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Title: Forgotten, hard to find, and absolutely great.
Review: Fans of Cake, They Might be Giants, and The Refreshments take note: Here's a band that combines the best parts of all three. Part punk, part ska, part classic rock, part -- uh -- bluegrass, the Meat Puppetswill move your body and challenge your brain in ways you didn't think possible. Although later albums garnered more commercial success, Forbidden Places is by far the most solidly crafted album that the now defunct band released. Tender ballads alternate with searing, smokingly fast guitar-driven rock, all united by lyrics that are half acid-rock free-association, half TMBG-style wordplay. They were even covered by TMBG (whirlpool), and it's indicative of their talent that I like the original better than the cover, even though TMBG is my favorite band. There's not a bum track on the whole album -- even the instrumental hoedown at the end holds up to repeated listenings. Definitely a good buy, even at 14.00.
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