Reviews (page 6 of 8)
A bit of a rough listen. First song sounds like Emo Philips going berserk. At least it’s fairly short and the instrumental to vocal ratio is pretty generous. End of Plateau is cool and there’s the odd nice Canyonero riff and Turkey In The Straw solo here and there.
Pretty good. Not thrilled with the vocals though I like them in some later stuff.
2.5
High energy, which I like. Nothing too special though.
My first encounter with Meat Puppets was on the Nirvana unplugged live album; it seems Kurt Cobain was a fan. I can see why, this is a whole collection of fun little nuggets of songs from lo-fi indie, folkish in places to angry little punk numbers. I like the pace of it; lots of 1-3 minute head nodders and all very listenable. Not one I can see myself buying but have had a good few days listening to it on and off.
Apart from the times the singer tries to sing in the upper register, it's alright.
What To Do about this one. Oh, Me, oh my. Felt a little Lost at times with this one. But don’t take my word for it, I’m a Mindless Idiot.
I missed out on the OG release and Mirage is my first entry point into the MP. You can hear some of the future Grateful Dead vibe here, but certainly more "edgy" than later releases.
Generous 3. 53/100
I was previously only familiar with the artist through Nirvana's covers on the Unplugged album. This album was a bit of a surprise in terms of variety of sounds. There's some country and other influences in addition to the rock sound I was expecting. This was an interesting listen, and I would come back to it and seek out their other material.
interesting to hear the source of the tracks covered by Nirvana - 3.5
You're going to recognize so many of these songs as covered by other bands!
Cool
1 ok track. Did I miss something
Foundational album - This is actually a must-listen. Helped to establish a sound that defined a generation (or something). 5/5
There were some very refreshing mixes on the album. Some tracks rather alienated me. It was interesting to listen to this album. It probably won't happen again so soon. 3/5
There are some good songs (Lake of Fire) and some good instrumentals, but overall just waiting for it to be over and fairly unengaging.
This album was sonically all over the place. Transitions between songs were not smooth. I was indifferent about maybe half of the songs on here. There were some I liked and some not so much.
Kind of need to be in the mood for Meat Puppets.
the music is fun but the singing on the opener is just so bad to the point of parody. Thankfully it does get better, and the music is fire. Great hearing Aurora Borealis at this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within my speakers.
Some OK but overall not too great
Rough. Guitars aren't bad, but sounds like bad karaoke. Nirvana's covers are better.
This was really interesting and a unique sound, but had trouble separating it from the Nirvana unplugged songs.
This was a bit of a disappointment to me, because I *really* like Too High To Die. But the two albums have pretty different sounds (which I guess is not too surprising because they were also separated by 10 *years*). What I like about Too High To Die is the tight harmonies and great melodies. By comparison this album almost has intentionally amateurish sounding vocals and meh melodies. I respect that Nirvana chose to play some of these tracks on their unplugged set, but I like Nirvana's take better.
Waffled between a 3 and 4 star with this. I tend to love roughly produced indie punk like this, and there's a lot of this to love in what feels like a mash up of the Pixies and Violent Fems. But even at 48 minutes it feels a little flabby, and they probably could have cut about half the instrumental numbers.
Surprised to really enjoy this given my only exposure was Nirvana covers. Like the Pixies, this feels shockingly modern for having been released in 1984, with a twangy, alt-country feel to some songs that strikes me as way ahead of their time - combined with dissonant singing that reminds me of Isaac Brock. While a few songs lean punk, that's not the overwhelming majority of the album - and with the instrumental tracks, it feels like an early, funkier Calexico or something.
So cool to listen to such an influential sound. Glad they got some credit from Nirvana but probably deserve more.
Good I liked it
159/1001 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Now we're cooking! This is a top like... 3 SST release, right?
Really couldn't get into it. I actually played it twice but both times I ended up not paying attention to it because I was not enjoying it
Musically this feels all over the place. Some stuff I liked. Mostly the instrumental stuff. Other stuff I actively disliked. But I respect the attempt at being different. 3/5
A feverish, confusing album unlike any other. I really enjoyed it, and have gotten a lot of my several relistens. It somewhat chaotically traverses genres in between songs to the point one cannot predict where it will go at any point in the album. I've yet to hear any band even attempt this approach to an album. For its highly unique and effective style, I love what it does.
Bellino
interesting to learn that nirvana was just a meat puppets cover band
Not sure what this was, but I knew my uncle CK was a fan for some reason. For me...this ain't it!
Did not finish
Yeah ok.. I’m down with the Meat Puppets. Nirvana must’ve been somewhat influenced by these guys, cause I noticed they covered one of their songs. I enjoyed listening, but once again.. not really my “cup of tea”
A mixed bag of great songs, cool instrumentals, and lesser additions. IIRC two of the Meat Puppets joined Nirvana for their Unplugged session which is why three of the songs from this album feature on that album.
Great music, terrible singing
Great album.
