MC5 - Heavy Lifting: The Album Review

Long live the mighty MC5.

Wayne Kramer: guitar, keys, some bass

Stevie Salas: guitar

Brad Brooks: lead vocals, harmonica, keys, principle songwriter

Don Was: bass

Abe Laboriel Jr., Winston A. Watson Jr.: drums

Vicki Randle: percussion, some bass, vocals on “Change No Change” and “Hit It Hard”

Guests: Dennis Thompson: drums on “Blind Eye” and “Can’t Be Found”; Tom Morello, guitar on “Heavy Lifting”; William DuVall, vocals on “The Edge of the Switchblade”; Slash, guitar on “The Edge of the Switchblade”; Vernon Reid, guitar on “Can’t Be Found,” Joe Berry, saxophone/horns on “Hit It Hard”

Author’s Note: This post corresponds to the Heavy Lifting episode of Vinyl Monday, originally posted 10/28/2024. Save for audio/editing jokes that cannot be included in a text format, this is a faithful adaptation of the review chapter. To watch the full episode, scroll to the bottom of this post or visit my YouTube channel here.

On February 1st, 2024, I filmed what I thought was going to be the There’s A Riot Goin On episode. I got dressed in a blue ruffled shirt, stars-and-stripes bellbottoms, and big hair to sit in front of a camera, like I’ve done once a week for 3 years now. After about 2 hours, I wrap up and get to work immediately transferring my footage to my computer. But I look at the raw footage only to find...I’d accidentally filmed the whole thing in slow motion. So now I have 5 hours of raw footage. That’s like 70 gigs of storage. I didn’t even know a camera was capable of that, first of all!

The file was so big I couldn’t transfer the footage to my computer to fix the speed. Rendering it useless. The whole day was a bust. I’d have to get up, get ready, and do the whole thing again the very next day. So that’s what I did. I got up, put on the same blue ruffled shirt and stars-and-stripes bellbottoms, and did the best I could to get my day 3 hair now to be as big as it needed to be.

When I wrapped that day, I didn’t immediately transfer my footage. Because I looked at my phone for the first time in 2 hours to find just a brick of notifications. Like everyone I knew online messaging at the same time. I went through all the possibilities: did I get hacked? Did I accidentally livestream this time? Did one of the group chats I’m in blow up in a 7-way argument? Then I thought – jokingly – alright. Who died?

That’s how I was wearing a pair of goddamn stars and stripes bellbottoms when Wayne Kramer died.

Brad Tolinski and Jaan Uhelszki recently appeared on the Sound Opinions podcast in promotion of MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band. On that podcast, Jaan identified why Lester Bangs got Kick Out The Jams so wrong when he first covered it. He made the mistake of reviewing the hype instead of the album. It was an easy mistake to make: they gave the MC5 a cover story with no album out! (You can thank Jann Wenner’s little deal with Elektra Records for that.)

Jaan said every critic makes the mistake Les made. I have too. I have always wanted my Lester Bangsreviewing Kick Out The Jams moment. But not like this. Tragic circumstances aside (I’m so scared of accidentally disrespecting the memory of men I so deeply revere,) I was terrified to get this one wrong. Heavy Lifting the last album by my favorite band; one that was over 50 years in the making. Over and over again while listening to this album, I asked myself: am I reviewing Heavy Lifting or am I reviewing the hype? Can you even adequately review a follow-up album that took so long to get here? It’s almost impossible to set the hype aside when it had over half a century to build. Most every review I’ve seen gave this album positive to mixed marks. It truly breaks my heart to dissent.

For starters: Heavy Lifting sets itself up for a difficult fight. It was released as two separate editions. I bought both, obviously. One is the standard LP, and one is a vinyl exclusive with a limited-edition disc of MC50 recordings. This was the reunion lineup I gushed over in “MC5: A Brief History,” with Billy Gould of Faith No More (my dad was all over that when I told him about this,) Brendan Canty of Fugazi, Kim Thayil of fucking Soundgarden, and the MC50’s secret weapon: from Zen Guerilla, the incredible Marcus Durant. I will never forget being so enamored watching Marcus on KEXP that I swallowed my gum. It’s probably still in there somewhere!

MC50 was the best reunion lineup Wayne ever assembled; it was the exact lineup needed to execute Kick Out The Jams. But I regret to inform you the sheer power of this group of guys left me wanting much, much more out of Heavy Lifting. We were completely spoiled by MC50. Daddy got us the pony for our birthday and now we’re pitching a fit over getting a Barbie doll the next year, you know?

