MC5 are perhaps best known for their 1969 debut album, Kick Out The Jams, which was recorded live and features the infamous "Kick out the jams motherfuckers!" intro which was censored on some later versions of the album, "brothers and sisters" clumsily dubbed over the four offensive syllables. Many people are also quite fond of the slick garage rock of their second album, Back in the U.S.A., produced by Jon Landau, who would later discover "rock and roll future" with Bruce Springsteen. And there you have it, the MC5, two albums of fine sixties rock and roll. Wait...they had a third album? YES THEY HAD A THIRD ALBUM! It is called High Time, it was released in 1971, and it is so much better than their previous work that, in my opinion, resistance is futile. High Time is a freakin' romp. High Time is the beating fetus heart of seventies rock and roll. A bunch of albums came out in 1971 that left the sixties in the rearview and launched seventies rock, albums like Love It To Death, Sticky Fingers, Hunky Dory, Electric Warrior, and yes, High Time. I see a clear deviation point between rock and roll in the sixties and rock and roll in the seventies, and it happens with records like High Time in 1971. MC5 had embodied sixties rock, they were radicals, they were the only band that showed up to play at the doomed protest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, but come High Time it wasn't as much about sixties radicalism or making a statement anymore. High Time isn't revolution for the hell of it, it's rock and roll for the hell of it. MC5's rebellious early work is respected and revered and for good reason, but what about High Time? It is the band's creative peak, a cohesive collection of great songs by a band firing on all cylinders, a goddamn rock and roll record if I ever heard one. In many ways seventies rock is treated like the bastard child of sixties rock by the rock Illuminati, but as far as I'm concerned that bastard child kicked Daddy's ass. [B.J.Kahuna]
Ever heard of this band…THE MC5!!! BUM BUM BUM BUM, BUM BUM-BUM BUMMY LOVE IS LIKE- A RAMABALIN ROSE! I love that. That’s how their live masterpeice Kick Out The Jams begins. But kick out the jams is remembered pretty well…how could anyone forget “KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHAFUCKAAAAS!!!” Excuse me…I just orgasmed… Anyways… The masterpeice that’s been forgotten is their third album: HIGH TIME!!!It’s the album they were always meant to make but when they finally did…nobody cared!!! Their first album is a live album so…it’s not a reeaaall album-album, it still rocks though. Their second album, Back In The USA, is a masterpeice, but a flawed one. While the songs and performances are friggin awesome, The MC5 have been toned down by producer Jon Landau (future Bruce Springsteen‘s manager/producer). Their sound has been compressed and commercialized. Not Coldplay commercialized (because the album came out before any of them were even born probably) but it just feels too clean to be the big, bad, dirty, muthafuckin MC5!!! That’s why High Time is so essential. Co-producer/Engineer Geoffrey Haslam finds the ppeeeerfect balance between their raw, dirty, bluesy garage sound and the studio. They’re big, bad and damn right dangerous.
The songs on the album are all classic. Just about every song could be some kind of classic and a couple should have been bona-fide hits.
1. “Sister Anne” (F. Smith) opens up the album with a bluesy number about a kick-ass nun!!! You know this album is the shit! Layers of guitars, harmonica and cock and balls (in sonic form) make this song a lightning bolt of energy for your ears.
2. “Baby Won’t Ya” (F. Smith) should be the hit. It’s the song you blast out of your car stereo speakers while cruising down the street picking up hippie-chicks (I’ve never actually played out that scenario…one day…). It’s got the killer chorus with everybody singing “baby won’t ya drive me mad/ baby don’t ya make me feel bad/ baby won’t ya give me your love/baby won’t you carry me home”. The blazing guitars are riffing it up like mad. It’s fucking awesome.
1. “Sister Anne” (F. Smith) opens up the album with a bluesy number about a kick-ass nun!!! You know this album is the shit! Layers of guitars, harmonica and cock and balls (in sonic form) make this song a lightning bolt of energy for your ears.
