FINALLY, I saw Monster Magnet Live

Monster Magnet (l to r): Dave Wydorf- guitar, vocals, electronics, Phil
Caivano - guitar, Garrett Sweeney - lead guitar, (Bob Pantella obscured
 - drums), and Chris Kosnik - bass.

After 28 years of fandom I FINALLY was able to see Monster Magnet, my all-time favorite band, perform live last week in Nashville.  My friends, it was every bit worth the wait. 

Dave Wyndorf, who turned 62 this past Sunday, October 28th, looked like he was still in his 30s, dancing around, doing high kicks with bassist Chris Kosnik, and switch from mic, to guitar to electronics with ease all during songs.

The band careened through a dozen tunes over and hour and half set that included a 20 minute encore where the band did an extended jam of "Spine of God" that included a snippet of Don McLean's classic tune "American Pie."  After slowing things down with "Spine" the band blew the roof off the joint when they closed with a rollicking version of "Powertrip."

Since Monster Magnet had not played Nashville dating back to its heyday back in the Powertrip/God Says No era of the group, Dave and company made certain to play a "hits" heavy set list.  While I would have preferred a show teaming with deep cuts myself, I would have been happy with Monster Magnet playing a Chinese menu or the phone book after waiting 28 years to see them live in all honesty.  So I can't complain too much.

The band opened with "Dopes To Infinfity" before dipping into the new material off of the latest release Mindfucker, playing a smoking version of the opeing track "Rocket Freak."  "Twin Earth," the lead single from Superjuedge many moons ago came next, followed by the title cut off the new album.  "Radiation Day" kind of surprised me.  I honestly would have expected "Unbroken (Hotel Baby)" from Monolithic Baby! if any track was going to be played from that album, or possibly "Master of Light" due to its inclusion on the Torque soundtrack, but I digress.

Laura Dolan of Electric Citizen stage right.

"Look to Your Orb For the Warning," a track that appeared in The Matrix and on the official soundtrack for that film, came next.  Then "Dinosaur Vacuum" from Superjudge and then back to the new album again for "When the Hammer Comes Down."  Monster Magnet closed out the main set with its two biggest hits, first off "Negasonic Teenage Warhead," which has become more of a household name among Deadpool moviegoers over the past couple years thanks to the character portrayed by Brianna Hildebrand, followed by the huge sing-a-long hit "Spacelord."

Support came from a local Nashville group, fellow New Jersey act Dark Sky Choir (who frankly slayed the audience) and Electric Citizen (Who I wrote about on this month's Doom Chart.)  Electric Citizen have a new album out called Helltown, and it's pretty damn good, so check it out here.

Mindfucker is a thought-provoking piece of mind-fuckery

95/100

This is I Talk To Planets' first album review since declaring we're changing up our format and going full time stoner rock and psychedelic, so I figured we'd better make this a good one.  To that effect we're leading off with a review of the latest release from my favorite active band - Monster Magnet.  I say "active" because my favorite band is Motorhead, which is inactive since the death of founder and leading man Lemmy Kilmister in 2015, promoting Dave Wyndorf and Monster Magnet to the top of my favorites list.  I have loved both bands for years and avidly collected vinyl for each since I rekindled my vinyl passion in 2014.  By the time Lemmy passed just after Christmas a little more than two years ago I had nearly completed my Motorhead and Monster Magnet vinyl collections, needing only a few rare pieces to flesh out each set.  I completed my collection of Mototrhead studio albums during the summer of 2017.  My Monster Magnet collection, however, is my pride and joy.  It contains several rare pieces, while I still search for several other rare items to flesh it out.  I was thrilled to add a red vinyl copy of the latest Monster Magnet release Mindfucker to my vinyl collection recently, and a CD digipack to my growing Magnet CD stack.   But none of that really matters to you guys I'm sure, so I'll shut up about my shit and get to the review already.

Dave Wyndorf promised a throwback to the days when Detroit was music central for the likes of the Stooges, the MC5, Alice Cooper even, and said he wanted to drive his car 100 miles an hour and howl at, well, whatever...  The first single "Mindfucker" dropped and I thought to myself, well, he's on the right track.  The song is a ruse, and a clever one at that.  The Mindfucker Wyndorf is singing about is not some chick that has spurned him, cock-teased him, or jilted him in some way, not a psycho bitch at all.  It's this crazy, fucked-up upside down cuckoo-land world we're living in these days with a reality show president, every one screaming "fake news" and "libtards" at what we traditionally think of as the good guys, cops gunning down innocents and unarmed people in the streets, BREXIT is a reality, and global warming is actually deemed debatable even though the science is rock solid.  Am I on a soap box right now?  Maybe, but I'm just trying to get you into the frame of mind to comprehend Mindfucker the album, "Mindfucker" the song and Mindfucker the concept right now, this is where Dave is coming from and he's pissed off about it, which makes for great music.  The last time Dave was this pissed off we got Powertrip.

