it that they needed the extra material (and musical support) to pad out the session. It's an Ok album, and I happily listened to it three times through, but it is a pretty minor footnote to musical history.
Y'know, this is a tough one. I get how influential these guys are to grunge and, very specifically, to Nirvana. But, it was a tough listen. I do know that the Meat Puppets got more melodic later in their career, so do love them for that. However, the off key singing is a bit off-putting.
I really like the first part of this. And then I really hate it. I'd listen to the start again though.
Tää oli paikoitellen tylsä ja paikoitellen hyvä. Olisin kaivannut kaahailua lisää. 3/5
Muutama riittävän kiinnostava biisi esti ettei olisi kakkoseksi jäänyt. En ehkä ihan saanut kiinni.
Enjoyed it more than I expected from the group name. Especially as it calmed down after a couple of tracks
When we received the Nirvana Unplugged release, I felt the Meat Puppet contributions were a definite plus. Here, I prefer their more country-inspired numbers, as well as some of the instrumentals (or maybe I just don't like Curt Kirkwood's voice?) Fortunately they revisit their hardcore routes infrequently.
Album 146 of 1001 Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II Rating : 3 / 5 Favorite Track : Aurora Borealis Anybody not ran off because of the first track will find that this is a very enjoyable album. Aside from the atrocious vocals, the musicianship is very good. There are some short, catchy tracks that are fun to listen to. But the vocals...not good. Still an overall fine album.
I like the Meat Puppets but I’m less familiar with this album so it was good that it came up today in the rotation here. They are versatile, talented, and, in some ways, a bit ahead of the curve. Good stuff here.
Bunch of different things going on here. Most of it good.
Sucesión de canciones algunas un poco más calmadas, otras con toques más sucios. Alguna canción reconocible gracias al Unplugged de Nirvana. En ocasiones, también con toques country y con predominio de banjo.
Not my taste
Wow I put this off for so long based on how heavy the first track was!!! Then I just decided to finally listen today while I finish some work and wow I'm so amazed by the variation on this album. The funkier tracks I really enjoyed like I'm Not Here and also I found Aurora Borealis really interesting and creative. I just listened to it all (not with great focus mind-you) and I can't actually remember whether there were any vocals at all?? Which is mad to me and not a great sign. Such a strange album though and it kind of makes me like it so much more just for the fact of how surprising it was at every turn haha!
Luke will tell me off for not giving this a 4 but I did only enjoy this so much. I didn't not like it and some songs I did, but I wasn't a blown away as Luke was telling me I should be (awkward!)
This was pretty good. Not amazing, but I did enjoy it. Kind of faded into the background but in a good way. From the style and the date, it must have influenced a lot of stuff I like so can definitely see the appeal.
alt country meets garage rock. sounds like a weird combination, but it kind of works. i’m in for it.
Pretty good edgy 80’s rock that I didn’t know was around when it was around.
It's a decent listen with muddy performances. Whether there is intention or not, I find it's something that holds the enjoyability of these songs back
3.5
I mean... okay? It's... something. There are times when the guitar work or lyrics are really smart but only moments. And man, ol' boy Curt there just can't carry a tune, can he? I don't know. I'm not sure I get the appeal of this one or understand why it's on the list. While I recognize several of these tracks, the album itself is a mess. The only reason I'm scoring this as high as I am is because Spot's production is just really great (as one should expect).
Very uneven album, but I like the sound. The vocals? Not so much.
Was definitely different to what I was expecting. Enjoyed it moderately.
Cobain could have gone with Vedder, Cornell… But he went with Meat Puppets on Unplugged. That alone says a lot. At times they come across as brilliant songwriters on “Oh, Me”, “Lake of Fire” and “Plateau”. At other times the level is not quite there. It’s still a record I would easily recommend.
Sounds like beautiful chaos. I discovered this band when Nirvana did the Unplugged set, which included 3 songs from this album. I can get why Kurt liked them.
sa s'écoute. country/punk/rock. pas mauvais. 6.5/10
Fist time through this one I wasn’t impressed. The more I listen the better I am enjoying it. Favorites: Keeping Pigs Together Others: Some Kind of Kink, Don’t Go Nowhere, The Rough and the Quick 3/5
Enjoyed it. If I listened longer it may go up but a standard 3 is fine for now.
Never heard of the Meat Puppets until Nirvana’s Unplugged album came out. This is my first listen to the album. They have a great sound. Why have I not heard this before? I was 17 in 1984…. This could have been with me my whole life… Right from the start, it rocks. Plateau might be one of the best songs I never heard before! Standouts: Plateau, Oh Me, Lake of Fire, Lost Others: Split Myself in Two, Climbing, I’m a Mindless Idiot, The Whistling Song, What to Do (bonus track) 3.5/5
Cowpunk, countryfolk. Escuchable ... Hay un punteo que me recuerda a Guedeon Della (Just For A Day)
I find much of the guitarwork on this record to be interesting, compelling even, but the cowpunk vocals and trailer park vibes do not work for me.
не, не моё
Quirky and almost child-like. Didn't leave an impression
I didn’t enjoy the opener, found the first couple of songs repetitive in and of themselves. But ended up feeling a little sad the album had ended. Go figure.
I liked it a lot more than I expected to.
Oh cool, cowboy punk! I don't love the vocals on this one, but the instrumentation is good. Also a surprising amount of variety, especially for a punk record. This definitely isn't for everyone, but it's got charm.
As a general rule, the music is alright, but the singer leaves a bit to be desired.
Not too bad and not what I expected
Not unbearable, but forgettable.
Very interesting album with a range of different genres, although ultimately just shy of 4 stars for me personally
This feels like the kind of album where you uncover some hidden depth on repeated listening, but it really didn't do much for me on the first listen. My opinion on first time through is a 2, but I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and add a star.
The sound these guys have is so shitty and awful but in an intentional way that makes it fun to listen to. Just the kind of shitty that comes full circle into becoming good
Leuke stukken, afschuwelijke stukken. Zo wil ik deze plaat graag samenvatten.
A bizarre mix of punk and country, though despite being an oddball kind of album it didn't really stand out to me that much. Might go and listen again eventually just in case it gets better on the second listen. Favourite: Magic Toy Missing
It's fine enough; some good songs. But even though the variety here is fun, it does lead it to be inconsistent, and the vocals... I'm usually all for "unique" vocalists but this was a rough go. Overall it's a good record but there is a lot that I don't seem to get out of it.
Meat Puppets are good or not good not sure I think I like them enough
Some goofy dudes noodling around. At their best they sound like Nirvana, which doesn't surprise me given their influence on Nirvana. At their worst they sound like Some goofy dudes noodling around. Which is what they are.
Debated whether to give this a 3 or a 4 for a while, but ultimately I don't think I liked it enough to listen to repeatedly. It's good though, some very off the beaten path punk music. Might come back to it if I'm in the mood I guess? 3.5 rounded down.
Un bizarre d'album qui va dans tout les sens, mais c,est pas mauvais . 3
Bizarre, genre-bending... somewhere between punk and country, like the country that likes driving in the desert looking for aliens. Obviously I'm familiar with this through Nirvana Unplugged, but I'll admit I like their version of "Plateau" better. Favorite tracks: "Plateau", "Aurora Borealis"
I’d only ever heard of these guys from the lake of fire cover on Nirvana unplugged. Not too bad but nothing special.
Interesting and quite refreshingly diverse album. .swings from genre to genre which makes it a bit uneven but stimulating.
3/5. A unique and one of a kind album. I learned what Cowpunk was so that was cool. Somehow it feels like it is not trying at all but also trying too hard. Still good enough for 3 I think.
Helt okej!
Album was interesting for sure. I would consider this a textbook album. Through you for a loop but still sounded great and something I needed
Proper grungy, who gives a fuck if it sounds shit ROCK. As made famous by Unplugged with Nirvana. Some decent tracks on here. With a classic or two. Sot Plateau Lake of fire Oh me I’m a mindless idiot 3/5
Fairly underwhelming but was likely ahead of its time genre-wise.
Geen enkel nummer bleef hangen. Maar was wel goed voor op de achtergrond
This album should dispel the myth about what a musical genius Kurt Cobain was. He was a damn poser who ripped off others' music even more than Jimmy Page did on the first few Zeppelin albums. Cobain wasn't just influenced by these guys. He didn't have an original idea in his head. As for the Meat Puppets? I like them. This album was pretty good. I wonder if their singer was trying to sound like the guy from the Violent Femmes, or vice versa? Just curious.
