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When I think of a really good band with a fairly underground
following, I think of Powerman 5000. Since their major label
release of “Tonight The Stars Revolt” PM5K has made a small
but potent mark on the rock scene. For fans of the band, the
younger brother of Rob Zombie and his friends have come up
with some really good music and meaningful lyrics. Their
newest release “Transform” is a testament to their name,
despite the change from Spaceman to stripped down rockers.
To be honest, I really like this CD. When I found out it was
coming out, I couldn’t wait another day for its release.
Unfortunately there was supposed to be a release between
Transform and T.T.S.R called: “Anyone For Doomsday?” but was
pulled weeks before its release. All the rock radio stations
were sent the singles and Powerman fans were getting ready for
their favorite band to drop their newest work, but the band
decided to pull it under the motivation that it wasn’t what
they wanted and didn’t think that the record was any good. To
this day only a limited amount of copies are floating around
of completely unheard music.
“Transform” makes up for the difference in time. Losing the
‘B-rate space movie’ theme and two band members, they
retreated to the roots of rock, Powerman 5000 delivers a hard
album with an interesting message. Earlier works of PM5K
started to question authority and conformity; “Transform” does
so and even more. Songs like ‘Action’ ‘That’s Entertainment’
and their first single ‘Free’ dare to question society as a
whole, not just a single aspect like politics. If your
wondering what they sound like try this: look at them. I think
that they sound exactly how they look. I agree that sounds
weird and almost a bit stereotypical, but in this case I feel
that it works. If you don’t believe me, give them a listen and
then take a look.
Powerman 5000 and their release of “Transform” celebrate what
it is to be a part of rock and roll. They play straight
forward rock with the classic defiant middle finger in the air
to everyone else. I admire their bare bones approach to music
while keeping some rebellious themes amongst them. I also like
the straightforward construction of the songs and guitar work.
“Transform” is just an all around good CD. The distortion is
moderately clean and meaty, while the guitar is forthright and
honest. I enjoy complex music as much as the next person, but
am still drawn to the pure essence of rock. It may sound like
I am ragging on Powerman for being simple, but on the
contrary; this band rocks.
As I said before, Spider One is the younger brother of
infamous rocker/director Rob Zombie. Another example of
Powerman 5000 would be like White Zombie without the whole
horror movie theme. I think that Rob had a large and excellent
influence on Spider while creating music. Both bands are
brilliant with a clever and rich sound. PM5K has some but not
as much experimentation with some electronic equipment but
keeps primarily to a 5 piece band. Spider usually doesn’t play
an instrument but uses a voice box to create the sensation of
him singing through a tube. Sometimes I think that that
machine makes some singers sound horrible, but it comes off
remarkably well in this case.
A definite positive by product of underground notoriety, is
that bands are kept unpolluted by fame. When bands get too
famous, chances are that they can sell out and their
reputation goes to their head. Not so with Powerman 5000. For
the past couple of years, they have spent all their time under
the radar and I feel that this has fuelled their creativity. I
picked “Top of the World” as a lyrical sample, but the entire
CD has awesome lyrics:
Top of the World:
Look around look around tell me that you see
It’s going down without you
Look around look around show me anything
That makes you feel like you want to belong
What have you got
And what do you need from me now?
What do you think?
There’s no difference between me and you?
I really like this album, and that’s all I need to say. Some
people don’t like Powerman 5000 because of their own reasons.
But if you like rock you will definitely love this record.
Give it a try and I guarantee you will like it. I give
“Transform” four planets; it’s just an all around good CD. I
like the lyrics, I like the music, the CD is simply good
times. Even the slower songs are hard and full of energy. I
like every single track on this CD. For a new experience try
Powerman 5000’s “Transform”, you’ll like it.
Track Listing:
01. Assess The Mess
02. Theme To Fake A Revolution
03. Free
04. Action
05. That's Entertainment
06. A Is For Apathy
07. Transform
08. Top Of The World
09. Song About Nuthin'
10. Stereotype
11. I Knew It
12. Hey, That's Right!
13. The Shape Of Things To Come
Jameson Rating: 4 out of 5
Planets
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