The video was a bit of a let down.  I half expected footage of protests from around the world, police clashing with protesters, newscasters in front of tear-gassed scenes, some tanks, our president speaking, but instead we got a green screen band video.  Oh well.

The second single was the old Robert Calvert tune "Ejection" originally performed by Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters in 1974.  I had not heard the original until I sat down to pen this review.  I looked it up and listened to it on YouTube.  I quite enjoyed it.  I think Monster Magnet really did a faithful rendering of the subject matter.  I like both versions.  The original is unique because it has vocal parts where a pilot breaks in over his mic before ejection.  Monster Magnet didn't copy that and I believe that was a smart choice.  Don't make your remake exactly like the original.  The Monster Magnet version has a harder edge, and that I like.  Again, I was disappointed with the video.  We have a poor-man's "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" video.  Shot in front of a green screen, we have the band hurtling through outer space on a disc, whoopee!  A swing and a miss on the video, at least it sounds good.

Then a few days later on Marsh 23rd the album dropped.   Let's take it one track at a time, shall we?

"Rocket Freak."  We jump right in with a standard straight-up rocker, and it's very much what Dave was shooting for in the vain of the Stooges, MC5, etc. but with a touch of Hawkwind in subject matter.  A smoking track, and among my favorites on the record.  "Soul" is up next, riff packed and energetic, but not a stand-out in my mind.  We slide into the sweet title track next, which I've already gone over to some degree.  I'm a huge fan of "Mindfucker," the song, it's well crafted, on target message-wise and a lot of fun.  Bringing Side A to a close is the enigmatic tune that has Dave making a bold declaration - "I'm God"... The song is pared down to the bones, but it still has a classic 70s guitar rock fusion going on and when Dave Wyndorf sings "I'm God," dammit I believe him.  This may be my favorite tune on the record.

Let's flip this sucker over and check out the B side.  First up is the mellowed out "Drowning."  I relate to this song in ways I really don't want to admit.  Many of my Monster Magnet loving friends have messaged me that this is their favorite track and I think it's because they relate to it too.  The guitars swirl in this mellow melodrama, making for another Monster Magnet instant classic.  The Robert Calvert cover fills the next groove on the record and we'll briefly touch on it again.  Love "Ejection."  It's a great rocker, with an amazing solo at the end.  "Want Some."  Not one of Dave's more moving titles, but the song's not bad.  It's not a standout track either.  "Brainwashed," on the other hand, will stick with you, either good or bad.  The first couple times I heard it I couldn't stand it.  But about the third time I heard it, it clicked.  I got the joke.  I was admitted to the club, so to speak.  Dave is having a laugh with this rockabilly jam session with a sense of humor, just listen to the way he delivers the chorus, "I'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED!!!"  It's over the top intentionally.  It's bad acting from the school of William Shatner and it's hilarious.  And, is that Tim Cronin I hear screaming in the background?

On to Side C.  "All Day Midnight."  I LOVE the bass at the onset.  The song settles into a nice groove right from the get-go.  This tune is a breath of fresh air.  Not that the album is filled with gloom and doom, or anything, but this song is kind of refreshing in some way, it's hard to describe, but it's almost an uplifting punk rocker.  The CD (and download) ends with the next track, the six-minute epic "When the Hammer Comes Down."  It's a great closing track, passing judgment on the entire world, and we're all FUCKED!  Stellar!!!  Supernovas! The end of the world, death, gloom and doom, and there's guitars.

BUT WAIT, if you have the vinyl, there's more.

The first bonus track on the vinyl is the quirky "You Can't Be Trusted."  It's a trippy, upbeat little number with a jangly guitar and a killer solo at the finish amongst Dave's howling.  Finally we come to "Utopia."  And isn't that what we're all looking for?  This is far and away the song with the most in common to what Monster Magnet had done on its previous three releases dating back to Last Patrol.  It is the lone psychedelic number on the album and it's refreshing to end the album with a revisit to what Monster Magnet has been doing the past few years with this track, considering how much the rest of the record was in touch with Dave's punk roots.  Initially I thought this song was out of place, but the more I listen to the album as a complete animal I think it serves as the perfect overall closer, even though "When the Hammer Comes Down" was intended to be the closer, I think this bonus track is better suited for the job.

It's not a perfect album, it has a couple of blemishes here and there, but damn it's a hell of a lot of fun and the vinyl has a lovely, thought provoking closer.  95/100

12 Records that Changed My Life

1. The Doors
This is the first album I ever received when I asked for a cassette player for my birthday.  I had expressed an interest in Jim Morrison and the song Light My Fire.  I fell in love with that album, Soul Kitchen, Alabama Song, Take It As It Comes, I Looked At You, and of course the stand out tracks, The Crystal Ship, Break On Through (To the Other Side) and The End.  I became a life-long Doors fan, even wrote my senior paper in high school on Jim Morrison, the poet in Mr. Watkins' English class.  Got an A+, and dropped the F-bomb multiple times.

