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Avg. Rating: 4
My Personal 2nd favorite Puppets (after UP ON THE SUN)
I'm not trying to say it's beter than II (commonly considered their best along with UOTS). Personal preferences sometimes have to do with, say, the great summer you had listening to a cool record, or maybe when one saved your sanity at a boring job. But I really do think TOO HIGH TO DIE is truly one of their best, and I even know a few Meat-heads who insist it is, in fact, their greatest.
This kind of praise unfortunately gets thrown around a lot, but I must (type) that I think Curt Kirkwood is a highly under-rated guitar genius. His playing is pretty unique, super-melodic and he's technically gifted. The Kirkwood brothers' voices ("Cris" on bass) are less so. They tend to sing in the same basic range here, but they actually SING (no screaming, posturing, etc.) and do it well - I dig their voices!
This album rocks, but there's also a lot of variety. There's quite a bit of country influence and it's ironic that I love it so much cuz I'm no country fan. I didn't go for a lot of this album at first, but now some of those songs I didn't go for initially get stuck in my head - and I like that! The following notes are my personal impressions of TOO HIGH TO DIE:
"Violet Eyes" - kicks it off with a killer, the hardest rocker on the record. Awesome feedback-laden soloing from Curt - trippy!
"Never To Be Found" - catchy and tuneful, this groover is addictive. The bass is simple and perfect. It starts off lighter than "Violet Eyes" with some crisp strumming, but takes off to great heights. "We got road, we got time, so we're out of here . . ." Love the epic guitar coda at the end before the band kicks in again with a faster tempo.
"We Don't Exist" - cool rocker. I'm not sure why the singer wants and needs "Cayenne" so bad or what it will do for him, but his longing for it is powerful. Or maybe Cayenne's just a girl.
"Severed Goddess Head" - Sweet and easy-going rocker with cool vocal harmonies.
"Flaming Heart" - drummer Derrick Bostrom gradually and skillfully increases the tempo over the course of this song with the effect of intensifying it (contrary to some opinions, that's a compliment). This is one of the songs that sometimes just pops in my head and starts playing - the part towards the end where the lead guitar kicks in.
"Shine" - unlike the other songs here, this one is really mellow and beautiful.
"Station" - This track sounds like a demented country circus. I couldn't deal with it when I first heard this album. Now I'm addicted to it.
"Roof With a Hole" - a loooow down, powerful, blues-y #. "There may be diamonds in that dream on the hill/ But the people who live there still complain/ Cause the roof's got a hole in it/ And everything's been ruined by the rain." (Listening to this song today struck me as poignant in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devestation.)
"Backwater" - a great song and pretty much their lone hit on alt-rock radio. I don't think it's necessarily the best on the album, but it's certainly a strong contender and it did sound great on the radio. Killer rhythm!
"Things" - another great one (I'd rate every song on TOO HIGH TO DIE a 5) with some truly wild and strange guitar moves from Curt.
"Why?" - a gorgeous, folky little tune.
"Evil Love" - Another excellent rock groove.
"Comin Down" - great, bouncy tune and (more or less) a straight-up country track.
bonus hidden track - a deadpan, super-cool re-recording of their classic "Lake of Fire." Doesn't surplant the original, but it's way cool and Curt solos his ass off.
succumb to the grunge genre
not entirely, but this album does sound dated, and thats not really a reason to dislike an album...Im pretty mixed with this album, it does feel a bit "disconnected" in my opinion. The review by Reviewer: Timothy Carey "vicvega2003" pretty much sums it up in my opinion; which ive quoted below if he doesn't mind.
"The Meat Puppets where one of the best bands of the 80s, but once they got signed off SST to a major label they seemed to have lost something. They didn't sell out, but a certain amount of soul present on "II" and "Up On the Sun" just wasn't there. The problem is they seemed to get swept up in the grunge explosion that happened. That isn't to say this is a terrible record. There are a few good songs, notibly their big hit "Backwater" amoung a few others. However, something just wasn't there. The lyrics weren't as funny or as emotional as before, and it leaves no lasting affect. I know there are many who disagree with me. If you like grunge such as Soundgarden and Mudhoney, you'll probably like this. If you like classic Puppets however, you'll not like this too much. Not bad by all means, just not that great either."
Below-average offering (2.5 stars)
The Meat Puppets where one of the best bands of the 80s, but once they got signed off SST to a major label they seemed to have lost something. They didn't sell out, but a certain amount of soul present on "II" and "Up On the Sun" just wasn't there. The problem is they seemed to get swept up in the grunge explosion that happened. That isn't to say this is a terrible record. There are a few good songs, notibly their big hit "Backwater" amoung a few others. However, something just wasn't there. The lyrics weren't as funny or as emotional as before, and it leaves no lasting affect. I know there are many who disagree with me. If you like grunge such as Soundgarden and Mudhoney, you'll probably like this. If you like classic Puppets however, you'll not like this too much. Not bad by all means, just not that great either.
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