MC5
Kick Out the Jams

Only two reviews, only two reviews for a masterpiece like "Kick Out The Jams", much could be said about this album recorded at the Grand Ballroom in Detroit in the glorious 1969.

Woodstock was the event of the year, but here we're not talking about peace, here we're talking about four guys from Detroit who can't play, forget Robert Fripp and Gentle Giant here we're talking about the purest Rock ever released from a Live, if Iggy Pop's Stooges scandalized the crowds and changed Rock their "rivals" competed with any emerging and angry band of the time.

One of the most authentic testimonies of Detroit Rock, if a few years later the Ramones and the Sex Pistols started one of the most discussed movements in the history of Rock, here we are talking about true ancestors of Punk, "Kick Out The Jams" is the proof that people like Wayne Kramer and Rob Tyner can change music.

MC5 do nothing but carry forward the music of Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly, fundamentally it is a band of angry and high kids, this is the beauty of this show, the urge to smash everything carried forward by the Who, the MC5 didn't want concepts, didn't want to amaze people or aspire to become one of the greatest bands in history, they just wanted to scream their anger and play like crap and this was the secret of the already mentioned Iggy Pop and we know how it ended for Kramer's and Iggy's band. "Are you ready to testify are you ready and I give you the MC5" starts Ramblin Rose with Kramer's guitars scratching as always and Tyner out of his mind, as the Live tradition made in Detroit wants the title track arrives with another phrase "And right now, right now, right now is time to..kick out the jams motherfuckers!" a track that releases the strength of this band and the primitiveness of the sound, personally the first time I listened to the album I thought it was a manifesto, today I listen to it with pleasure and even the following songs, including blues pieces like "Borderline", "Rocket Reducer" and the famous version of "Starship" are manifestos, the influence MC5 had is impressive, roots of punk.

As for many bands this Live was the first and last great work, later they released "Back In The U.S.A." with references to the Stones' blues, Kramer after a few years joined Johnny Thunders for a period with whom he formed a great friendship, often blurred in quarrels and fights in the Punk world, the MC5 are often forgotten, they couldn't play and had no great ambitions but they made history with a fantastic record, if today they are often ignored by critics and sites like this one (2 reviews) like "Quicksilver Messenger Service" and "Foetus" evidently they left a mark, often we forget who made music great and this is a pity for masterpieces like Kick Out The Jams.