Something completely strange, but not disgusting
Early grunge influences! I liked hearing this album. Indeed I am most familiar with these songs from Nirvana's MTV unplugged set, elsewhere on this list. Lake of Fire and Plateau I listened to twice, the rest of the album passed me by. A 3.5.
This album is definitely not for everyone. The main vocalist is constantly straining his voice, and the instrumentals are highly discordant for most songs. Very difficult listen. One star because the lyrics are clever.
damn good album
Some weird cross between rock and country music with bad vocals but some songs actually work.
2.5 alright
Really fantastic stuff. Creative song writing. Edgy. Unique. Dig it.
Not familiar with the history of the different editions of the 1001 albums book, but I suspect that the retrospective inclusion of this album in Dimery's list partly stems from the fact that Nirvana covered three songs from it in their MTV Unplugged concert (backed by members of Meat Puppets themselves). It sure takes the genius ear of Kurt Cobain to spot the potential of those three standout tracks as recorded here. Not to say that the original album is not worthy of indie-rock fans' interest. The psychedelic folk-rock cuts are stellar on this one. Of course, there are "Plateau", "Lake Of Fire" and "Oh Me", of *Unplugged* fame, but also the equally beautiful (and yet strangely ominous, not to mention harmonically unpredictable) "We're Here" and "The Whistling Song". Plus the wonderfully dreamy instrumentals "Aurora Borealis" and "I'm A Mindless Idiot". The guitar work on each and every one of those cuts is truly impressive, with a lot of intricate flourishes that bring a lot of off-kilter and uncanny emotions on the table. The only (somewhat important) issue I have with this record is that its punk-rock / country-rock / cowpunk tracks (take your pick) are pretty underwhelming (and even grating) at times. They're cluttering the start of each of the sides of this original LP, and please, oh please, keep on listening after they're gone, or you will miss the truly great stuff this record has to offer. One last thing, about the vocals: a lot of listeners will notice that Curt Kirkwood is often out of key, but I don't think that's a real problem if you focus on the surreal-yet-evocative lyrics and the emotive performance. Even with its flaws, this album is one-of-a-kind, and has aged pretty well. Evidence enough that during the eighties, you had to look into the underground to find more authentic and heartfelt music. Not sure I will include *Meat Puppets II* in my own list, because if you take its few duds away, its length is more akin to the one of an EP than an album proper. But I'm glad it was on Dimery's list, at least. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list, rounded up to 4 8.5/10 grade for more general purposes (5+3.5). Number of albums left to review: 130 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 376 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 223 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 281
I enjoyed this album when it was weird and countryish. Less so when they got thrashy. This didn’t grab me but I didn’t really mind it. I think it was worth hearing.
This was strangely uninspired drivel. I didn't hate it, but maybe it would have been more impactful if I had been of the right age rage when it was originally released back in 1984. I didn't hate it, but I can't see it moving past a 3/5 rating. Nothing stood out to push it past the normal threshold of adequate and/or average.
This album was just meh. The voice was off putting and the music wasn't all that great.
Love the instrumentals, less so the vocals. I had fun!
Thought I wouldn't like it, but I listened twice in a row. Not bad. I like the guitars here.
My favorite tracks were the ones Nirvana covered on their MTV Unplugged album. The rest of the album was fine
A couple of decent tracks, but not my cup of tea. Sorry, Kurt…
Every now and then, I'll listen to Meat Puppets 'cause they do have some well written songs. And then I'm reminded everything is a bit disparate. Very progressive for what was a mid 80s hardcore band but the album lacks as a hole. I'd rather listen to country punk by Violent Femmes, hardcore by Fugazi, and REM for guitar driven indie rock. Maybe just needed some polish or the right production. I will still return every now and then to try again.
Well, a fun album - but is it a great album? I don't think so.
Strong music that’s not served well by the singer. Interestingly enough, Kurt Cobain’s voice would fit very well on every song here.
Ótimo e especialmente fudamental pelos músicas do Unplugged do Nirvana.
I like Magic Toy Missing, I kind of like Plateau, Aurora Borealis
2.5 stars. Weird and eclectic spanning multiple genres but not too out there. Twangy and country at times, upbeat tempo at times, slowed-down acoustic, it's a bit all over the place. Liked the instrumental parts the best.
The album Nirvana made famous? It’s not too bad.
Interesting
un attimo confusionario all'inizio, tanto che ho dovuto saltare le prime canzoni perchè stavo studiando e non sentivo altro che un ciocco che mi alzava fisicamente il battito cardiaco, ma poi migliora e diventa meno ansiolitico. l'ho trovato un po' inferiore alla mia solita categoria da tre politico per gli album rock dimenticabili, quindi due stelle siano.
Dai bellino
5/5
Intentional crap or whatever. There are bands that do this kind of stuff way better and much more subtle. Just because someone detuned a guitar and sang out of tune does not make them rebellious or anti. It is consistent, but consistency is not what creates good music, it is what would propel a good record to be a better. In this case it makes a crappy record a bad one.