The opening tempo feels like an alternate universe where hardcore came from out West. The descent from there never fails, exactly, but the record never peaks. Along with distinction in style, I liked the instrumental back-and-forth of the sequence.
I wish I could tell you what I thought of "Meat Puppets II" without having first heard "Plateau," "Oh, Me," and "Lake of Fire" repeatedly on Nirvana "Unplugged." Hearing the Nirvana versions first just isn't fair. Though I hope they exposed a lot more people to the Meat Puppets? I actually owned the Meat Puppets' "Too High To Die," which came out the year after "Unplugged," though I didn't come to them through the covers. I think it was hearing "Backwater" on the radio. "Backwater" is a pretty stereotypically mid-90s alternative rock song, but the rest of "Too High To Die" is pretty good and holds up well. But the major difference between that album and "Meat Puppets II" is the vocals. Curt Kirkwood simply became a much better singer over those 10 years, and it makes their later work so much better. Their early/mid 80s stuff may have been so underground that they were deliberately going for crappy vocals. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for "Meat Puppets II" (just barely) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for "Too High To Die"
The instrumental songs are great. The lead singers voice is terrible. I don't love Kurt (Cobain)'s voice but it is miles better than Curt (Kirkwood)'s on the MP covers that Nirvana did for Unplugged.
These guys are all over the place. One aspect that remains consistent is that the vocals are subpar. Thankfully…strangely thankfully…there are a lot of instrumental parts to the album. I definitely recognized Lake Of Fire. Digging more, I had no idea that Nirvana’s Unplugged album covers three of these songs (even though Kurt Cobain straight up says it). After making that connection, I can hear the influence on Nirvana. I turned the album off just past the end of the original track list. I made it through. There’s barely enough interesting material to pull this above the JBZ.
I've tried to listen t9 this album several times, and it always starts out str9ng but by the end I've just zoned out and lost interest.
besides the nirvana songs, I didn't enjoy this
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.
britpop oblige Wholly inoffensive instrumental pieces – I dig
That was confusing at best.
Not really my thing but some of the songs were OK. 2.5/5
долбёжка в уши
Always wanted to like this band because I thought their name was cool, but they just don't do it 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.
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.
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.
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
the order of the songs or the album itself didnt really make sense to me
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.
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.
The songs seem good, but the vocalist’s choice to sing poorly was too much for me. Very annoying.
this kinda 80s rock is just not interesting to me at all.
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.
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
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.
05/21 Meh
Eriskummallinen kombo jotain kantria/folkkia ja hardcorea ja jotain muuta siltä väliltä. Ei oikein lähteny omaan makuun.
Not bad but a bit forgettable
Listened 10 May 2026 Interesting vocals
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
Bad album
Such an obnoxious voice
Wyobrażam sobie świat w którym komuś się to podoba
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
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? -- ✅
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
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
It for me
Even at 48 minutes, it’s too long. I started checking halfway through for when I’d finally reach the last track
2-3 chillig aber vllt bisschen langweilig
Did not care for this. Horrible vocals.
Some of the songs on this album (mostly the instrument tracks) were very good. They were dynamic and melodious. But then almost half the tracks were absolutely terrible. Unlistenable.
wasn’t really digging the songs on this album. just felt so random.
Colección de temas entre el country-rock, psicodelia y rock acústico experimental que suena poco cohesionado y, de nuevo, con una voz cantante que me pone de los nervios. Menos mal que la mitad de los temas son instrumentales. De nuevo, por sacarle algo positivo, hay que agradecer la parte experimental, cosa que no pasa cuando cantan. Lo he escuchado tres veces mientras viajaba, por si acaso, pero ni aún así. Hay maneras y maneras de no ser mainstream.
I like the psychedelic aspects and the instrumentals, particularly on aurora borealis and teenager(s), but good god the vocals left more than a little something to be desired. Reminiscent of dive bar karaoke with a friend who's absolutely sloshed.
