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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the all-time great American pre-Punk punk discs, March 28, 2002
With all the hoopla heaped upon their raucous debut, "Kick Out the Jams" (an essential purchase in itself), I'm baffled as to why this classic is so often merely referred to as being "their last album". In my opinion, it's easily the MC5's best, and indeed one of the greatest pure rock'n'roll albums of all time.
Firstly, some context: by this stage in their career (1971), the MC5 were on their last legs. Loathed by the West Coast hippies for being too loud and rambunctous, and equally derided by much of their radical, hardcore following for the supposed "sell-out" of their previous effort, the flawed-but-still-good "Back In the USA", the band was in no man's land. The revolution didn't happen, Nixon was still in, and what's worse, kids were starting to listen to Cat Stevens and James Taylor instead of the Rolling Stones, the Velvets or, yep, the MC5. Whadya do? Make the ultimate statement of disillusionment and despair and wrap it up in incindiary r'n'r riffs.
This disc is certainly a product of its time, yet it hasn't dated a bit in its call to arms for true believers. The given theme may be despair at the state of the world, but there's also an intense feeling of liberation in the cabalistic world - now that the band had little if any audience left - it inhabits. In other words, this one is for YOU.
The songs, in particular, are their strongest; "Baby Won't Ya" has a pile-driving riff brought to the fore with the twin guitar attack; "Miss X" is the kind of "power ballad" (for the lack of a better term) useless nudniks like Bon Jovi only wish they could pen; and the last 2 minutes of "Future/Now", with its creepy, quiet descending guitar notes, is some of the best and most effective music ever recorded to tape.
Let's make it plain and simple: if you're at all partial to the history of punk rock, hardcore, garage rock or even heavy metal in its pure form, you need this album. End of story.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best, April 26, 2006
I remember hearing Kick Out The Jams and seeing a few photos of these guys but never picked up any of their stuff until this album came out. After a few listens, the songs grew on me and I like every track. My personal favorite is Sister Anne.
After getting their first two albums, this one seems to be the most refined and mature which is usually what ruins a group's sound. In this case, it was just the opposite. I think they grew into one hell of a band and had such potential, ruined by excess, bad management, the usual stuff. Too bad.
If you want a great slice of rock history and hear how this band could really "kick out the jams," buy this album!
Highly recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best ever, October 2, 2000
By A Customer
This is one of the finest rock and roll albums ever made(The Beatles never made anything this good, and neither did the Stones for that matter). It's uncomprosing in both it's search for complicated and uncharted song writing frontiers and that raw "live" or improvisational, "free jazz"-as-applied-to-rock approach which made "Kick Out the Jams" one of the best records ever. You really need to put a helmet on before you crank your stereo to eleven and unleash this demon. Is this Chuck Berry or is this Sun Ra? it's both and niether. THIS ALBUM MADE ME WANT TO PLAY MUSIC.
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