Meat Puppets. Funny how I never knew that Lake of Fire by Nirvana was first by these guys. This album is from 1984, but it sounds more like the 90s. I guess I can hear the punk sound in this first track a bit. I've never heard any of their music, let alone listened to one of their albums front to back. This will be fun. Diggin it man! Plateau sounded a lot like Lake of Fire. Ooooh Teenager(s). I like that one! great intro.
Am I the only one that think this sounds like Morty from the sci-fi animated show in a garage band?
Meaty
vegan warning: album title refers to meat
Very weird album but I really enjoyed it
This record is like a gross half-eaten sloppy joe left behind for the flies at a family reunion in the middle of July. For those who thought Kurt Cobain was a bad singer, please consider Curt Kirkwood, main man of the Meat Puppets. Cobain's singing of three Kirkwood cuts on the famous Nirvana Unplugged record marks a significant improvement over the originals found within this record.
Killer
Best Song: Aurora Borealis. It's not great that my favourite track on this punkish album is the instrumental, guitar-wankery one but here we are. Worst Song: Lost. I really just think that this punkabilly genre isn't for me. Overall: One commonality I've noticed for (some of) these early punk bands is that even though they will cram 20 two-minute tracks into an album, each of these short songs feels too long because they lack any sort of dynamism. Each song is at most a single idea, and so it is easy to get tired of them even within their relatively short runtimes. There's better punk, folk, and Americana out there. Go listen to that.
Not really.
What was this? Punk? Rock? Noise? Country? ... wild one not sure how I feel about it.
When I read about the band's punk roots, I realised why I hated this album on first listen. I've never been able to get past how try-hard it is the way some punk bands will go to the trouble of booking a studio and a professional producer, and then proceed to act like they're too cool to care about recording an album of any quality. That's how I felt about this album: a bunch of insufferably smug, warbling tools trying to hide their neediness behind an affected aloofness. But on second listen I lightened the fuck up and realised that the songs are actually good and I should stop assuming so much about bands who are probably just having fun, which is what music is all about.
Excellent stuff, really unique for its time
not bad
Really really enjoyed this one. I knew the Meat Puppets were a huge influence for Nirvana (Cobain specifically) but had never listened to them. I’m really glad I got to listen to this and see how this album in particular affected one of the most influential bands / live albums of all time. I also realized listening to this that I miss instrumental tracks coming in between songs. The showcase of talent is always great to see and a nice break from focusing on lyrics for a first listen.
Shame that this album followed Wild Wood. I felt as if it similarly blended together and I couldn’t pick out individual songs, but it just wasn’t as good. Cool name and cool artwork, just not as good as some of the other 3 stars on the list.
Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed the instrumental tracks a lot more than those with lyrics. One of those times where the musicianship is let down by the vocals. I’d give this album a three if the singer didn’t sound like he was the inspiration for every band on the Juno soundtrack. And don’t get me started on the whole same song title but slightly different thing.
I got really nervous with a band name like Meat Puppets. I came in expecting some hardcore metal, but was surprised with what was delivered. Good song variation, some solid jam vibes, and a few standout songs. These are some of the worst vocals I've heard and I love it! You see it a lot in punk music "I may have no talent, but I'm still going to try and jam as hard as those hair bands of the 70's". Just because they're tone deaf doesn't mean they can't learn the guitar and that they don't have something to say. I liked this way more than I was expecting, but I can also absolutely see why someone would give this a 1 star. I can see this being an obscure band that I bond with someone over randomly in the future.
I just can’t buy into whatever this is selling.
INteressanter MIx aus Folk, Lofi, Psychadelic, rock und härteren hardcore sachen. Dem Album fehlt deswegen so ein bisschen der rote Faden. Gutes Songwriting dem die musikalische QUalität (GEsang,INstrumente) manchmal etwas entgegen steht, was aber wohl auch beabsichtigt ist. Verdient auf jeden Fall einen PLatz auf dieser Liste. 3,7
Cowpunk, countryfolk. Escuchable ... Hay un punteo que me recuerda a Guedeon Della (Just For A Day).
I liked some of it a lot. And hated some of it a lot. Interesting that Nirvana chose to cover the three best songs off this for their unplugged gig. It was a bit all over the place
Kind of dinosaur jry
Aaaah, they did that song that Nirvana covered! I enjoyed that one. The rest where interesting but doubt I'll go back for more.
Crazy Alt rock album way way ahead of its time
I'm not a fan of the singing style, it sounds like a drawl and I don't personally like it.
This was a pretty fun listen
Of course this album was a big inspiration to the alt-rock acts of the late 80s and early 90s, I mean, just listen to it. Just enough country twang to be subversive. Enough fuzz to rock hard, but still melodic enough to gather a crowd willing to jam. It's its own thing through and through, with only small things you can pick out and go "oh they probably did that because of this act," but otherwise you're listening to the sound of an all new era of entertainment, and while its still ironing out some of the kinks, okay, A LOT of kinks, its otherwise nothing short of revolutionary.