Si pero no jajaj
certainly one of the albums of all time, pretty mid also. kinda reminded me of the modest mouse album in that this guy cant really sing either lol 2.5
Too noisy. Not my vibe
What a shame. The music was decent, and the lyrics were unique and sometimes clever, but the singing was awful. Keep the Meat—I prefer the sound of regular puppets (i.e., the instrumental tracks).
This was kind of a weird one
Just felt like noise.
If the rest of the album lived up to that first track, I’d be tempted to give this five stars cuz I was definitely laughing AT that thing. “Thing,” not song. What the hell even is this hahaha
El primer tema no me gusto, pense que se me venia un disco duro. Pero despues a medida que fueron pasando los temas los re pude disfrutar (al principio). Me parece raro como se pasa de un tema medio country a otro medio picado. como que no disfruto escucharlo como disco. Esta bien que no le estoy prestando atencion a la letra, pero bueno. tampoco me gusto tanto su voz en los temas que canta bajo
I was expecting more from a band called Meat puppets. All pretty bland and forgettable
Not the sound for me. Preferred the instrumentals Split Myself, Aurora, and Mindless Idiot.
I could sing better than this
I don’t think this is bad necessarily but I’m pretty sure even fans of the album would acknowledge it’s on the list because of the Nirvana connection
Eh whatever. It was nice to hear the original Lake of Fire if I hadn't already heard it before. Weird listen and lyrics.
2/5
Lazy.
If it stayed as painfully average as it did for the first 60% maybe I’d have a half decent review but the falloff at the back end makes me even wonder why it’s on here
Initially, I thought the youthful sound of the album was quite refreshing, with short songs that had great momentum. However, this sound quickly fell apart from some nice guitar riffs, especially with that vocalist that I'm not the biggest fan of. I loved their work with the MTV Nirvana album, but I'm not a big fan of this.
I was not looking forward to listening to this, especially after reading this - "It is a departure from their self-titled debut album, which consisted largely of noisy hardcore with unintelligible vocals." But I guess since it was a departure from that, it's a blessing. Not as bad as I had expected, but still not a 5. I really have an issue with the lead's voice, it's too whiney to be able to just listen to the songs.
Uneven unconvincing
Not an album I recall listening to before, so probably needs another go (so much music, so little time). However it didn't really grab me and not salvaged by the Nirvana covers in the MTV session.
I really wanted to like this, but it seemed kind of all over the place
4/10, not my style
5/10
This wouldn't be on the list if it wasnt covered by Nirvana on their unplugged performance. The best tracks are the instrumental ones
This is a hard album to rate, because I think I would have enjoyed this quite a bit if it weren't for the horrendously tuneless vocals (I'd venture to say the singer's a bit tone deaf). The guitar is great and the country-twang instrumentation is ear-catching. This blend of punk and country is unique even to this day; I can't think of another band who does music like this. It's all dragged down by the vocals though, the awfulness of which can't be overstated. The vocals work a little bit better on a song like "Lake of Fire" where he just partially screams instead of attempting to carry a melody. This would have been a great band if they'd had a capable singer. I really wavered between 2 and 3 stars for this reason, but truthfully I wouldn't come back to this album.
rock troppo hard rock, sono troppo vecchia per queste cose
Još nisam imala album koji ovako naglo preokrene nakon prve pjesme. Kontam aha ovo će biti dosadna imitacija punka, onda postane dosadni indie country, i onda nazad na dosadnu imitaciju punka. Čudno iskustvo slušanja.
good instrumentals but like whateverrr man
Some really good instrumentals on the album, but I didn't really like the vocals much. Lake of Fire and Plateau were two stand outs, but that might just because I like those tracks from Nirvana's Unplugged performance on MTV.
This album is definitely different. The songs to me were sort of all over the place. It had a jam band vibe, but the songs were all super short. The only song I recognized was "Lake of Fire", and that's only because Nirvana covered it during their Unplugged session on MTV. Very odd and eclectic. Not really my thing.
Lake of Fire and other Nirvana Unplugged-adjacent songs aside, there's not a lot here that I feel I can recommend.
