Backwater Review

07/13/2005 5:45 AM, AMG


Just as the Meat Puppets were being introduced to a whole new generation of alternative fans on the strength of the Kirkwood brothers' appearance on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged special, the band released their eighth full-length (and second for major label London), Too High to Die. Rock radio and MTV immediately picked up on the album's best track, "Backwater," which became a sizable hit, eventually pushing Too High to gold-certification status. London issued a five-track CD single of "Backwater" just as the song began to take off in the summer of 1994, and while it included two previously released tracks ("Backwater" and a track from 1991's Forbidden Places, "Open Wide"), it also contained three tracks unavailable anywhere else. The hard-rocking "Animal" was a leftover from the Too High sessions (and would eventually resurface on the White Man's Burden motion picture soundtrack in 1995), as well as a gorgeous acoustic version of "Up on the Sun," which contains some great harmony vocals, and a fun cover of the old novelty song "White Sport Coat." ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide