:en:No Joke!

{{Infobox album

| name = No Joke!

| type = studio

| artist = Meat Puppets

| cover = No_Joke!.gif

| alt =

| released = October 3, 1995

| recorded = 1995

| venue =

| studio = Phase Four Studio, Phoenix, Arizona, Westlake Studio, Los Angeles, California

| genre = {{flatlist|

}}

| length = 54:51

| label = London

| producer = Meat Puppets, Paul Leary

| prev_title = Too High to Die

| prev_year = 1994

| next_title = Live in Montana

| next_year = 1999

| misc = {{Singles

| name = No Joke!

| type = studio

| single1 = Scum

| single1date = 1995

| single2 = Taste of the Sun

| single2date = 1996

}}

No Joke! is the ninth studio album by the Meat Puppets. The album was released on October 3, 1995, by London Records. It was the follow-up to the band's album Too High to Die and was the last Meat Puppets album with bassist Cris Kirkwood (until his reunion on 2007's Rise to Your Knees) and drummer Derrick Bostrom (until 2019's Dusty Notes). A video was filmed for the song "Scum", directed by Dave Markey.

Artwork

The cover art "no joke" used on the album was originally created by Curt Kirkwood's daughter, which the band chose to use as the album's title and cover art.{{Citation|title=Meat Puppets Interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-qNavbGwQE|language=en|access-date=2022-02-21}}

Music

In September 2000, Al Shipley wrote that No Joke! had a "droning alt-metal sensibility".{{cite news |last1=Shipley |first1=Al |title=Meat Puppets - Golden Lies |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5198-golden-lies/ |accessdate=10 February 2019 |work=Pitchfork |date=26 Sep 2000}}

Reception

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |title=Review: No Joke! - Meat Puppets |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r226563|pure_url=yes}} |website=AllMusic |accessdate=4 August 2009 |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}

|rev5 = Rolling Stone

|rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |first=Eric |last=Flaum |title=Review: Meat Puppets - No Joke |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/meatpuppets/albums/album/113925/review/5941466/no_joke|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705054135/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/meatpuppets/albums/album/113925/review/5941466/no_joke|archive-date=2009-07-05 |date=November 2, 1995|magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=dead |accessdate=4 August 2009}}

|rev2 = The Austin Chronicle

|rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web |first=Raoul |last=Hernandez |title=Review: MEAT PUPPETS - No Joke (London) |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid:530058 |date=November 2, 1995 |publisher=Nick Barbaro |accessdate=4 August 2009}}

|rev3= Christgau's Consumer Guide

|rev3score= {{rating-Christgau|neither}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVQbszFuEGMC|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|last=Christgau|first=Robert|chapter-url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=meat+puppets|chapter=Meat Puppets|page=202|date=2000-10-15|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780312245603|language=en}}

|rev4= Entertainment Weekly

| rev4score = B+{{Cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/1995/09/15/music-review-no-joke/|title=Music Review: 'No Joke!'|date=1995-09-15|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=2017-10-23|language=en-US}}

}}

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described No Joke! as an "average" Meat Puppets record, explaining that although the songs were "competent", it lacked the "wild spark" and "bizarre sense of humor" that characterized their 1980s work.

Eric Flaum of Rolling Stone was more praising, awarding the album 4-out-of-5 stars and stating that No Joke! showed the band's creativity at "full throttle".