2. Queen Greatest Hits
I was introduced to Queen via the single Another Bites the Dust off The Game album, and also when I saw the incredible Flash Gordon movie.  HBO and MTV often played Queen videos.  When my mom noticed my brother and I singing along to all the Queen songs she got us each a copy of Queen's Greatest Hits on cassette.  Ironically, this lead me to my next artist, David Bowie.

3. David Bowie Low
I came to David Bowie through Queen via the Greatest Hits cassette that in our region contained the duet Under Pressure.  I sought out further music by Mr. Bowie.  The first album I happened upon was this bright orange deal, with the simple title Low.  When the tape got to side two I was mesmerized.  These ambient sounds were all new to me.  I didn't know what to make of this.  I was fascinated.  Of course, at the time I didn't know the word "ambient."  In later life I would attempt to collect all of Bowie's studio albums on vinyl.

4. Stevie Nicks Bella Donna
I arrived at Stevie Nicks via an HBO recording of her Bella Donna tour.  I just happened to catch that one afternoon and was spellbound.  This witchy woman had her hooks in me BAD!  Her spell had been cast and I was hers for life.  I grabbed up the HBO guide for the month and made note of each subsequent airing of the concert during the summer and made it a point not to miss a single viewing.  I asked mom for the album, and received it, and learned of her band Fleetwood Mac and albums Rumors and the self-titled album.  Yes indeed, Stevie had a fan for life.

5. Iron Maiden Piece of Mind
I was in a hotel room in Washington, D.C. when my friend Robbie Lyrle first blasted the opening wail of The Trooper over his boom box one Saturday morning while everyone was getting ready to go down and eat breakfast.  'What the hell is that?" I exclaimed, excited, thrilled, blown away, all at once.  "That's Iron Maiden!" he coolly replied.  He rewound the song and started it again.  Wow!  This was what I needed in my life!  Heavy Metal!

6.  Van Halen 1984
The second Heavy Metal band I was exposed to in earnest was Van Halen.  The first time I heard the song I'll Wait, and it was I'll Wait, not Jump or Panama or Hot For Teacher, that I first heard over the radio, I was amazed by the combination of heavy metal guitar and synthesizer.  I had never heard that before.  Surely this was some new discovery I had made and nobody else was privy to this band yet.  Nope!  Been around since 1978.  Still, even though I was late to the party, I was hole-hog on board the heavy metal train now.  Until...

7. Prince Purple Rain
Everybody, even some of the die-hard heavy metal crowd, had to give Prince props.  I mean that guitar in Let's Go Crazy was smoking hot.  Purple Rain was the summer hit of 1984, both musically and theatrically, and I ate it up.  Of course, when my step-mother caught wind of the lyrics to Darling Nikki I was so grounded.  And my tape collection met with a cleansing when I was in North Carolina with my dad and her.  Mom was more lax, thank god.

8. Cinderella Long Cold Winter
I had already bit down on the band Cinderella with the release of Night Songs, but when Long Cold Winter dropped and the band showed off its blues and southern rock roots, all bets were off.  I had to see this band live in concert immediately, no matter who I had to kill.  I saw the band live on that tour three times, once as an opener for AC/DC and twice as headliners with Winger and the Bulletboys.  Still one of my all-time favorite live acts.

9. Extreme Pornograffitti
This album is aptly named.  The four ballads on this record ensured that I got laid in 1990.  That's really all I can say about this record. That, and if you don't like what you see here, get the funk out!

10.  Motorhead 1916
I had first been exposed to Motorhead in the 80s when the song Killed By Death was released.  I was a fan.  But I had never actually spent money on the band.  I heard Going to Brazil and purchased 1916.  Then I heard the title track and wept like a baby.  How moving?  That has to be the most stirring song about WWI I've ever heard and it came from Lemmy.  Motorhead would go on to become my favorite band until Lemmy's death in 2015.

11. Pantera Cowboys From Hell
I was driving home from work one afternoon when the DJ announced, "Here's the latest from Pantera, Cemetery Gates."  And he played the long version, the album version of the song.  Oh my god!  I had to have that album post haste.  I drove to my girlfriend's house, picked her up and we went immediately to the record store another hour's drive away just so I could purchase that album that night.  I played the HELL out of that album, as well as the next one from Pantera.  I wept like a little child with a burst balloon when Darrell was murdered.

12. Monster Magnet Dopes to Infinity
The final entry came purely by accident.  I was in a tape store in Morristown browsing and bumbled across a cool looking album cover with an interesting sounding band name and title.  Well, I judged a book by its cover and plunked down my $10 and went out to my car and popped in a stoner rock masterpiece.  With Lemmy passed and Motorhead no more, Monster Magnet has assumed the mantle as my favorite band.  I'm working diligently to collect every piece of vinyl they have ever released.

