The Big Bang: The Best of the MC5 [IMPORT]

MC5

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 15, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Rhino/Wea UK
• ASIN: B000046PVF
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,943 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Arriving a decade before the Clash but every bit as politicized, musically revved, and rife with contradiction, the MC5 scorched the earth in ways that few late-'60s bands ever even imagined. The Big Bang! covers their career from 1967 to '72, collecting early singles (in better sound than on ROIR's Babes in Arms compilation), cuts from the Detroiters' three Elektra and Atlantic albums, and one live in-studio performance. We hear the punk precursors offer a testimonial to sex and rock & roll while damning American prosecution of wars ("The Human Being Lawnmower") and the Vietnam-era draft ("The American Ruse"). Were their twin incursions on U.S. politics and the record industry ultimately failed crusades? Perhaps, but the energy, intelligent attitude, and sheer riff sense encased in this CD's 21 cuts make a mighty case for MC5's sound and stance. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MC 5 - 'The Big Bang' (Rhino) 4 1/2 stars, December 7, 2003

By	Mike Reed (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Of all the MC 5 compilation discs that I've seen in the last few years,this is one of the better choices.With a total of twenty-one tracks(duration 78:41),you do get your full money's worth.Really dug the uncensored version of "Kick Out The Jams"(what true rocker could resist?),the studio takes of "Teenage Lust","High School" and "Call Me Animal" off the 'Back In The USA' lp,the total ass-kicking "Human Being Lawnmower","Looking At You" and perhaps my all time MC 5 favorite,the slammin' "I Don't Know".Comes with a very informative 24-page booklet packed with rare photos,memorablia and some facts about the band you may've not already known.After hearing 'The Big Bang',you'll know exactly as to where American hard rock had originated.Brilliant packaging.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent compilation..., June 17, 2002

By A Customer

although it doesnt flow too well until you pass the live tracks. All the recordings are great, and I particularly like the live tracks pulled from the first side of Kick Out The Jams. They have a completely deferent sound than the later studio tracks, but both are good. If you like this band and, like me, are having trouble finding copies of albums except for KOTJ in the record stores, this is a good one to start with to hear some of their later songs.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a decent slice of a good band's career, September 17, 2001

By	Jarrod (Boston) - See all my reviews

a better slice would have been to include all of Kick Out the Jams, by far their best album. why Back in the USA gets the most attention here is beyond me--too many listless songs that lack any hint of the first album's energy.

Big Bang's first 7 tracks demand 5+ stars, but the remainder is pretty unexceptional (aside from Skunk, Human Being Lawnmower, Thunder Express and Call Me Animal) and therefore knocks it down a peg. Poison from the third album seems like it should have been an automatic inclusion but is curiously absent. a couple of tracks from '66 Breakout, especially Black to Comm, deserve space here as well. still, this is a good representation of a fine rock-n-roll band that was ahead of its time.