Not bad... Chilling and wibing tähtialennusäämtö..jonka piti olla 0 toleranssisääntö..mutta muuttuikin alennussäännöksi.. koska ole veraa 1 tähteen.. Aluksi enemmän huutamiats loppuun vähemmån.. näin..
These guys wrote 3 of the songs that Nirvana played on their MTV Unplugged record (Plateau, Oh Me, and Lake of Fire... All of which are on this record). These guys are an odd genre. Sometimes it's straight grunge, other times it's like country mixed with punk or grunge.... Which I've learned has a classification.... It's called cowpunk.... What an awesome name. I don't mind this stuff, as long as you ignore the fact that the singer can't sing... Like at all. I'm Not Here is a good example of that "cowpunk" style. It sounds like Johnny Cash on speed. Favourite songs: Lake of Fire, Plateau, Magic Toy Missing Least favourite songs: Teenager(s) 4/5
I’ve heard of Meat Puppets before, usually in the context of bands who influenced Kurt Cobain, but I’ve never listened to them before. How does one make a meat puppet though? I’m envisioning a sock puppet made of ground beef, but a sausage on a stick would probably be a lot more practical since it would be less messy. Plus, with a sausage, you can make dick jokes. I digress. I can’t believe that this album came out in 1984. I don’t recall having ever heard guitar playing quite like this before. The rhythms on this album may have been in the driver’s seat, but there was still a wide variety of guitar tones, with plenty of distortion and fuzziness to go around. I really loved how this album took some sounds and influences that were clearly from country music, but changed them around to create something so new and different. It’s like taking the parts from a sewing machine and building a microwave. The vocals and lyrics were really quirky, but they fit the overall sound of the album really well. Kurt Cobain’s inspiration comes through loud and clear on this album. The guitar playing and lyrics laid the foundation for Nirvana to build on several years later, but Nirvana still managed to create something completely new from their inspiration on this album. There weren’t any songs that really stood out to me as my favorites, I just enjoyed the album as a whole. Even though I enjoyed listening to this, it’s not the sort of thing I gravitate towards, and it felt a little tedious in some stretches. Still, this album’s importance and influence can’t be understated, and it’s definitely worthy of being on this list.
Meat Puppets? Muppets?
I don't get it. I like Nirvana though and this is one of their big influences
Interesting, but I probably wouldn't choose to listen again.
Blimey you can really tell how this band influenced Kurt Cobain. Great album!
Somehow the meat puppets have always been just outside my radar. I missed out, this was great. I'll definitely listen again.
pretty good
Laid back indie rock whose influence you can hear in many bands that came after, especially one in particular.
Casual garage rock with a lot of that monotone and painful male singing voice which I really dislike. Violent Femmes-esque. Songs like lake of fire are just kinda ass, idk Leaning 1/5 The instrumental tracks are superior and not bad
3.5
Ist mir zu hartrock
Not a huge fan of this one - I get the appeal, just not for me
This wasn’t super enjoyable. The songs felt quite disorganised and I didn’t really like the lead singers voice. I did enjoy Plateau and what to do though
I'm in two minds about this album because for every good track there's a really boring one. This album still has some really good tracks though
whew, this was just not for me. i can appreciate on some level that this spans so many genres but the vocals were like nails on a chalkboard.
i had never listened to this album, though i was aware of the meat puppets before this as a big nirvana influence and one of those "weird" bands like ween. this totally exceeded whatever expectations i had for it. the great instrumentation, the genre exploration, the eccentric and odd vocals, the art on the cover, everything was just wacky and cool. i definitely understand how people wouldn't like this, but it kinda made my day. listened to it twice and added a bunch of songs to my current playlists. favorites: tracks 1-2, 4-5, and 8-13
Pretty interesting
Since this is an early album of theirs I really hope the singer took some vocal lessons later on... If they made this an instrumental album without vocals I would have rated it higher.
An interesting album, main highlight being the two tracks covered by Nirvana in their MTV live session. 7/10
Avant-garde
Måste vart en av Kurt Cobains större inspirationer. Det hördes både på musiken och rösten. Kurt hade dock bättre röst. Jag nästan förstå varför den är med här. Det låter ändå lite före sin tid och var säkert inflytelserik, men den håller inte upp till idag och jag känner att det finns annat jag hellre lyssnar på.
Wow. Somehow I never got around to listening to this band. I guess I assumed I wouldn’t like them?? I am learning I’ve done lots of incorrect music assuming through the years, and I’m exciting for the next album that comes along and makes me realize how wrong I was. But I loved this! It did get a bit jammy toward the end, iirc, but the rest of it more than makes up for it.
Pretty solid.
Fuck yeah. I was so happy to see this on the list. This is a great mashup of a lot of stuff that I love. Just an acid fueled backyard singalong vibe.
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.
