Meat Puppets Album: “Live at Maxwell's 2.08.01”

I just picked this cd up today and it pretty much sounds like the concert I saw from this tour, the selection is heavy on songs from Golden Lies. The concert intro and the extended jam of Up On the Sun are great, definitely the highlights for me thus far. This isn't a perfect disk, but worth checking out. I'd have to say I prefer it to Live IN Montana. I would have liked a more diverse selection (maybe a "violet eyes" or "backwater" thrown in) but I can't complain too much. If you've seen the band recently, you won't be surprised by it.

Despite only featuring one original member in lead vocalist/guitarist Curt Kirkwood as well as a setlist that is short on classic material and long on the Golden Lies album, Meat Puppets Live is a far superior live release to the one that features the original lineup, Live in Montana. With the instrumental interplay with his brother Cris gone, the focus here is on Curt and he certainly makes up for the loss as his vocals are much stronger here and his guitar work remains stellar. Most of the Golden Lies tracks are very good as "Armed and Stupid", "Wipe Out", "Push the Button", and "Way That It Are" resemble the quirky rock tunes on Too High to Die while retaining some of the looseness of their '80s releases. The psychedelic "Lamp", the haphazard "Take Off Your Clothes", and the reflective "Pieces of Me" are also strong tracks. As for the older tracks, the versions of "Oh, Me", "Up On the Sun", "Lake of Fire", and "Plateau" are all great and the crowd really gets into them. Finally, the album closes with an absolutely wicked version of "Touchdown King." All told, while Meat Puppets Live is not definitive, several albums such as Meat Puppets, Mirage, and Too High to Die are not represented; it's still a very good live album and certainly the best one out there.

I liked live in Montana better. This recording is a step above bootleg quality. The guitar music is very good (Armed and Stupid, Wipe Out, I Quit, Push the Button, Up on the Sun, Fatboy). I have never liked anything but the "Meat Puppets II" versions of "Lake of Fire" and "Plateau" and this record does not change that. The highlight for me is the excellent performance of "Up on the Sun" sans the extension and "Wipe Out". I like the live versions of the songs from "Golden Lies" better than the studio, although, I was disappointed with "Lamp". If you don't own the albums "Meat Puppets II" and "Up on the Sun", go buy them now.