Monolithic Baby!
Monster Magnet
- Style
- Space Hard Rock
- Label
- SPV
- Year
- 2004
- Reviewed by
- Danny
/ 100
Killing songs: Slut Machine, Supercruel, Unbroken (Hotel Baby), Radiation Day, Monolithic, The Right Stuff ...
You know, I grew up in the late 60's and the 70's (musically speaking). My
parents were fans of The Beatles or Creedence Clearwater
Revival. Actually, I have a kind of abusive "veneration"
to Cosmo's Factory (Creedence Clearwater Revival).
Of course, that was a long time ago (back in 1970). Bands like Deep
Purple, Black Sabbath, Kiss or Whitesnake
have paved the way of the 70's, but it is always a pleasure to hear "new
stuff" based on ... old stuff.
This is what Monster Magnet is all about: bringing back the
flame of the "psychedelic and spacy" 70's, taking the blood of the
70's, plugging it to the sound of the 90's and playing a dirty garage hard rock
like Motörhead use to. Direct influences here are Black
Sabbath, Motörhead, and Soundgarden.
The sound of the guitar and the bass create a kind of space rock/doom feeling
(baptized also the 70's psychedelic). Anyway, this is top-notch music far away
from double bass/drums stuff. In two words : fresh air ;)
Monolithic Baby! is full of hits : Unbroken (Hotel Baby),
The Right Stuff (cover from ex-Hawkwind
Robert Calvert’s solo album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters),
Radiation Day, Monolithic, Supercruel. If you like Spiritual
Beggars, I definitely invite you to check this album, especially if
you are a fan of their last album (On Fire). There are a number of
"clichés" on this album : the opener Slut Machine
send you back to Motörhead, Supercruel rings
the bell of The Rolling Stones, On The Verge reminds
you immediately Creedence Clearwater Revival and the super
hit Unbroken (Hotel Baby) has an Alice Cooper touch.
As strange as it could sound, the new album of Monster Magnet reminds
very very much .... Kiss (listen to Master Of Light,
Unbroken). This Rock 'n' roll attitude that the four painted men installed
in their music is very much alive on Monolithic Baby! So if you like
the first albums of Paul, Gene, Ace and Peter, I invite you to listen to this
one. You will find yourself projected back to Alive I ... The production is
top-notch (what a sound for the guitars !!!). Monolithic Baby! was
recorded with Michael Wildwood on drums, who has been since replaced by Bob
Pantella.
The limited edition contains a DVD bonus, with the videos of Unbroken
(Hotel Baby) & The Right Stuff, an interview and a mini-live
bootleg at the Astoria In London. A nice gift for the fans.
This one is running nights and days and is an enormous surprise as far as I
am concerned ;)