Thoroughly enjoyed this highly creative album. It includes two of the songs covered on Nirvana's Unplugged album, but I now can't remember which ones as there are so many bangers. Definitely one to keep returning to.
Enjoy one of their albums, the ine with Backwater. Know a few other songs from nirvana unplugged First song a lot punk. Reminds me of suicidal tendencies, 10 years later 2 instrumental wasn’t expecting that 3 this is a little more ‘country’ sounding than expecting. Liking this ‘not punk’ sound 4 nirvana covered it. This singer doesn’t have the strongest voice Going thru, this is more like the album I have, enjoying this Good cymbal Oh Me. Lake of fire could be on Bleach. 1983. The direct influence of this album on Kurt cobain makes this a must-listen, that it’s quite surprisingly musical otherwise is a bonus I’m a mindless idiot - sublime sampled this wow What to do - bass reminds me of Violent Femmes. Couple other times too. Auoura borealis another instrumental. 3? 4? This is a pleasant album minus the couple punk songs 4 stars good influential album. Wow. Couple punk songs hold this back from 5. This should have been bigger. Great album for a list like this.
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)
The Meat Puppets refine their sound and fully settle into their identity. The three songs that the Kirkwood brothers performed with Nirvana during their Unplugged set are probably the best, but every song is worth hearing.
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.
I liked this more than I expected. More country-tinged than I thought going in. It's ok.
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.
Knew the hits and that was it, had no idea they were this good. Great album
Plateau -> Aurora Borealis -> We’re Here is absolutely sublime I really had no idea meat puppets were this good. New favorite.
This is a great record. I didnt know about meat puppets until nirvana unplugged, but 10 years later this record was still good.
At first I wanted to write "I love the fucking Meat Puppets.", then I realized there's no "the" in the name so I typed "I love fucking Meat Puppets." And well, you get the idea. This is an awesome album.
My wheelhouse
First few songs were okay, then I got a bit bored tbh
Classic cowpunk, really good stuff. 4 stars.
Kurt steered us right
I hate this even more than the last album I was generated!! 2/5
Prima album, Nirvana heeft wel de pareltjes eruit gepikt. Originele sound
hated half of this but enjoyed the other half
Kurt’s covers were better.
3.5
Terrible vocals, barely any melody. Only saving grace is a few good instrumental parts. 1.5
Бля ну просто классика нахуй
In addition to the excellent Nirvana Unplugged albums there are some really good instrumental jams. Particularly Aurora Borealis and Magic Toy Missing
Sykt bra album
Kind of sounds like music my friends in high school wrote, except this is by more talented musicians.
Aiight
I, like many other people, were turned onto the Meat Puppets through Nirvana’s unplugged album. I’m a gen Z but was big into Nirvana throughout high school and tried listening to this album back then but I wasn’t quite ready for it. For some reason listening to it now was really fun. I dig the country punk sound on here. Must’ve been really jarring for fans of their first album to hear them go to this. The best part of this album imo is the guitar work. Very intricate riffs and solos that don’t get the credit they deserve.
Interesting listen.
Pretty good. I dig the country punk vibes.
Another great album! Meat Puppets are a band I forget about, and when I’m reminded I always think, man I should listen to these guys more. Hopefully I’ll remember this time. Great ramshackle indie rock music.
I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. It was great. I went back and forth about how I feel about the vocals, but I like them!
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.
4.3 - Having grown up on Nirvana Unplugged, I’ve clearly been sleeping on the Meat Puppets. This record is a cool and casual mashup of country, psychedelic and proto-grunge. The guitar work is stellar — reminds me of J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. In addition to the songs that Kurt Cobain elevated to 90s pantheon status, there are lots of choice instrumental vignettes like “Aurora Borealis.” This is a happy discovery — thanks, Robert Dimery.
Nope
Actually enjoyed this
This isn't what I expected from the band name. Some of the music is not bad, but the singer has a pretty poor voice.
its so generic
Its too country for me to like :( Has a couple good songs but nothing I would ever want to reach out for
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.
4.2 - This was a ride. Some hard listening in parts, but musically so interesting to me. I would definitely come back to them in the future
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
Having an eponymous album name is a sure sign of self confidence. This band know what they are doing, with 12 songs blasted out in under 30 minutes in an entertaining mix of thrash, proto-rap and country, apparently inventing the genre cowpunk in the process. Good fun!
Oof, that was great. So many great ideas put coherently together within only 30 minutes of music. I can see why it has to be on this list and the influence it might have had on generations of musicians. It's also actually the first time I listen to the original versions of Plateau, Oh Me and Lake of Fire; that was fun.
I have mixed feelings about this album, but some of the songs were really great.
It's honestly a perfect album.
So much better than I was expecting
3.2
There are some real gems on this record. Meat Puppets rock!
Although the production on this album was some of the worst I've ever heard in my life, I can absolutely understand why an album like this is on the list. This is unique and solid songcraft and I absolutely see the historical significance.
Meh
What the hell was that?
