Customer Reviews

Somewhere on the Otherside of Nowhere

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Long-time fans of Powerman 5000 can remember back in August of 2001, when the band was supposed to release their highly anticipated follow-up to "Tonight The Stars Revolt." This new album was titled "Anyone For Doomsday?" and it featured an awesome new single called "Bombshell." But a week before the album was due to come out, it was canceled and shelved. (For a limited time you could buy a copy from the band's website, and it recently became available on iTunes.) PM5K's frontman, Spider 1, decided he didn't want the band to get stuck in a particular genre, so he reinvented the band's sound and came out with a different album in 2003 called "Transform." It was actually a pretty decent album, but it wasn't exactly what the majority of fans had been waiting for. In 2006 the band released "Destroy What You Enjoy," getting even further away from the sound that put them on the map.

Now we finally get the album that we were hoping for! "Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere" is a return to form in many ways, but it's definitely not a step backwards. While this album is much closer to "Tonight The Stars Revolt" and "Anyone For Doomsday," they've still managed to progress and keep things fresh. Songs like "Super Villain", "Show Me What You've Got", "Time Bomb Baby" and "Make Us Insane" have all the heaviness and energy of past tunes like "When Worlds Collide" or "Bombshell." However the band doesn't sound as dark and angry...it's heavy, but you get the feeling they're having fun. Other songs like "V Is For Vampire" and "Get Your Bones" are heavy but a bit slower and more gothic. "Do Your Thing" is a bit poppier and closer to more recent PM5K songs, but it's got more energy and excitement to it. "Horror Show" is a bit of a gothic hip-hop tune that might please the fans who were there back in '97. So basically this album is a perfect compromise between Spider and the fans, and if it had come out back in 2001 or 2003, who knows how big the band would've become. Anyway, this is one of Powerman's best albums and I highly suggest picking it up!

Spider has redeemed himself ten fold with this album, PM5K's official 7th release. This could be considered a sequel to Tonight The Stars Revolt!, as there has been a return to the heavier, robotic-sampled industrial-esque hard rock of earlier albums. In fact, there are even touches of their earlier hip-hop material on some tracks. The whole thing pretty much rocks, which is cool because there has always been one or more songs on their albums that just left me bored. Or in the case of Destroy What You Enjoy, the whole thing.

Somewhere On The Other Side of Nowhere delivers tight grooves, awesome guitar solos, hard hitting drums, and awesome synths/samples. I truly believe fans of their older material will really dig this album. The only track that didn't do anything for me was the title track its self. Horror Show shows Spider laying down awesome hip hop grooves not seen since Mega Kung Fu Radio (aka The Blood Splat Rating System). I'm not into hip hop but I really love that track. Super Villain, Time Bomb Baby, Do Your Thing...all great.

My only gripe is how short the album is. Two songs aren't even songs and Super Villain/V is for Vampire were released for download months ago, making this album a long EP at best. Still, it is the best thing Spider has done in 10 years and for that I still give it praise. I burned a copy of this with Tonight The Stars Revolt and you wouldn't believe how well they go together. Fantastic hard rockin' space songs. Recommended!

fans of Powerman 5000's releases: Tonight The Stars Revolt! and Anyone For Doomsday? you will definitely love this album. though it only consists of 9 actual songs and 2 tracks which are just the intro and an interlude making the entire album 11 tracks total with the playtime being just over 33 mins it's still worth buying the album is totally in your face the entire time and when the dust settles your left wanting MORE fiending like a vampire to blood. don't waste another second reading reviews, and buy this CD cause you're only a fool for having NOT ordered it already GO! GO! GO!

Dynamite album. Extremely catchy and fun in the traditional PM5K Rockets & Robots format. I really dig that Spider tries something new and different with each CD (The punk-influenced Destroy What You Enjoy is highly underrated and one the best releases of 2006). A paradox perhaps, but keep reading, true believers.

Even though this CD is a return to the days when Stars Revolted and Doomsdays with A-bomb tracks like "Super Villain," "V is for Vampire," and "Show Me What You've Got," this is a different, perhaps more vulnerable Iron Giant than we've seen in the past. Just listen to the title track and you'll hear what I mean.

Give this album a spin and I promise you, you won't be disappointed. And their live show is better than ever with plenty of surprises. Just please don't punch Spider in the nethers like the wasted dude in the Rammstein shirt did at the Whisky.

If it weren't for Mega!! Kung Fu Radio and Tonight the Stars Revolt, I'd probably still believe all rock is horrible and would have never given it a chance. Well, since Spider One is the only crew member left in the band, he's had a lot of work cut out to keep the name together. I really almost lost interest in them and figured the band was doomed after "Destroy What You Enjoy" came out. It felt a little popish; songs meant for the radio in some sense.