You're the Inspiration - The One Album at the Heart of My Vinyl Collection

Was there an album that you just HAD TO HAVE on vinyl?  That album that in spired you to build a vinyl collection in the first place?  For me there most certinly was, and that album was Monster Magnet's 1998 monster of an album - Powertrip.

Powertrip sold more than 500,000 copies in the United States alone on its way to gold status and was the top selling rock and and roll album in '98.  In addition to top five hit single Space Lord it spawned several other radio friendly tunes, including See You in Hell, Temple of Your Dreams, the title track and there were those adventurous DJs who played some deep cuts who would ocassionly throw on Crop Circles or even Tractor.

I thrilled to that album, end to end, not a bad track on it.  I've identified with many different bands through my life, ranging from The Power Station, Anthrax, Nirvana, Pantera, Foo Fighters, but there has been one constant since my youth, and that was Motorhead.  The other constant since 1995 has been Monster Magnet, and I regret not getting in five years earlier on the ground floor when thier self-titled EP was making some noise in Germany on the Glitterhouse label.

When Powertrip broke I researched this band; I had already discovered they had been on A&M for a while, and had already released two albums on the label, 1993's Superjudge and 1995's Dopes to Infinity. Superjudge I found pretty quickly on CD, but I already had a copy of Dopes.  As it turned out, those in the know, read the stoners in the area, had already snatched up all the copies of Dopes to Infinity in the region a couple years earlier and record stores had never bothered to restock.  I just happened to have liked the cover and the title and bought a copy myself.

Anyhow, I eventually picked up Spine of God, and Tab, and then followed Monster Magnet's career through its ups and downs right up until this very day and the band's current trippy release, Cobras and Fire a Re-imagining of Mastermind -- a brilliant fucking album end to end if I do say so.

Anyhow, what has all this got to do with me and my vinyl collection? Well, I didn't rush out and start a vinyl collection in 1998 when Powertrip came out, but I should have.  No, I waited until another band that is sometimes cast into the same stoner genre as Monster Magnet produced a new album in late 2012 on its own Weathermaker label before I made my first vinyl purchase since I was a teenager - I pre-ordered a copy of Clutch's Earth Rocker.  I didn't even own a record player at the time.

I was supposed to get a Crosley that had belonged to my mother-in-law, but thankfully, my brother-in-law tore that thing up and I never inherited it and discovered what a piece of shit it was before I ever had to deal with it.  Anyhow, time went by and I again pre-ordered a record I wanted in January of 2016, this time thrash kings Anthrax' new release For All Kings on translucent blue vinyl.

Okay, it came in February  I was unimpressed.  The blue came out in huge blobs.  In places it was this beautiful translucent light blue and in others you had this massive cells of opaque blue mess.  I don't know if this is what Anthrax wanted or not.  But, I wasn't discouraged.  I saw the potential of what colored vinyl had to offer and I knew I wanted my favorite band(s) in the format.  I began researching players and in mid-March I placed the first in what became a series of entirely TOO MANY VINYL ONLINE ORDERS!

Powertrip was among those albums ordered in the first wave.  My initial copy was supposed to be on orange vinyl.  I had to send that pressing back to the seller when he sent standard black by mistake.  I first focused on collecting Monster Magnet records, getting the black and white splatter vinyl of Cobras and Fire, the Cosmic Bronze version of Last Patrol, the purple marbled version of Superjudge, and the yellow and red-orange splatter vinyl of Mastermind.  From there, though I decided to move on to bands that I liked that influenced Monster Magnet - early Black Sabbath, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Amon Duul II, Pink Floyd (notably my favorite period, the first four albums) early Skullflower, Hawkwind, Branticket, Pink Fairies, etc.

The collection then expanded to feature my other two favorite bands, Motorhead and Clutch, Record Store Day 2016 rolled around and I picked up four releases - the Clutch etched 12" single, the gorgeous Iron Maiden Empire of the Clouds 12" picture disc, the Anthrax 7" red vinyl honoring those lost in the Paris attacks and the vulgar Rob Zombie, Well, Everybody's Fucking in a U.F.O.

Now I moved on to other psychedelic bands I liked such as The Doors, more stoner rock like The Atomic Bitchwax, and well, that brings me full circle, because I just laid my hands on another Monster Magnet album that nearly completes my collection of that band's vinyl production to date.  I lack just a few RARE official releases, plus, Monolithic Baby!, and a couple of bootlegs I'm trying to pin down that I'd like to have. (That's the subject of a whole other column for certain.)

In the meantime, my turntable and set up should arrive tomorrow and Thursday so hopefully by Friday I'll actually be spinning some vinyl.