So why is Meat Puppets’ Up On The Sun on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Up on the Sun is a delightful album, but a challenging one to describe.
It’s also one of those albums that kept demanding to rise higher and higher on the best 1,000 albums ever rankings every time I threw it on.
Here are some notes that I jotted down during the lengthy research phase of the project:
- It’s like pre-grunge with sun shiny Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar licks
- Love how college rock / R.E.M. / jangle pop songs like “Too Real” are
- Other parts sound like chill Primus that completely works (somehow?)
And that’s not even getting to the magnificence that is “Buckethead.”
When I get really into a song, I get really into it. Like I’ll play it over and over again and let it wash over me and through my head and ears and heart and brain. And “Buckethead” is a song that I’ve gone through that cycle with multiple times.
Now, I’ll clearly note that “Buckethead,” like the Meat Puppets at large, ain’t for everyone. But if you give it a chance, you just might find filling yourself up with this one.
The hook is an all-time crusher, and the vocals are an incredible mix of strange and alluring. In listening to “Buckethead” for about the 9,000th time during this writing, I’m struck by how masterful the Meat Puppets are as musicians, and they are adept at pushing right up to the line – for me, at least – of chasing their oddball musical proclivities while keeping it just accessible enough to be wildly entertaining for many music fans.
I mention above how much I dig “Too Real.” And the more I listen to it, I think of it as a wild combination of college rock and punk and R.E.M. and Primus-like influences that against all odds works magnificently.
There are a number of instrumental or largely instrumental tracks that are both offbeat and breathtakingly wonderful on Up on the Sun. “Maiden’s Milk” involves only whistling in terms of vocals and is otherwise a masterclass in melodic guitar rock.
Final quick side note: I really like Up on the Sun’s cover art. It’s cheerful and colorful and evokes a coffee shop with an incredible relaxed vibe.
Some stats & info about Meat Puppets – Up On The Sun
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, College Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Up On The Sun released? 1985
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #318 out of 1,000
Meat Puppets’ Up On The Sun on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Meat Puppets’ Up On The Sun that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Fill up the bucket with whatever you got. Make sure it’s something that the bucket likes a lot.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.