No Joke!
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.
| No Joke! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 3, 1995 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Studio | Phase Four Studio, Phoenix, Arizona, Westlake Studio, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 54:51 | |||
| Label | London | |||
| Producer | Meat Puppets, Paul Leary | |||
| Meat Puppets chronology | ||||
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| Singles from No Joke! | ||||
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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
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [4] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide |  [5] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [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. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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
- Derrick Bostrom - drums, paintings
- Cris Kirkwood - bass, vocals, illustrations
- Curt Kirkwood - guitar, vocals, paintings
- Technical
References
- Meat Puppets Interview, retrieved 2022-02-21
- Shipley, Al (26 Sep 2000). "Meat Puppets - Golden Lies". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: No Joke! - Meat Puppets". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
- Hernandez, Raoul (November 2, 1995). "Review: MEAT PUPPETS - No Joke (London)". Nick Barbaro. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
- Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Meat Puppets". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan. p. 202. ISBN 9780312245603.
- "Music Review: 'No Joke!'". Entertainment Weekly. 1995-09-15. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
- Flaum, Eric (November 2, 1995). "Review: Meat Puppets - No Joke". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-07-05. Retrieved 4 August 2009.