A couple of good tracks but overall not sure if this is for me!
Ahhhh I don't care for this
Interesting
Interessanter Punkrock mit Country-Einschlag.
Not my cup of tea
Meh. Sounds like amateurs with no clear vision.
This was so much better than I remembered, and then my Apple Music just went off playing Nirvana, NIN, and my 90s favorites...
Take the songwriting of country and make it in the style of punk: That's much of Meat Puppets II. They also do some of the most unique alternative rock of their time. Curt Kirkwood has some unfortunate vocals but the rest of the band makes up for it with incredible instrumentation.
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.
An interesting mix of country and punk. But "Meat Puppets 2" is quite boring. I've gotten a few duds in a row. There's some good tracks here and there. But that isn't enough to save this album. 2 stars this time.
Never heard of this before but knew some of the songs from Nirvana covers. Enjoyed it, good combination of different rock subgenres. Fav songs: What to Do, Plateau, Lost
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
What this album lacks in lyrical depth it also lacks in vocal quality. If you’re ever having a really good day and want it to get a little worse, go ahead and listen to this album 3 times consecutively.
overall good album with some nice instrumentation and a few good vocals. best songs: lost, oh me, 100% of nothing
Los sonidos country están debajo de casi todo lo que se escucha en este disco, aunque a veces cueste distinguirlo y siempre con algo que lo hace diferente y alternativo. En su segundo trabajo los Meat Puppets suenan eclécticos, con incursiones punkis y psicodélicas. Destacan los temas que Nirvana versionó en su famoso MTV Unplugged, especialmente "Plateau" y "Lake of Fire". Me gustan la instrumental "I'm A Mindless Idiot" y el groove tranquilo de "Aurora Borealis".
Easy 5 and new favorite album!
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.
BL: This album is absolutely one of my favourites of all time. From the first time I heard plateau when I was maybe 17 approaching 18, working a job in a kitchen far out in the middle of the woods I felt some kind of deep resonance with it. \"There ain't nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop, and an illustrated book about birds\", has got to be one of my favourite lyrics of all time, period. The guitar in this album is phenomenal and the tones created are truly unique. This was the best time of year to get this album too, quickly approaching the summertime and the first day of the year I'm wearing shorts to work. The summer vibes from this album are immaculate, and I'm glad this is the first album to mark the start of the summer 2024 listening season. It is also around the year anniversary since I started my journey. Very cool stuff. AL: Nothing much to add besides this holds up and only continues to age like a fine wine FT: "Plateau", "Aurora Borealis", "Climbing", "Lake of Fire" 5/5
Plateau feels like a Nirvana song. The whole album rides the line of interesting and sonically pleasing in a way that never quite lands. It feels masterful in execution, but just misses my palette.
Another decent instrumental album kind of spoiled by horrible singing
What a strange album this is. So these guys are most famous for being on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged, where Nirvana covered three songs from this album with Meat Puppets band members supporting ("Plateau", "Oh Me", and "Lake of Fire"). Apparently these guys were pretty obscure before the MTV show, but Kurt Cobain was a huge fan. The MTV show was recorded in 1993 and this came out in 1984, so it wasn't new at the time or anything. This thing is truly all over the board though. It definitely gives punk vibes, but the lyrics are a lot more thoughtful (nice?) than a lot of what you get in punk. This was released by the same label that released "Double Nickels on the Dime" by Minutemen, and that one also came out in 1984. While you can see some similarities if you squint a bit (a bit chaotic, questionably talented singer, short songs), this felt a lot more polished and thoughtful to me. It rocks pretty hard at times, it has this country thing going on, there's a number of acoustic-only songs (some of which are pretty slow, others that vibe nicely), a bit folk-y, it's got it all really. Wikipedia calls the genre cowpunk, and I have no idea what that means but I'll believe it because this is a bit of everything. Speaking of the singer, is he good? Honestly I have no idea. Some songs he sounds kind of awful, some songs it works ("We're Here", "What To Do"). This is one that I feel like is going to have bad reviews on here and I can't really explain what I like about it, but I think I like it. Peak example of the line between genius and the terrible is thin. It's far from perfect but it's really unique sounding and feels somewhat timeless to me. There's some really great songs on here, I like the instrumentals, it's a good vibe. Probably a 3.5, but there's enough good on here I'm rounding up, it's unique. Favorite song: We're Here Other: Split Myself in Two, Lost, Plateau, Aurora Borealis, Oh Me, Lake of Fire, I'm a Mindless Idiot, Lost, What To Do, 100% of Nothing, Aura Borealis 4/3/24
An album that I hadn't spent too much time before but short enough to listen a few times today. I enjoyed it very much.
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.
not a big fan
Cowpunk. I dig it.
Some good stuff there but also some dross. Not gonna rush out to get more.
