The Meat Puppets' second album, 1984's appropriately titled Meat Puppets II, has since gone down in the rock history books as an all-time classic, and rightfully so. The Meat Puppets were one of the first punk acts to inject different musical styles into their sound, something that was an absolute no-no at the time -- especially the sparkling sounds of country. The trio resembles a more conventional band than on their white-noise self-titled debut; the songwriting had improved dramatically, and you could even clearly decipher the playing and singing this time around. As many '90s alt-rock fans know, Meat Puppets II reached a whole new generation of fans when Nirvana covered the album's three best tracks on their MTV Unplugged special from 1994 -- "Plateau," "Lake of Fire," and "Oh, Me." But this was an incredibly consistent recording from beginning to end; other highlights included the instrumentals "Magic Toy Missing," "Aurora Borealis," and "I'm a Mindless Idiot," the rockers "Split Myself in Two" and "New Gods," plus such mellower fare as "Lost," "We're Here," "Climbing," and "The Whistling Song." An essential recording that sounds as fresh and inviting as the day it was released. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Meat Puppets II is the second album by the Tempe, Arizona band the Meat Puppets. It is completely unlike their self-titled debut album, which was furious noisy hardcore with unintelligible vocals, which were more nonsensical screams than lyrics. It covers many genres from country-style rock which is almost bluegrass at times ("Magic Toy Missing", "Climbing", Lost") to slow acoustic songs ("Plateau", "Oh Me") to psychedelic guitar effects ("Aurora Borealis") to hard rock ("Lake of Fire"). Rykodisc reissued the album in 1999 with extra tracks and b-sides, including a cover of the Rolling Stones' Aftermath-era track "What To Do."
The album is also known for its unique cover art. On the back of the original vinyl, the art is credited to Curt Kirkwood and Neal Holliday.
The album was performed live in its entirety at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York as part of the ATP Don't Look Back season, and again in December at a performance in London.
Track listing
All songs written by Curt Kirkwood, unless otherwise noted.