2. “Baby Won’t Ya” (F. Smith) should be the hit. It’s the song you blast out of your car stereo speakers while cruising down the street picking up hippie-chicks (I’ve never actually played out that scenario…one day…). It’s got the killer chorus with everybody singing “baby won’t ya drive me mad/ baby don’t ya make me feel bad/ baby won’t ya give me your love/baby won’t you carry me home”. The blazing guitars are riffing it up like mad. It’s fucking awesome.
3. “Miss X” (W. Kramer) is the heartbreaker on the album. The equal to Back in the USA’s “Let Me Try”. It’s based around a nice piano riff and it’s one of the most powerful songs on the album despite being the slowest. It’s hot, it’s sexy, it’s sweaty…excuse me for a sec…ok back….It’s also downright touching. It masterbates my heartstrings. Rob Tyners vocal performance is glorious…4. “Gotta Keep Movin’” (Dennis Thompson) is based around a guitar/harmonica riff. It’s an exciting song with no shortage of hooks. What’s most intriguing is it’s political commentary lyrics. It’s almost as if he got his essay to rhyme and put it to music – it still works well though.
5. “Future/Now” (R. Tyner) is based around a sorta of groovy bass riff which bounces back and force almost tribally. Rob Tyner lets us know that “the futures here right now if you’re willing to pay the cost”. The song is also sort of a political manifesto set to music but done very well, it doesn’t feel cheeky or stupid. These guys really believed what they were saying and why shouldnt they? Their logic seems pretty sound. They just wanted justice and peace and “fucking in the streets”…
6. “Poison” (W. Kramer) is Kramers masterpeice on the album. It’s guitar lines during the chorus are uplifting and tough as melodic nails. Rob Tyner and Wayne sing this in falsetto which could eeaassily be humorous but they get it just right. In the middle Kramer starts reciting a nice poem…which actually does sound a little cheeky…BUT THEN THEY BURST BACK INTO IT!!! Just like that man. The song is lyrically a sort of Marxist type attack against the ruling class.
7. “Over And Over” (F. Smith) is the masterpeice on the album and the greatest song the MC5 ever committed to tape. Interestingly it exposes the real truth behind everything. The album. The times. The band.“People talkin ’bout solutions, over and over
‘Bout how we need a revolution, over and over
I was talking ’bout ecology, over and over
‘Bout how we’ll be saved by technology, over and over
While the cat next door spends all his time
Trying to think up new antisocial crimes”
While all the rest are preaching revolution, Smith sees the truth of the matter which is that it’s always the same old bullshit. We only escape one institution to which we are enslaved in order to be enslaved by another one. We’ll face the same problems or new ones over and over. Humanity will go through all the same bullshit over and over. Musically the song is brilliant. Rob Tyner sings it as if it’s all he’s got left. He’s walking the plank and he’s desperate. The melodies are beautiful but tough. It’s an almost uplifting song even though it’s message is a sad one.
8. “Skunk” (Sonicly Speaking) (F. Smith) starts off with a sort of drum circle thing going on before it’s killer riff comes in. Rob Tyner then starts flipping words around, talking about who knows what man. Then the horns start blaring. They glide and collide and flow over eachother until the song ends. A great ending to a great album.
It’s 8 awesome songs long and it kicks out the jams from start to stop. If you’ve ever liked anything by The MC5 or The Stooges, don’t ignore this album just because it hasn’t been hyped as much as everything else has. It’s the real deal. It’s High Time. [goldsoundzblog.com]
8. “Skunk” (Sonicly Speaking) (F. Smith) starts off with a sort of drum circle thing going on before it’s killer riff comes in. Rob Tyner then starts flipping words around, talking about who knows what man. Then the horns start blaring. They glide and collide and flow over eachother until the song ends. A great ending to a great album.
It’s 8 awesome songs long and it kicks out the jams from start to stop. If you’ve ever liked anything by The MC5 or The Stooges, don’t ignore this album just because it hasn’t been hyped as much as everything else has. It’s the real deal. It’s High Time. [goldsoundzblog.com]
BEAUTY AND PERFECTION ARE MY ATTACK!
