No Joke!

Last updated
No Joke!
No Joke!.gif
Studio album by
Meat Puppets
ReleasedOctober 3, 1995
Recorded1995
StudioPhase Four Studio, Phoenix, Arizona, Westlake Studio, Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length54:51
Label London
Producer Meat Puppets, Paul Leary
Meat Puppets chronology
Too High to Die
(1994)		No Joke!
(1995)		 Live in Montana
(1999)
Singles from No Joke!
  1. "Scum"
    Released: 1995
  2. "Taste of the Sun"
    Released: 1996

No Joke! is the ninth studio album by the Meat Puppets. The album was released on October 3, 1995, by London Records. It was the follow-up to the band's album Too High to Die and was the last Meat Puppets album with bassist Cris Kirkwood (until his reunion on 2007's Rise to Your Knees ) and drummer Derrick Bostrom (until 2019's Dusty Notes ). A video was filmed for the song "Scum", directed by Dave Markey.

Contents

Artwork

The cover art "no joke" used on the album was originally created by Curt Kirkwood's daughter, which the band chose to use as the album's title and cover art. [1]

Music

In September 2000, Al Shipley wrote that No Joke! had a "droning alt-metal sensibility". [2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide Rating-Christgau-neither.png [5]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [6]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described No Joke! as an "average" Meat Puppets record, explaining that although the songs were "competent", it lacked the "wild spark" and "bizarre sense of humour" that characterised their 1980s work. [3]

Eric Flaum of American music publication Rolling Stone was more praising, awarding the album 4-out-of-5 stars and stating that No Joke! showed the band's creativity at "full throttle". [7]

Track listing

All songs written by Curt Kirkwood, unless otherwise noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Scum"3:53
2."Nothing"6:27
3."Head"4:17
4."Taste of the Sun"3:58
5."Vampires"4:35
6."Predator"4:31
7."Poison Arrow"3:12
8."Eyeball"4:04
9."For Free"4:29
10."Cobbler"3:25
11."Inflatable"3:28
12."Sweet Ammonia"4:17
13."Chemical Garden"4:15

Personnel

Meat Puppets
Technical

Chart performance

Album - Billboard (North America)

YearChartPosition
1995The Billboard 200183

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References

  1. ↑ Meat Puppets Interview , retrieved 2022-02-21
  2. ↑ Shipley, Al (26 Sep 2000). "Meat Puppets - Golden Lies". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: No Joke! - Meat Puppets". Allmusic . Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  4. ↑ Hernandez, Raoul (November 2, 1995). "Review: MEAT PUPPETS - No Joke (London)". Nick Barbaro. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Meat Puppets". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan. p. 202. ISBN   9780312245603.
  6. ↑ "Music Review: 'No Joke!'". Entertainment Weekly . 1995-09-15. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  7. 1 2 Flaum, Eric (November 2, 1995). "Review: Meat Puppets - No Joke". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-07-05. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
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