Customer Reviews

Huevos

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On Huevos, the Meat Puppets continued to expand their musical palette. While their previous release Mirage was a more diverse but less focused affair, Huevos saw the band concentrating on blues-based hard rock. While many have called Huevos the band's ode to ZZ Top, the band makes the sound truly their own as the spirited performances show a sense of urgency lost on their previous album.

Every track here is very solid. The tracks "Paradise", "Bad Love", "Dry Rain", and "Automatic Mojo" are great hard rockers driven by Curt Kirkwood's meaty riffs and his loud and occassionally off-key lead vocals. His solos do sound similar to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on many songs, getting more feeling out of a few notes than most bands do out of their 100 mph excursions. The songs "Fruit", "Look At The Rain", and "Crazy" are more rooted in melody and are very good as well. "I Can't Be Counted On" is another great track featuring a catchy melody and chorus. Ironically, the best track here is the only one that's not a hard rocker. "Sexy Music" is one of their best tracks featuring great work from bassist Cris Kirkwood and drummer Derrick Bostrom, great vocals and lyrics from Curt, and a simple keyboard line which adds to the moodiness of the song. The bonus tracks includes four instrumental versions of the album's original tracks. The tracks "Paradise", "Sexy Music", and "Automatic Mojo" are a little heavier than the vocal versions with "Automatic Mojo" actually being stronger than the original. The final track "Fruit" is a showcase for Curt as he solos nearly the entire track, proving he could also play 100 mph if he so chooses. A fine album, it's probably their least diverse release as they stick to hard rock for the most part. If you like great power-trio hard rock, it's an essential purchase. Newcomers may want to check out Too High To Die, Meat Puppets II, or Up On The Sun first.

I had my doubts when popping "Huevos" into my CD player. All the reviews I had read suggested a subpar Pups record, something better than their later work, but certainly no "Up on the Sun." And yeah, this is no "Up on the Sun." But "Huevos" really has it's own strengths. Where "Up on the Sun" would seduce you with ethereal guitar work, "Huevos" came in barreling two-fisted, bashed you over the head with a riff, and dragged you back to the bar. There are many incredible songs here (I enjoyed Paradise, Look at the Rain, Bad Love, Sexy Music, Fruit, I Can't be Counted On, and to a lesser extent, Automatic Mojo.) It's a wonderful album, although the special features on the reissue aren't exactly interesting (unlike some of the earlier reissues.) However, I'd definitely recommend this album to any of my friends.

This record shows more of Curt's astounding and astoundingly individual vocal talents, the first time he breaks into 'This is Paradise!' you can truly believe him. I found some tracks more difficult to accept musically than others on this album, an example would be 'Look at the Rain' and 'Fruit', however after the first few times you hear them, they start to become more and more catchy. If you've never heard the Meat Puppets before I'd suggest maybe 'Up on The Sun' instead or 'Meat Puppets II'. However, don't let that put you off buying this album next, the tracks 'Paradise', 'Sexy music', 'Automatic Mojo' and 'I Can't be Counted On' are classics that must be heard.
Also, if you happen to get the re-release of this album you get a video of the 'Pups performing 'Automatic mojo' live....like the album itself, it's something not to be missed.

I'm a huge fan of all things Meat Puppet-y. Huevos was the most difficult one to warm up to. The vocals are WAY out front, most obviously with the song "Look at the Rain".

Having said that, this is the album I put on most frequently. "Fruit" and "Sexy Music" are my two favorite MP songs. The rhythm section takes a ZZ Top-ish "southern boogie" tack that the Puppets really used to their advantage to propel the songs along. They used the same technique in the subsequent "Monsters" (which contains the fabulous "Light"...)

I kinda like that they got a little Billy Gibbons in my Meat Puppets...both bands have a similar fried from the desert sun sensibility and it gives you a reason to go back and rediscover ZZ Top.

This is an album that anyone even non-puppet fans should love. The rawness of the vocals on "Look at the Rain" is something you cannot get anywhere else. "Sexy Music" is one of the most creative samples of music I've ever heard. That includes the creative bands of the late 60's. Maybe they are not the Dead or the Beatles, but as far creativity they are among the best. The humor of Bob Dylan with the musical liberty of the Grateful Dead in one album. The range of music from "Automatic Mojo" to "Bad Love" is hard to conceive on one album, but the Meat Puppets sew it togehter with insane brilliance.

