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Meat Puppets II
 
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Meat Puppets II [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Meat Puppets | Format: Audio CD
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews) |
Price: $21.71 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Meat Puppets II + Up On The Sun + Huevos
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  • Up On The Sun ~ Meat Puppets Audio CD $11.99

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  • Huevos ~ Meat Puppets Audio CD $21.25

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (March 16, 1999)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
  • Label: Rykodisc
  • ASIN: B00000I9KU
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,023 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

The seminal Phoenix trio's self-titled debut is one of the greatest hard-core punk records ever made--but it pissed the punk kids off. Whether it was the Meat Puppets' long hair (in '81!) or their set-opener "The King and I" it was hard to say. Yet they were reviled. Still, they broadened their horizons, mixing up their weird full-on frantic hardcore style with some Tex-Mex, some bluegrass, and a little desert sun. The result? The cultural icon Meat Puppets II, a landmark album that resonates with the acid trails and heat-driven madness of southwest America. (As a whole generation of musicians, from Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and downwards, can attest.) Curt Kirkwood's dislocated guitar style veers between hillbilly, heavy metal, psychedelic, and the Oak Ridge Boys. His brother's bass sound is endearingly fallible. A wonderful, eccentric record (with seven bonus tracks!). --Everett True

Product Description

The enhanced portion contains a video for \New gods" produced in 1984.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 16-MAR-1999"""
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
[My 100th review. Yay!]

The hardcore punkers must have regarded the Meat Puppets as if they were aliens, back in 1984 for playing this weird blend of punk, country, and bluegrass. It's an acquired taste--untrained vocals, quirky lyrics, sloppy playing, and an overall rustic feel. The band's trademark sound later became more polished on gems like Up On The Sun, but II is the source. This music was very different from the SST-label punk released back then, and definitely not to everyone's liking.

And yet, despite its rough and unpolished feel, this record is compulsively listenable and enjoyable in its dry, acid-drenched Mojave atmosphere. Curt Kirkwood's off-key vocals grate at first but quickly grow on the listener, while his guitar solos attain moments of magic that 90% of polished professional musicians would struggle to reach. Yep, guitar solos, in a "punk" band. Imagine that. Curt's brother Kris (bass) and drummer Derrick Bostrum make up a loose, easygoing backing.

From top to bottom, there are no weak tracks, and most of them are stellar. Famously, Plateau, Oh Me and Lake Of Fire were all covered by Nirvana on their '93 MTV Unplugged concert. I used to think Cobain's reworkings were superior, but now I'm not so sure. I love the shimmering electric outro found on this version of Plateau, Curt's plaintive voice on Oh Me, and the epic feel of Lake Of Fire. Other highlights included here are the frantic Split Myself In Two, the disillusioned Lost, the great instrumental Aurora Borealis, and the fine closer The Whistling Song. The bonus tracks don't really add much, nor do they take anything away from this classic album. You can hear the influence of this album all throughout the Seattle alternative and indie genres.

Overall, if I was headed on a road trip to the deserts of New Mexico, this would be the first album in the CD changer. Essential to anyone with a taste in indie or alternative.

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Oh, I wonder-wonder hoom-a-doo-doo-who? Who has bought this album and owes it soley to the fact that Kurt Kobain and company played not 1..not 2...but THREE songs with Kris and Kurt Curkwood on MTV's Unplugged and muttered "All these songs are from their second album." ?

Cuz that's what I did. Don't expect anything like their (1994?) top-40 hit Backwater; that song's as different from the material on II as their full-length debut--an odd synthesis of slop-hardcowpunk songs that I would NOT recommend to just anyone--is. Kirkwood's off-key, troubled voice grows on one in an EXTREMELY appealing fashion, as the boys slap their instruments through these varied songs that lie somewhere between punk and country; folk and ballad (Listen at the very LEAST for the Neil Young-esque "The Whistling Song"). Awesome.

Warning: Takes several listens to fully appreciate, but once one is hooked, they will no doubt curse the rather short-length (under a half an hour? ) of this fine, fine rock masterpiece. The End.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
New Fan of Meat Puppets December 15, 2000
By Bruce
Format:Audio CD
First encounter with Meat Puppets was when I heard "Backwater" on the radio several years ago and decided to buy the album but never got around to it. Heard "Plateau" on Nirvana MTV unplugged and didn't think much of it the first time I heard it. Then after listening to the song several times I began to love the guitar outro. I was looking for a change from REM and Nirvana. Nirvana seems to have been influenced by the Meat Puppets. REM sounds a lot different.

I bought my first Meat Puppets album "Up On the Sun" and loved it, especially Hot Pink and Maiden's Milk. Decided to buy two more albums "Huevos" and "Too High To Die". "Backwater" is on Too High To Die" but I liked "Huevos" better. In fact I liked it so much, I bought all of the rest of the Meat Puppets CDs including the live one "Live in Montana". "Meat Puppets II" is excellent, especially the songs "Plateau", "Aurora Borealis", and "Lake of Fire". Their first album "Meat Puppets" is punk rock and too hard for me to digest (especially with the kids in the car) and "Monster" is pretty good. I am looking forward to breaking the seal on the other albums (12 CD's total).

To summarize the Meat Puppets: weird, amazing guitar playing, great songwriting, good lyrics, good (sometimes great) singing.

Thank god for the Meat Puppets.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
Besides Television's Marquee Moon, this just might be one of the few punk albums to ever have honest-to-god musical roots in the music and guitar playing of the late great Jerry... Read more
Published 24 months ago by BK
all right boys, let's get way out there now
You will either find this unlistenable, or it will instantly become one of your favorite albums of all time. If the former, go listen again. one day you will get it. Read more
Published on April 26, 2010 by Charolais
Meat Puppety Masterpiece
This is, in my opinion, the Meat Puppets' BEST album. Many fans will point to its successor, "Up on the Sun," as the artistic zenith of the Pups, but I feel that this is the one... Read more
Published on February 4, 2009 by Eric Thompson
Sounds Weird...compared to what I expected.
Maybe my expectations were wrong. I bought this expecting the songs that are also on Nirvana Unplugged to sound like they do there. And, they don't.
Published on January 7, 2009 by R. Trump
Nirvana fans can like it too
I'm one of those people who first heard Meat Puppets songs from the Nirvana covers, so I'll do this review from that angle since I'm sure there are many more people like me. Read more
Published on January 23, 2008 by An Expat
Country rock at it's driest and realistic. Seriously
If there is one album that serves as the soundtrack to the deserts of Arizona, Utah, or New Mexico, Meat puppets II would be my first choice (yes, like Shotgun Method. Boohoo). Read more
Published on January 6, 2008 by Private Quentin Tarantino Fan
Decent
The music and the lyrics are good but the vocalist couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag. Still, a good album overall.
Published on November 21, 2007 by Eric Estes
I don't get it.....
After attending a Dinosaur Jr. gig a few weeks ago, a buddy of mine got into talking about how great the Meat Puppets were/are. Read more
Published on September 17, 2007 by goozemann
stars in the sky and sand in your eye
I read a rave review about the Puppets in NME in the mid-80s and went with my bother to see them in a little bar in KC. Read more
Published on July 23, 2007 by Curt A. Enos
Two Great Songs and a Whole Lot of Instrumental Filler
OK, I do like the Puppets and own most of their CDs. But I know too many people that watched Nirvana Unplugged and then decided they just had to hear those songs that Kurt covered... Read more
Published on March 6, 2007 by SUPERMAN
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