Einstein's First Law of Thermodynamics asserts that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another. Apparently that applies to high energy, too - in the form of the MC5. Fiftythree years after their third album, High Time, the legendary Detroit rockers have just released the hardly-hoped-for follow-up, Heavy Lifting.
Never mind that everyone in the MC5 had passed away at the time of release (Wayne Kramer, Dennis Thompson and manager John Sinclair all died earlier this year), and that High Time had been heralded as their final album, praised as "one of the most defiant swan songs in rock music". If any band could subvert the timespace continuum, it's these cosmic-argonaut Sun Ra collaborators. Who could doubt that they could transubstantiate and release a new MC5 album from beyond the pale? Overlords of rebellious hard-garage/punk rock, in their early days the MC5 set off the first flares of revolution, exacerbated teenage unrest, and legitimised and elevated the counterculture.
Anyone who ever saw them - singer Rob Tyner, guitarists Kramer and Fred 'Sonic' Smith, bassist Michael Davis and drummer Thompson - couldn't help falling under their spell.
Sonic Youth christened themselves after MC5 guitarist Smith. Lemmy often declared: "Basically, I wanted to be the MC5, playing fast, loud rock'n'roll." Billy Idol said: "I saw the MC5 at a festival outside of Worthing. I saw the future of rock'n'roll." Stone Temple Pilots named a song after the band, and Soundgarden's Kim Thayil said they were "my favourite band ever". The first call Thayil got about resuming playing after Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell committed suicide was from Kramer. "I think if anyone else had called I would have declined."
This story is from the November 2024 edition of Classic Rock.
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This story is from the November 2024 edition of Classic Rock.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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