When this album came out, I just happened to listen to a few songs and give it a shot. I loved it. It holds true to the name, Powerman 5000. If anything, it sounds like a true sequel to "Transform", while digging it's roots from what made PM5K what it was before. This is thanks from the new band members from another band called "Cage9". There's electronics in some of the sounds. The lyrics are awesome. He even raps a bit in some songs. The 'popish' song on the album, "V is for Vampire", is catchy and witty. I actually liked it so much, it's replaced the album that's been looping in my car for near a year. While Tonight, Anyone for Doomsday, and Mega!! may still be my favorites for nostalgic reasons, Somewhere on the Otherside of Nowhere is nothing to be missed for rock lovers, nu metal fans, and definitely Powerman 5000 fans. Let's hope they stay on this path for a very long time.

by "the other ones" I essentially mean every album after "Transform"


SPEAKING of Transform, some other reviews I see claim this album to be a "sequel" to "Tonight the Stars Revolt!" I actually see it as a "sequel" to Transform. Spider's singing style is less guttural purrs like TTSR and more high-level shout-singing. The instruments are as well less crunchy than TTSR and more like in Transform. Even the structure of the first three songs is nearly identical to "Transform"---a short intro track (TTSR's "An Eye is Upon You" is too long), a wild and racous second track, a more structured third track, etcetera.


This is immensely more listenable and FUN than the torturously boring "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Vol 1" or the torturously punk-wannabe "Destroy What You Enjoy".


Rather typical of Powerman 5000 lyrics (as well as Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson) the lyrics seem, at least to me, incoherent and difficult to track their meaning or storytelling without outside help. "V is for Vampire" seems rather straightforward, though, with the lines "V is for Vampire, B is for Blood, give me your money and I'll give you my love" as well as kind of erroneously stating that nobody loves you when your skin is all pale and you have fangs and such.


On its own, it probably has little staying power, but it has the strength of its predecessors, "Tonight the Stars Revolt!" and "Transform" and even "Anyone for Doomsday?" if you like that one to keep it intact for as long as Powerman 5000 fans will have Powerman 5000 around.

Awesome record with some excellent tracks, and an excellent execution. Only hampered by its short lenght, which, keeps it from dragging on like so many other albums these days.

INTELLIGENT CREATURES: A nice intro, sets up the theme very nicely.

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT: Kicks off the album with some kick-ass ass-kickin.

SUPER VILLAIN: You've heard this song, so I don't need to describe it.

V IS FOR VAMPIRE: A very bassy ode to the blood suckers of the night.

DO YOUR THING: An anthem to everyone who's ever been made fun of, probably the best song on the album.

SOMEWHERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF NOWHERE: A very creepy slow song that probably should have been track 11.

TIME BOMB, BABY: A nice ode to BOMBSHELL and perhapse the only love song ever written by PM5K.

GET YOUR BONES: Think what if Rob Zombie made disco music?

MAKE US INSANE: A heavy send off detailing rock concerts from the rockers perspective.

TECHNOLOGY EATS ITS YOUNG: Outro, was really hoping for something more, but ends it nicely.

HORROR SHOW: PM5K's last song from THE BLOOD SPLAT RATING SYSTEM, gives every other rap song a run for its money. That's right a rap song.

The whole album flows nicely with TONIGHT THE STARS REVOLT! and ANYONE FOR DOOMSDAY? and if that doesn't make you want it nothin will.

So sit back, with arms wide open and mind ready. Your future has arrived, are you ready to go, again?

I've been a die hard fan of PM5K for at least 10 years. I've stuck with them through the highs and lows. Most people were not fans of their last album "Destroy What You Enjoy". I dug that record, but understood that it wasn't what PM5K fans were hoping for. Well "Somewhere on the other side of nowhere" is. It takes the best parts of all their previous records and takes it a step further. There's still plenty of synth and production on this record, but this the first powerman album where you really get a sense of the energy that they have at their live shows. Every song could be a single with chorus heavy, sing a long, hooks. There's something in here for everyone. If you wanna dance (do your thing), if you wanna pump your fist (Super Villain), if you wanna beat (horror show), groove (title track), or if you just wanna mosh (show me what you got), you've got it all in just over 30 minutes. I may be blasphemous, but I think this is the best Powerman 5000 album ever.

Spider has surrounded himself with some great musicians over the years, and I hope he keeps this line-up for a while because this is what a PM5K album is supposed to be. Great production and great hooks.

I know the album is supposed to be a return to their Stars Revolt sound, but to me it sounds more like Transform. I love both of those albums so I'm happy with anything that's at least similar to either. The album is a little on the short side, but I'll take a short album with great songs over a long filler filled album any day.

Congrats to PM5K for making another killer album for their fans.

This record pretty much has a good mix of all the sounds of PM5K. This is probably my third favorite record by them. Favorite tracks: Super Villian, V Is For Vampire, Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere, Get Your Bones, & Horror Show.

I'm a big fan of "Tonight The Stars Revolt" and "Anyone For Doomsday" and this record definitely fits in more with those, sound-wise. It doesn't have the same groove as those records, but that's expected with a different line-up. I'd love to see the TTSR line-up get back together someday and put out a "sequel" to TTSR. That'd be awesome. Not a fan of most music these days. I miss this sound... Anyways, I'd definitely recommend picking this album up if you're a fan of older PMK5.