Meat Puppets

樂(lè)隊(duì)成員
Curt Kirkwood- Guitar and Vocals
Cris Kirkwood- Bass and Vocals
Ted Marcus-Drums
1980年樂(lè)隊(duì)成立于美國(guó)亞利桑那州，是著名獨(dú)立廠牌SST旗下的一支著名的硬核樂(lè)隊(duì)，他們的音樂(lè)中包含的成分很雜，不僅有硬搖滾和朋克樂(lè)和元素，還有布魯斯，民謠搖滾和鄉(xiāng)村搖滾的元素，樂(lè)隊(duì)曾短暫的進(jìn)入過(guò)主流的視線，但他們卻從未放棄自己的朋克根源，并使自己的音樂(lè)生涯長(zhǎng)久不衰地延續(xù)下去。
　　1993年,Kirkwood兄弟受邀參加NIRVANA紐約不插電演唱會(huì)的演出錄制,其中,NIRVANA翻唱了MEAT PUPPETS的Plateau,oh me,Lake Of Fire.
Out of all of the bands that made SST Records a towering force in the American underground during the mid-80s, the Meat Puppets lasted the longest, surviving where other bands fell apart. The Meat Puppets never had the dedicated following of Hüsker Dü or the Minutemen — two fellow SST bands who played the same circuit as the Puppets — but they were able to carve out a long career where other hardcore bands could not, because they always drew from conventional hard rock as well as punk. Not only did they play hard, loud, and fast, but they also had elements of the blues-rock of ZZ Top, the ambling folk-rock of the Grateful Dead, and Neil Youngs country-rock and hard rock. As they grew older, the band matured musically, developing an accomplished instrumental technique and moving closer to the traditional hard rock that was always underneath their punk. But they never quite abandoned their punk roots, even when they briefly broke into the mainstream in the early 90s.
The core of the Meat Puppets was Curt (guitar; born January 10, 1959) and Cris Kirkwood (bass; born October 22, 1960), a pair of brothers born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. As teenagers, the Kirkwoods played in local rock & roll bands, primarily playing mainstream rock and hard rock. After graduating from a Jesuit prep school, the brothers formed the Meat Puppets in 1980 with drummer Derrick Bostrom. Unlike the Kirkwoods earlier bands, the Meat Puppets were directly inspired by punk rock; they were so committed to keeping the music punk that they refused to rehearse.
A little over a year after their formation, the Meat Puppets released their first EP, In a Car, on World Imitation. At this point in their career, the band was at its noisiest, playing furious hardcore with avant-garde leanings. Greg Ginn, the lead guitarist for Black Flag and the head of SST Records, heard the record and offered the Meat Puppets a contract with SST. In 1982, the band released their full-length eponymous debut album on SST, which continued in the experimental vein of their EP.
The Meat Puppets didnt develop their own distinctive voice until their second album, Meat Puppets II, which was released in 1984. On Meat Puppets II, the band created a fusion of punk and country that sounded unlike anything else in the American underground. With their second album and constant touring, the Meat Puppets began to cultivate a dedicated cult following across the U.S. that continued to grow throughout the rest of the decade. In 1985, the group released their third album, Up on the Sun, which earned them their first reviews in mainstream music publications. Up on the Sun also demonstrated that the band was beginning to streamline their sound, moving closer to traditional blues-rock, country-rock, and psychedelia. This shift toward conventional hard rock continued throughout the late 80s, as the band gradually sanded away their rougher, punk edges.
After releasing an EP called Out My Way in 1986, the Meat Puppets released two critically acclaimed albums — Mirage and Huevos — in 1987. By the release of Mirage, the Meat Puppets had established themselves as college radio stars, as well as popular attractions on the American underground circuit. Monsters, their final album for SST Records, was released in 1989 and its heavy rock attack foreshadowed the approach the band would adopt in the following decade. The straightforward sound of Monsters wasnt greeted favorably by the bands cult following, and the record stiffed on college radio.
Following the weak reception of Monsters, the Meat Puppets broke up. In 1991, they re-formed and signed a major-label deal with London Records. Before they recorded their first album for London, SST issued the compilation No Strings Attached in 1990. The following year, Forbidden Places, the groups major-label debut, appeared in the stores. Forbidden Places was neither a commercial nor underground success.
For two years after the release of Forbidden Places, the Meat Puppets were relatively quiet, playing a couple of gigs every once in a while. In 1993, they re-emerged as an opening act on Nirvanas In Utero tour. Toward the end of the tour, Nirvana taped an appearance for MTV Unplugged, during which they covered three songs from Meat Puppets II with the Meat Puppets themselves. The exposure on MTV Unplugged helped set the stage for the commercial breakthrough of the bands second major-label album, 1994s Too High to Die. Released around the same time as MTV Unplugged originally aired, Too High to Die didnt gather much attention at first, but after Kurt Cobains suicide in April, the record and its first single, Backwater, began to move. This was due to radios acceptance of Backwater, but also to MTVs constant airings of Nirvanas MTV Unplugged. By the summer of 1994, Backwater was a genuine hit, climbing to number two on the album rock charts and just missing the pop Top 40. None of the other singles from Too High to Die performed quite as well, but the album was a success, becoming the groups first to go gold. The Meat Puppets released No Joke!, their follow-up to Too High to Die, in the fall of 1995. However, this album received mediocre reviews and little airplay, and disappeared from the charts and radio a few months after its release.
Following this setback, the Pups effectively went on hiatus. Derrick Bostrom recorded a one-off EP of goofy, saccharine pop covers for the Amarillo label in 1996 under the name Todays Sounds; he subsequently took a job with a multimedia company, also overseeing both the bands website and Rykodiscs 1999 Meat Puppets reissue campaign. Cris Kirkwood, unfortunately, did not fare so well. With the influx of fame and cash, his drug problem had worsened during the No Joke! sessions, and in 1995, he married Michelle Tardif, whose own addictions and run-ins with the law sent things spiraling out of control. Tragedy struck in December 1996, when the Kirkwoods mother died, and again in August 1998 when Tardif died of a drug overdose. After virtually disappearing for a short time, Cris began to sort out his addictions in rehab programs, and his attendant legal problems in court. Meanwhile, the bands label, London Records, was swallowed up by Universal in a corporate mega-merger.
An overloaded Curt Kirkwood had already relocated to Austin, TX, prior to Tardifs death; there he formed a new outfit dubbed the Royal Neanderthal Orchestra with ex-Pariah members Kyle Ellison (guitar) and Shandon Sahm (drums; also the son of Doug Sahm), plus former Bob Mould bassist Andrew DuPlantis. Eventually, this group took over the Meat Puppets name (although neither Bostrom nor Cris Kirkwood was ever officially removed from the lineup). Curt secured a release from his prior contract and signed with Breaking, an Atlantic subsidiary. Golden Lies, the Meat Puppets first new album in five years, was released in the fall of 2000. Seven years later, after a lengthy struggle with substance abuse, Cris Kirkwood reunited with brother Curt and new drummer Ted Marcus for the Anodyne release Rise to Your Knees.