Ok, so this was all over the place for me. I had heard of Meat Puppets due to their later song "Backwater" which was a huge hit when I was in college. Other than that, I didn't know anything about this group. The instrumental "Aurora Borealis" is cool and gives Grateful Dead vibes - I played it twice and added it to my "Just Chillin'" playlist immediately! "Climbing " was less eagerly received - awful vocals and just sloppy. "Oh, Me" has some shaky vocals as well... and the more I listen, I believe I understand why I liked the instrumental track so much...Honestly, of the singer wasn't so bad, I'd have enjoyed "Oh, Me" (and likely many others) a lot more. Oh boy. "Lake of Fire" just cane on. I had no idea this was by Meat Puppets. I knew this song but always laughed at it because of the shitty vocals. I just can't take it seriously. Blessedly, "I'm a Mindless Idiot" is another instrumental, and - surprise, surprise- another's awesome jam! "The Whistling Son" begins with more awful "singing" but thank goodness he can at least whistle well. Another reviewer wrote that "The lead singer can't sing for shit." Indeed. Because of this - and despite how otherwise cool and edgy this album is, and how ahead of its time it is for 1984 - I'm ranking it 2 stars.
While I can recognize the musical talent, something about the voice sounding kinda apathetic didn't really do it for me. Probably would not listen again.
I dislike the singing. The songs without vocals are tolerable.
didn’t really get this one, only one or two songs i gelled with otherwise this felt like a discombobulated strung together album
Not for me. Just sounds like noise
First impression, this album kind of chaotic, but after a few thorough listen theres part that are chaotic and theres also part that are quiet relaxing actually. I would say some people maybe could get overwhelm when listening to this cause of the fast and all over the place type of mixing on the instrument that not many people are used to. i also noticed that some of the track kinda sound like a mix of country and rock song which for me are quiet unique ( just found out it was a cowpunk album and thats just make so much sense for the country-ish fells to it ) really enjoy the instrument after i get used to it after listening for a few time A few songs on this project also have a follow up instrumental track which i really liked, plus the song does transition pretty smoothly making it sound like one song that have an intrumental break at the end. For the vocal, tbh i think it was decent. For me, the vocals one some tracks are okay but theres also some that really sounded goofy to me ( maybe thats just my preference or the vocalist are just too try-harding idk). Overall, this was just such an unique experience, but i think i wont be visiting this project that much(maybe some track but not most of it) cause its just out of my cup of tea. Overall rating (6/10) mainly cause not my cup of tea, but still somewhat exciting to listen for the first time.
It's ok, good to hear the original of Plateau. Can hear the Nirvana in there, but I prefer Nirvana.
This album just consisted of a bunch of random songs based off what they were feeling that day. It was all over the place. However, a chunk of the songs didn’t sound too bad. This is a solid two of I’ve ever heard one.
Oof, that was a rough opening track. None of this album stood out to me but it was a-okay background noise!
it was fine. not really my thing
Strong electric guitar, high energy. Vocals were weak.
Yee haw? Little hardcore, lotta twang. Interesting.
Jesus Christ this is all over the place
Idk. 2.5/5
The vocals killed what was, to me, a rather mediocre experience to begin with.
Can’t remember this at all and it was only yesterday
Cool for them that they were influential, but I didn't hear anything I liked
Pretty average and not good vocals at all. Couple of the instrumental tracks were good
Meh, I listened to previews of most of these tracks so I didn't hear the entire album but I've heard enough of it to form a 2 star opinion. I recognized a few songs that were covered by Nirvana.
5/10
Not a fan carthatic and chaotic
Mostly pretty boring for me. Not really up my alley.
At least it was short
I couldn't tell you what the first song was about. It was an 8-minute song crammed into 2 and a half. Things did get better from there, but not by much
With a name like Meat Puppets I was expecting something a bit heavier.
Not my thing
Meh
Well, it kind of sucks. It sounds like some grungy kids decide to kind of do grunge, and kind of do country. There are a couple good songs on this album, but those are pretty much the songs that Nirvana covered.
4 star music that should be downgraded to a 3 because of the voice but is downgraded to a 2 because of the voice
Somewhat interesting, as I heard some of the influences for Nirvana, but I do not think I will be revisiting this one soon. The instrumental tracks caught my ear a bit, but other than that it feels more like an experimental project rather than a real band with a real album. All in all, I am sad to say I did not like it!