No disponible en CR
meh
Solid punk rock music
Ehh
Surprisingly alright, some songs worth listening to again
few good songs, not many, 80% of it was kinda boring and didn’t interest me, i’d give it a 5 overall
I love this era of music. Reminds me of The minutemen or the strapping fieldhands, or the gibson brothers. Punk bros who are influenced by country music and just get in and pick like crazy to some pretty uptempo stuff. i love it.
I imagine if an early 70's Jerry Garcia did a collaboration with Minor Threat it might sound a little like the Meat Puppets. The band is a 5 star band, this album might fall a little short of 5 stars for me but I'll round it up.
Great record that showcases their ability to thrash or twang. Never gets old.
I found this band after the Nirvana Unplugged. While the singer's voice takes some getting used to, this is a really cool album. I enjoy the blending of folk, country, and punk. Both versions of Plateau are great.
I really enjoyed this album. It's sort of crazy and off the wall, with tons of different sounds and styles. And the one singer's voice can take a while to get used to. But I really loved listening to it and listened to it twice back to back.
I don't know how I would have felt about it if I didn't know that three of the songs from Nirvana's Unplugged album were covers from this album. But since I knew that, I heard it as a thread connecting Zeppelin and the Ramones with Nirvana. Yeah his voice is annoying but I really just wanted to go smoke a cigarette in a bar and hear them live with Kurt and the boys.
Better than I was expecting. Not exactly musical, but the boys had a nice fun vibe.
I just can't with the vocals.
3/14/24
Nirvana influence! Okayyy! I liked it very much. I maybe expected a more grungier sound, but I think it's because Kurt covered so many of their songs. What really got me was featuring multiple of the same song titles with different renditions. I've never seen that on a studio album.
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.
Meat Puppets II did nothing for me. It's just boring, not good, not bad, not really anything. Wasn't especially as described either, so at least that was momentarily interesting, but I can't understand why it's a must-listen. 2.
Yeah, this is pretty rough and raw. Vocals are pretty ropey, instrumentals very grungey but not particularly interesting. Influential on Nirvana at least, but not that listenable in its own right. 2/5.
Kinda... mellow jam something something?
Not for me
This was unlike anything I had heard before. I liked it!
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?
Up there for the worst vocals I've ever heard. Points for originality (I guess) but the lyrics are largely indiscernible and the music is dissonant in the worst way imaginable. Listened to: at home.
The band is great, the singing is not. Wonder how many bands suffer from this problem
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.
Way better when covered by Kurt Cobain.
3.8/5 Best Track: Plateau
I only know the Meat Puppets because Nirvana covered Plateau. I'm sure that's true of a lot of people. Never listened to any of their stuff before. This isn't really doing it for me. Maybe just a bit too avante-garde/experimental. The vocals are just kind of terrible.
seicht
No
I had no idea how influential this album was to Kurt Cobain until I listened to it.
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.
2.5. Sommige nummers waren wel chill, meeste iets te obscuur.
Cowpunk, rock psicodélico, bluegrass, folk, Americana. Me ha hecho gracia. Venga, un 4.
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
Seminal record. Just an absolute classic from an underrated band.
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.
enjoyed it
The music is fine, but the lead singer is completely tone deaf.
honest and straight
Pretty sold. I enjoyed the variety of styles but especially the more country tracks. Nothing was really bad I’d say. Light 4.
Surprisingly varied album. I still don’t like the whiny screams vocals, but I really liked some of the instrumentals. Aura borealis stood out.
This is a really good mix of alt-country and punk sounds. Very electric. I liked the instrumentals a lot.
I liked this album more than I expected to. I don’t think I’d put it on again for additional listens, but it had stronger Melodies than I anticipated. It sounds like this must have been massively influential on Wilco (but also in Nirvana and Pixies). Hilarious band name.
Noodly and chaotic. Hit and miss overall.
Reminded me of Rick and Morty, if Morty needed to put together an album to ward off some type of alien. But I wish the guy could sing because the guitar was good, instruments sounded good, but I was not a fan of the lyrics nor the voice.
Tried to like it, or at least be OK with what it’s supposed to be. But … nope. Let’s intentionally sing very badly to make a point? Hard pass.
Hard to classify the Meat Puppets -- some elements of punk, country, psychedelia to different degrees depending on the track. Super creative, innovative sound -- vocals and instrumentals were adequate but the songwriting really takes the lead here. Prairie, Aurora Borealis (and the reprise, Aura Borealis) and Lake of Fire (covered famously by Nirvana) are my favorite tracks, but I could listen to this album multiple times.
Didn't find this album to be super interesting.
A very fun, genre-bending album. Thrashy folk
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.
Shoulda left these songs to Nirvana, smdh
It's a new mix of genres to me. It's interesting to listen an album that transitions from metal to prog rock and jazz
Shite
Never was a big fan of the Meat Puppets.
Interesting hearing the originals of some of the songs from Nirvana Unplugged, but Nirvana improved them massively. I'd looked forward to hearing this, but I didn't really enjoy it. Maybe with a few more listens.
