Powerman 5000
Tonight the Stars Revolt!

THE REVIEW

"Tonight The Stars Revolt!" is definitely the commercial peak for Rob Zombie's little brother, Spider One, and his Powerman 5000 (PM5K to friends).

Released two years after their quiet debut on a major label (Spielberg's Dreamworks), "Mega!!Kung Fu Radio", the album will achieve brief fame thanks to the catchy singles "Nobody's Real" and "When Worlds Collide", reaching the coveted million copies sold for the platinum record.

At the end of the millennium, however, it was relatively easy to reach these numbers for records rooted in the nu-metal genre of Korn and company. While the sparse electronic contaminations and hinted punk tendencies aren't enough to steer the work away from the calm shores of the aforementioned genre.

Many tracks are easy to listen to thanks to their aggressive cut, especially in the second half, where "Blast Off To Nowhere" stands out, sung alongside older brother Rob.

Even though the best shots are fired right away with the initial trio, highlighted by the amusing "Supernova Goes Pop", evident from its title.

The medietas is interrupted only towards the end with "Good Times Roll", an already catchy Cars cover, here coarsely exploited (read pop-trash) to its fullest.

Aesthetically (which ultimately also impacts the music), the album develops all that retro iconography so dear to similar (and better) White Zombie.

In this case, we dive into the 50's sci-fi with a sprinkle of cyberpunk, a celebration of synthesizers, distortions, spacesuits, spacecrafts, codes, and robots.

There is also an attempt, only partially successful, to create a sort of narrative thread throughout the musical storytelling.

The work presents itself as the first issue of a mythical magazine dated in the fall of 1947, and, with a bit of imagination, it's possible to follow the tenuous story of a rebellion underway in a future world.

In short, a small, sometimes amusing, journey into the imaginary world of a harmless group but with enough skills to keep you entertained.