The MC5's first album may have seemed too hard and futuristic for its time. The second probably seemed too retro. This one fits in well with the early seventies. Too bad for them that few were listening anymore when they released it. Skunk is one of the finest things they ever recorded. Sister Anne is also a highlight. Gotta Keep Movin' is a nice example of the sound from their second album. Over and Over is pretty good too. Only Miss X is a true stinker.
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
The Five alive were a magnificent sight to behold and behear. Twin guitars bent backwards in tandem, instruments machine-gunning the heavens; rhythm section thrashing and propelling like a four-on-the-floor speedshift; lead singer bobbing and weaving and shimmying and shouting out incantations. The roar off the stage was primal, enveloping, wall-rattling; the message of carnal freedom unmistakable. In the lingo of the times, as propagandized by John Sinclair, Minister of Information for the White Panther party,… more »