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
Never was able to get into the Meat Puppets too much, but I enjoyed this quite a bit today. Great proto-grunge energy, a good decade ahead of its time. Noisy and ramshackle on the surface with hints of sophisticated songcraft going on underneath. Noodly in places with some excellent guitar playing, and yet somehow most of the songs don't crack the 3 minute mark. The vocal can get rough and deliberately tuneless, but it's not without an off-kilter charm. Fave Songs: Lost; Plateau; Climbing; I'm a Mindless Idiot; The Whistling Song; Oh, Me; Aurora Borealis
POV cours de chant
One of the Godfathers of Grunge.
Music for the love of making music. So chaotic, and raw, yet has direction and purpose. The unfinished feeling of the album only adds to the wonderfulness of the album.
had only heard of this band through Nirvana, definitely something interesting and caught my ear.
Yeah this is a good listen, a bunch of rattling melodic short and sharp songs.
Good!!
Not for me 2/5
Meh
I'd heard the name Meat Puppets but had never listened to them. My first thought going into this album was holy crap, why are there 19 tracks? Turns out Tidal just has terrible UX and doesn't always mark the extra tracks (or that the albums are rereleases, for that matter). It was originally 12 tracks, all pretty short. I ended up sticking around for the extras anyway. "Split Myself in Two" — the lyrics are fun, but the music is basically "Blitzkrieg Bop." "Magic Toy Missing" is a Primus meets Grateful Dead-goes-punk jam session? Kind of a bop (ha ^), though. Third song — alright, so rockabilly punk is where we're going. I can dig it. Fourth track — is this where Beck got his inspiration from? Fun post-punk instrumental break in the middle of this song. Sonically, I like the more psychedelic songs like "Aurora Borealis" and "We're Here." But the more country songs like "Climbing" aren't bad. "Lake of Fire" sounds like Neil Young on a bad trip (in a good way). Heading into the extra tracks, you get a sense of their thrashier style on the intro of "Teenagers" before it mellows out into more of a psychedelic jam. I could take or leave the thrash stuff — kind of glad they decided to evolve into the latter sound. I've never seen Nirvana's Unplugged show (aside from a few snippets), but knowing that Meat Puppets were guests and performed several of these songs with them makes sense to me. You can definitely hear the influence this band had on Cobain and grunge. I liked this album way more than I was expecting to. I'm a big fan of The Living End, so rockabilly punk isn't unfamiliar to me. And I don't *love* jam bands, but I can do some Phish in moderation, and I enjoy a lot of The Cure's more psychedelic stuff, so this album was an interesting mix of all of that. Not perfect, but I'd listen to this again. 4/5 stars
Nirvana did covers of "Oh, Me", "Plateau", and "Lake of Fire", but I think that Meat Puppets did it better.
Interesting choice to have seemingly talented musicians intentionally play out of tune
I wasn’t sure at all about then when it started - but after the explosion of the start it goes on a pretty lovely journey of styles from punk to country via Americana and indie… all in all a lovely unexpected treat.
O M G How did this make it on the list?
This is bloody awful... its like country v's punk on a full blown drug infused bender of bonkers moany vocals to random instruments played in an unconnected miander for a few minutes... and hey guys... we nailed it... that sounds awesome??? Thanks for giving me this crap to listen to... yet another album I wish I'd never heard.
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!
Song: Plateau The singer is awful. Just absolutely awful—he can't hit high notes and the low notes are off key. The instrumental redeems it slightly (and serves to bury his vocal a bit) but not enough for me to score it well.
Puppet this Meat. So good
я даже погрузился в контекст перед оценкой в попытке понять, что этот альбом вообще делает в списке - для меня звучит сыро и недоделанно - вокал ужасный - музыка при этом приятненькая - очень посмеялся с песни What To Do, потому что я тоже уже не знал как дослушать это часто про этот альбом пишут, что их закаверили Нирвана в акустическом альбоме но у нас будет этот альбом нирваны! может мит папетс великие, но альбом говно
алокальбом: ловишь вертолеты после текилы и спотик врубил рандомную хуйню
Нет, ну это короче... ну блин. Я не знаю. Ощущается, как 1, прям жёстко. Музыкально же - ну прям постарались! Понятное дело, что это наверняка тяжело заходило как и фанатам кантри, так и фанатам хардкор-панка и панка в принципе. Но музыкально есть в чём-то золотая середина. НО НЕ ВОКАЛ! Ну это прям всё испортило. Я слушаю-слушаю, и каждый раз когда вступает голос, тянусь к кнопке стоп. Это не прям ужасно-ужасно, но уже совсем очень близко к этому.
Meh
Interesting...music was not bad. The instrumentals were good. The vocals, however, were terrible.
Awful, they should never let this guy sing again
I’m most reviews here, only knew of the band through Nirvana. Love they got some pop off the back of Unplugged and exposed to a new audience. The fact three songs were included says enough about the album’s influence on the Kurt. A bit messy for my tastes but pleased I got to hear the whole album.
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