Powerman 5000
Destroy What You Enjoy

THE REVIEW

They sound like the Backyard Babies! This was my first reaction after listening to the first two songs of the album. All excited, I move on to the third (actually fourth, with the intro) song, Wild World. A soft riff à la Simple Plan starts, just so you know... After the initial disappointment, I listen to this song with more attention:

After getting over the minor confusion, I move on to Enemies, the next song. And here you perfectly understand the inspiration of Powerman 5000: the song seems like a tribute to the Backyard Babies and Street Punk Rock in general. Amazing. After listening to the other songs (among the most beautiful are All My Friends Are Ghosts and Walking Disaster) and after a brief spoken interlude of 25 seconds, there’s a little surprise, a typically country song! And, the icing on the cake, a live song, Heroes & Villains, the heaviest on the album.

In the end, I can confirm that the Powerman have moved from their old style to a Street Rock'n'Roll, executed perfectly. Spider One doesn't miss a beat in singing, the drums are always precise, the bass is never too invasive, and the two guitarists hold their own impressively with great riffs and solos (never too long).

What else to say? You never find a moment of boredom, maybe the first single (and the song that gives the album its name, Destroy What You Enjoy) is probably the worst song, repetitive and uninspired, but this is just a minor flaw in what is truly a masterpiece. If you love the Backyard Babies, you can't resist it.

Below is the list of songs with my personal rating:

1. Construction Of The Masses, Pt.1 [intro]
2. Destroy What You Enjoy [**]
3. Return To The City Of The Dead [***]
4. Wild World [*****]
5. Enemies [*****]
6. Murder [*****]
7. Now That's Rock 'n Roll [***]
8. All My Friends Are Ghosts [****]
9. Walking Disaster [****]
10. Who Do You Think You Are? [***]
11. Construction Of The Masses, Pt.2 [interlude]
12. Miss America [***]
13. Heroes And Villains (Live) [****]