I'd always heard the Meat Puppets were great, so I asked a friend who's a big fan for a recommended first purchase, and what a great recommendation! Huevos was my most listened-to CD for the first few months after I bought it, and it keeps getting better. It's particularly good driving music. "Sexy Music" is epic, and "Look at the Rain" and "Crazy" stick in your head for days! I love the Dead and punk rock, and no one has ever combined them like the Pups. Highly recommended!

This one is a great purchase by one of my top 10 favorite bands. I am pretty surprised that I am only the third person to review this. This album is a very stripped down to the influencess of ZZ Top and man can you hear the ZZ Top influence. Derecks drumming is very similar to Frank Beard's on Paradise. Look at the rain is absolutely the best song on this album and Curt's voice is way out there on the chorus. Some people may dislike this album saying this is a ZZ Top wannabe album but obviously those people just don't get the pure masterpiece of this great album. Every time I listen to it it just really hits me and sounds phoenominal. Another great twisted rocker on this is Automatic Mojo with the great riffs and the beat of the drums. Sexy Music is a great song that almost puts you in a trance. Man get this album you really need this in your cd collection. If you don't have any Meat Puppet cds and you are wondering if you should get this one first. I will not argue with you this will be a great choice to start with. No die hard Meat Puppet fan should not have this in there collection. If this isn't in there collection with Up On The Sun and Meat Puppets II then I guess they can't be counted on at all. : )

This is my second favorite Pups album after "Too High To Die" which is one of the greatest albums of the nineties. It's less quirky than MPII and "Up On The Sun" (both great albums that you should own, btw), but it rocks harder and it's still plenty weird, just read some of the lyrics!

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a "live-er" sounding album with less reliance on production. As Curt Kirkwood explained in an interview, "huevos" which means "eggs" is also Southwestern slang for chutzpah, as in, they had the huevos to record these tunes live in one or two takes. Despite the sparse production, this album still sounds very psychedelic, as the Kirkwoods seem to have the freakout gene embedded in their DNA.

If you're just getting into the Pups, you'll probably want to begin with their more heralded works, but don't miss this one - it's the perfect album for rolling down the windows and hitting the accelerator. Just be sure to turn it up!

Both musically and lyrically this album just makes my hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. While the casual fan might say MPII, Up on the Sun and Too High To Die are the quintessential Meat Puppets albums, I have to say that you cannot consider the Meat Puppets without looking at what they did in the latter part of the 80s. Huevos has the kinds of song that put a smile on your face with the kind of whimsical, otherwordly lyrics that the Puppets are known for, coupled with the sounds that evoke the Arizona desert. At least that's what I think you'll hear!

Among the lyrical gems: "Hot as the sun, the red rubber fountain of ecstasy flows from the palms of my hands like the wind..." -Sexy Music

"It seemed like it was real Felt like water to my skin But I stepped through the rainbow And saw the desert deep within..." - Dry Rain

You get songs like "Fruit", one of my favorites, that is just a fun listen and "I Can't Be Counted On" which elicits a chuckle.

That this is a ZZ Top tribute aside, this album is sped up compared to earlier Puppets stuff and Curt Kirkwood's lyrics are elevated from the wobbly, sometimes (albeit purposefully) monotone-esque of earlier songs (cf "Hot Pink", "Up on the Sun") to being louder, passionate and expressive. The music is upbeat, the solos energetic - but without losing any of that punk/country characteristic.

It's really those combination of things that make this such a great album - one that I will never get bored of listening to.

I find that this album and "up on the sun" are cut from the same cloth. To me the only difference is that "huevos" is a more concise and consistent collection of what's great about the band ("up on the sun" is a little too meandering for me but still well worth owning). And while I love other albums of theirs - "forbidden places", "monsters", "too high" - it is with "huevos" and "up on the sun" where the production matches the music perfectly - spare, unaffected, intimate. Both albums put you right in the band's backyard.

Catchy, quirky, groovy, country, guitarsy, and different without being too weird. Even if you don't love this album, I think you'll like it.