Meat Puppets Albums (14)
What The Critics Say
The Meat Puppets shattered so dramatically in the late '90s that 12 years separated the last album with the group's original lineup, No Joke, and 2007's Rise to Your Knees, which saw guitarist Curt Kirkwood and his brother, bassist Cris Kirkwood, reunited in the studio (drummer Ted Marcus replaced original timekeeper Derrick Bostrom), and even then their reunion came as a surprise to many fans. The Meat Puppets had a hard time finding their groove on the often clumsy Rise to Your Knees, but thankfully 2009's Sewn Together finds them sounding and feeling like their old selves again. The production on Sewn Together is more polished and professional than on the Pups' classic '80s albums like Meat Puppets II and Up on the Sun, and the presence of a few guest musicians and some keyboard and mandolin overdubs gives this a glossy sheen more befitting their later major-label efforts Forbidden Places and Too High to Die. But the vaguely psychedelic drift of the melodies and the playful surrealism of the lyrics certainly harks back to the classic period of the band, and if the 2009 Meat Puppets aren't as light on their feet as they were two decades earlier, Curt's guitar and vocals clearly recall the dusty splendor of their best work, especially compared to Rise to Your Knees, and Cris and Ted are a tighter and more sympathetic rhythm section on their second visit to the studio. When Sewn Together rocks out, the vibe is less punk and more '70s hard rock, but the crunch is classic Kirkwood, and as befits the most cheerfully stoned-out band to emerge from the hardcore underground, Sewn Together sounds and feels pleasurably baked, and the mood makes even the grandest conceits on this album sound at once modest and as spacious as the desert. For all the demons that haunted them following their brief flirtation with fame, Sewn Together suggests that the Meat Puppets are following their bliss again, and if it's not quite up to the standards of their classic material, there's no question that it reconnects with the qualities that made them so special. It's a fine thing to have the Meat Puppets back in fighting shape again. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While the Meat Puppets wisely resisted the temptation to call this album "Cris Kirkwood's Back," in many respects the return of the group's troubled bass player signifies an effort by the Pups to reclaim their former glories. Recorded in a simple, straightforward fashion, with guitarist and vision guy Curt Kirkwood in the producer's chair and released by an independent label, Rise to Your Knees harkens back to the Meat Puppets' glory days on SST, though the often chunky guitar tone and rhythmic stability has more in common with Too High to Die and Forbidden Places than the playful, sunburnt joy of Meat Puppets II and Up on the Sun. Rise to Your Knees gives off an amiable, laid-back vibe that's cleaner and more technically accomplished than the classic recordings of the Meat Puppets' first era, but still glimmers with the Kirkwood Brothers love of ballsy psychedelia, and while Curt Kirkwood has given himself more impressive guitar showcases in the past, the noisy assault of "Light the Fire," "Vultures" and "Disappear" will satisfy fans hoping to hear him show off his estimable skills, though his touch doesn't seem to be quite as light or as sure as it once was. Rise to Your Knees feels like an effort by the Meat Puppets to give their most loyal fans what they want -- trimming the lineup back to a three piece after recording 2000s Golden Lies as a quartet and losing a bit of the pop polish they picked up during their days on a major label -- and it certainly delivers a fair share of the goods, but unfortunately there aren't any songs here that can stand beside "Lake of Fire," "Up on the Sun" or "Paradise," and ultimately, this music sounds good when you keep wishing for it to be great. Given the hard road the Kirkwood Brothers have had to follow since last recording together, the mere fact they've been able to come together to make an album as solid and coherent as Rise to Your Knees is little short of miraculous, but it pales in comparison to the Meat Puppets best music and suggests that they still have a ways to go before they're fully back in fighting shape. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Live at Maxwell's 2.08.01'
Release Date 4/9/2002
Tracks 17
Label DCN
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Released on DCN in the spring of 2002, Live showcases the post-Cris Kirkwood/post-Derrick Bostrom band in a live setting - it's the second album from this lineup, and the first time to A/B classic Meat Puppets material by the original band and the new lineup. On whole, the new lineup doesn't fare badly at all; they sound better than a cover band, thanks to Curt Kirkwood's distinctive guitar and vocals, and the band dutifully follow his lead. It is noticeably less loopy or distinctive than the seminal lineup of the Meat Puppets - it's straightforward and dependable, lacking the unpredictable spark of the group at their heyday. Some could complain about this, but if they do, they're being churlish and selfish, since it took Curt Kirkwood a lot of effort and, indeed, personal loss to get to a point where he has a dependable band that sounds good on an average night. Yeah, this isn't a wooly, live-wire performance like the kind captured on Live in Montana, but it's well-done and thoroughly enjoyable, one that lives up to what long-time fans want, or even need, to hear from the band. That doesn't mean that Live is a record you'd listen to a whole lot, but it is satisfying, and it's heartening to hear that Curt Kirkwood can lead a version of the Meat Puppets that delivers reliably. Unreliability may have been one of their key charms, but that's captured on record, and it's 2002, not 1982 - he is a veteran that deserves to be able to be a working musician with a band as good as this one. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine , All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With all the turmoil and tragedy surrounding his family, it's no wonder Meat Puppets leader Curt Kirkwood fled Arizona to make a fresh start in Austin, TX. Breaking with the past, Kirkwood assembled a new quartet version of the Meat Puppets, featuring two former members of the Austin band Pariah. As presented on Golden Lies, the new Puppets are a surprisingly heavy, hard-rocking outfit, turning in one of the loudest records in the group's catalog. It's also one of the best-produced, boasting a thick, full, shiny sound. Some of the quirkier, more freewheeling edges of the old Puppets have been sanded off -- there's very little of Kirkwood's vaunted country influence here, and the record sometimes feels a little too uniform when the inevitable comparisons to the Pups of yesteryear are made. But really, many individual moments work very well, and it's encouraging to hear Kirkwood returning to form. Songs like "I Quit," "You Love Me," and "Endless Wave" have that classic airy Pups feel, but with an added jolt of intensity supplied by the new band. Not everything on the record works; some of the lyrics try a little too hard for the trippy surrealism that's become Kirkwood's hallmark, and a few songs feature a sort of half-rapped speak-sing that comes off as awkward. Golden Lies doesn't quite recapture the glory of the Puppets' SST years, or the pop breakthrough of Too High to Die, but its very existence is a triumphant achievement. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although the Meat Puppets were considered one of the most exciting and exhilarating alt-punk bands, the original lineup never got around to issuing a live album during their tenure from 1982-1996. Just prior to the re-release of all their '80s SST albums in 1999 on Rykodisc, the band's first live album ever, Live in Montana, was issued. Recorded on December 7-8, 1988 (at the Sundance and Top Hat clubs) while on tour supporting their Huevos album, several tracks from their forthcoming Monsters release are included as well -- the album-opening "Touchdown King," "Attacked By Monsters," and "Party 'Til the World Obeys." Also featured are versions of such classics as "Plateau," "Maiden's Milk," "Lake of Fire," and "Liquified," as well as surprise covers like "Cotton Candy Land," "Dough Rey Mi," "S.W.A.T. (Get Down)," "Blue Bayou," and a crunchy album-closing medley of "The Small Hours/Paranoid/Sweet Leaf." Although the trio often goes for feel over precision with the playing and singing (even more so than on their already loose early albums), the spontaneous electricity captured on Live in Montana is contagious. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As many Meat Puppets fans had realized by 1987's Mirage, the trio would change gears and broaden their sound with each successive album. This was never more apparent than on their fourth full-length release. Synthesizers were used to add textures to the tunes, while the drums sounded metronome-perfect, almost as if a drum machine was supplying the patterns. Strangely, although Mirage was the trio's most experimental album, it also turned out to be one of their most psychedelia-based works. The groovy little ditty "Get on Down" turned out to be one of the band's first videos aired on MTV, while the title track, the melodic "Leaves," the country rocker "Confusion Fog," the unrelenting "Beauty," and the album-closing punk freak-out "Liquified" are all standouts. Several previously unreleased demos were included on the 1999 Rykodisc reissue, as well as a solo Curt Kirkwood original, "Grand Intro." ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although the Meat Puppets would later become best known for their intriguing blend of country, punk, rock, folk, psychedelia, and whatever else they could toss in their musical blender, the trio's 1982 self-titled full-length debut was a furious hardcore album. Totally ferocious and red hot, the album rarely lets up on its full-throttle attack -- Curt Kirkwood's vocals bear little resemblance to the wasted, off-key country-rock warbling on such seminal releases as Meat Puppets II and Up on the Sun; instead, the singing style consists of larynx-shredding screaming that renders the lyrics incomprehensible. Still, there's something special about such slop-rockers as "Love Offering," "Blue-Green God," "Saturday Morning," and "Our Friends." And as a sign of things to come, for a few brief fleeting moments, the band attempts to conquer country (on covers of "Walking Boss" and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds"). The 1999 Rykodisc reissue more than doubled the original album's track listing, including their early In a Car EP and a total of 12 outtakes/demos, the best of the bunch being covers of the Stooges' "I Got a Right," Neil Young's "I Am a Child," and the Grateful Dead's "Franklin's Tower." ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although the Meat Puppets' previous album, 1991's Forbidden Places, was one of the Arizona trio's finest, the band wasn't completely happy with the album's sound, courtesy of longtime Dwight Yoakam producer Pete Anderson. So on their second album for London Records, 1994's Too High To Die, the trio hooked up with Butthole Surfer Paul Leary to put them back on track. Not only did they succeed, but they scored a big radio hit with the melodic rocker "Backwater," and the release became their first to be certified gold. The electrified album opener "Violet Eyes" kicks things off, and immediately thereafter, the trio takes you on a wild musical rollercoaster ride. Hard rock ("We Don't Exist," "Station," an unlisted remake of "Lake of Fire"), blues rock ("Roof With a Hole"), ballads ("Shine," "Why?"), country ("Comin' Down"), and demented pop/rock ("Never to Be Found," "Severed Goddess Hand," "Flaming Heart," "Things") help make up perhaps the band's most musically varied album. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Veteran independent rockers the Meat Puppets finally took the plunge and signed with a major label in the early '90s, London Records, the first home of one of their favorite bands, ZZ Top. Judging from their previous release (1989's Monsters), it appeared as though the trio was going in a more experimental direction, away from the raw and direct approach of their early works. But the Puppets surprised their fans by going back to their live-in-the-room feel, resulting in one of their finest albums, 1991's Forbidden Places. Unfortunately, it became yet another criminally overlooked release for the band, getting lost in the shuffle since it was released just prior to the Seattle explosion in the fall of 1991. The turbo-charged album opener, "Sam," is a razor-sharp rocker that features a humorous, lightning-fast vocal delivery from the Kirkwood brothers; other standouts include the bluesy "Nail It Down," the tranquil "This Day" and "No Longer Gone," and such ragers as "Open Wide," "Popskull," and the title track. And what Meat Puppets album would be complete without a few country ditties? The lonesome "That's How It Goes" and the breakneck album-closing instrumental "Six Gallon Pie" showed off the trio's cowboy roots splendidly. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
