"The Meat Puppets gave me a completely different attitude toward music - I owe so much to them." These are words of the most influential writers of all time, Kurt Cobain, from the front of the Meat Puppets' album, "Too High to Die."

The Meat Puppets are a long-running, but relatively obscure Phoenix band who were know for performing "Oh me," "Plateau" and "lake of fire" on the Nirvana unplugged set.

To start, "Violet eyes" knocks you off your feet. It's powerful, tantalizing and provocative. Then you ease into songs like "severed goddess hand." Later the song "station" leads you into a state where you will find yourself listening to it over and over. Plus, the song has a guitar flavor which cannot be described, probably one reason Kurt Cobain took an interest in them. There is the slow ballad with a touch of blues, "roof with a hole," followed by the most intense song on the album, "Backwater" which is an explosive blast of guitar angst and basically great music. The final gospel-like song, "Comin' down," gives the finishing touch to the perfect album. There is another surprise: after "Comin' down," a ghost track comes on, none other than the explosive, bliss song "lake of fire," which the Meat Puppets did with Nirvana. This song clearly defines what and who the Meat Puppets are: a band chock full of talent.

Nothing more can be said about the album, except that it is a full-blown, raw and uncut blast of music that breaks all barriers in the music world today. An epic, a jam-packed experience for music lovers who enjoy the purity of grunge, hard pop and rock