Customer Reviews

Dangerous Madness

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The second solo offering by one of the former MC5 guitar throttlers, this is more than just a decent sophomore effort, as it takes what he started on The Hard Stuff and blows it sky high! The songwriting is darn near perfect on this one and as with all of Kramer's material, the themes are gritty and very real. The streets, drugs/booze, hard times, loud music and loose living, aren't just token topics here, instead the guy delivering the goods truly lived what he sings about and that lends an urgency to the material that demands the listener pay attention. However, Wayne knows how to write a great rock n' roll tune and even if you ignore the heavy lyrics, the infectious music will still get in your head. Good stuff from a living, battle-scarred, rock legend.

Liked this solo effort by the former MC 5 guitarist better than I did his 'Citizen Wayne' CD (see my review). It simply just rocks out more. Tracks I thought made this disc a worthy pick are "Back To Detroit", the rocking "Take Exit 97" (possibly this CD's best cut), "God's Worst Nightmare" and the dramatic "Dead Man's Vest". Line-up: Kramer-guitar,piano&vocals, Tad Schumacher-bass, David McMurray-sax and Scott Thunes-drums. A great bargain price.

Welcome to the broken neon lights of the shattered American Dream.

Initially released in 1996, Wayne Kramer teams with drummer Brock Avery and friends like vocalist Terence Trent D'arby (Sananda Maitreya) for a tour-de-force from the decaying urban streets, with the backdrop being Detroit, Michigan, though the desperate howls from the anger, frustration and defeat of good, hardworking people who have been brutally abused by corporate greed and the political charade could be found anywhere in the Rust Belt.

This is not some rock star shedding a fake tear in a cozy studio or a movie icon slickly reading lines from a telethon-based TelePrompTer; Kramer takes the listener of a real tour - "Back to Detroit," "Wild America," "Something Broken in the Promised Land," "Take Exit 97," "The Rats of Illusion" - of cracked sidewalks, abandoned business districts and boarded-up homes, with the title track a sonic siren caused by the sharpnel on the bloodied battlefield.

A pair of poetic gems - "A Dead Man's Vest," "Dead Movie Stars" - are direct descendants from the Beat Generation. The nagging voice that concludes the album contains a question that will never be answered as long as the worst of two evils is proudly given the keys to run the joint.

There are not coats of sugar to make this true grit taste scrumptious. No one here gets out alive.