Considering the circumstances – Wayne’s passing this February and Dennis Thompson’s in March – Heavy Lifting is very much a Wayne Kramer’s MC5 album. If you go into a Wayne Kramer’s MC5 album expecting an MC5 album, you will be disappointed. That’s not to say there’s nothing worthwhile happening on Heavy Lifting.

If I had to recommend an approach to take when going into this thing, it would be this: every once in a while, ask yourself, “whose version of the MC5 is this song?”

The title track is absolutely Tom Morello’s version of the MC5. It’s driven by big, beefed-up guitars and a “take the bull by the horns and put in the work” attitude. I find it beautiful that the album was named for this track. The spirit of the MC5 was built on the very real friendships between the men in the band. They were five very different personalities – two greasers, a beatnik, an engineering student, and an art school dropout Dylan freak – all united under the Right Now! They so whole-heartedly believed in. Now, over 5 decades down the line, Heavy Lifting is the product of Wayne and Tom’s friendship. I can only imagine how it feels for Tom to have this song out now; to have one of your guitar heroes become your good friend and then collaborator. You get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before your hero, because of music you played to invoke his ethos; all about self-sufficiency, self-efficacy, and delivering a message.

Then a year later, you power-walk on stage in a White Panther hat and Jail Guitar Doors t-shirt, drop four f-bombs in two minutes, and induct your good friend into the Hall of Fame.

I wish I could adequately write out how I got jumpscared by the “Bulls On Parade” riff. It’d go something like…“OH SHIT!!!” (quite literally jumping in my seat, accidentally waking up my poor unsuspecting dog snoozing on my lap.)

Every time I hear the title track, I’ll think of that moment. It captures the fire of a moment that hadn’t taken place yet.

Thank god I haven’t seen people bitching about Barbarians At The Gate. Every time I see some guy on the internet posting stuff like “I fly my Trump 2024 flag off the back of my truck while blasting Kick Out The Jams!!” I...die inside a little? Like do whatever you want, it’s your prerogative. But did you even listen to “Human Being Lawnmower?” “The American Ruse?” “Gotta Keep Movin?” “Over And Over?” “Motor City Is Burning,” hello?? Did you listen to anything Wayne said in his interviews from the last five years or so? Or ever, for that matter? You can absolutely separate the MC5’s musical impact from the politics. Quite a few of them did in interview after the fact. But you can’t separate the music from the ideals which it came from, and you can’t deny that ethos is fundamentally incompatible with a Trumpian party.

Musically, the “Barbarians” chorus feels awkward. It ascends to nowhere, and that irks me. If that element hadn’t worked its way into the song and played itself out very quickly, I’d have liked this song.

But right about now, the biggest block from me truly enjoying Heavy Lifting makes itself known: the production. Being an MC5 fan, you have to get used to some – for lack of a better term – janky production. Kick Out The Jams is a live album recorded in late 1968. Ergo, it’s pretty crunchy. Jon Landau produced their first studio album, Back In The USA. (If I had a nickel for every time Landau had a producing credit on a record with this extremely specific BITUSA acronym...I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?) In trying to give the 5 a really tight rock-and-roll record, Landau totally gutted some otherwise killer material. I’ve heard live bootlegs of “Teenage Lust,” they’re not bad. John Sinclair asserted “Human Being Lawnmower” was a good one too...jury’s out on that one. Then Geoffrey Haslam sat behind the board for High Time. I don’t know what the hell happened to those tapes, but the sound fidelity is just whack. Rob sounds like he’s underwater on “Miss X”!

And then there’s Heavy Lifting. You’d think with 53 years of technological advancement in the studio and experience under Wayne’s belt, some improvements would have been made.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have another Back In The USA on our hands.

Bob Ezrin took this material that would’ve sounded so full and appropriately rough live and scrubbed it so clean the patina came off. I know Wayne liked that production style. I hear it on his 2014 LP Lexington. It’s acceptable on a jazz record. Welcome, even. But on a rock record, it’s so spiffy it’s unbearable. If only this material had the chance to redeem itself in a live setting. Wayne was so excited to tour it…

Being a High Time Girlie, I noticed attempts throughout Heavy Lifting to link it to the last album under this name...from 53 years ago. Change No Change makes nods to “Poison” with that crazy high falsetto Brad does, as well as “Future Now” and “Miss X,” with attempts to mimic the weird tape stuff they were doing. That element is disconcerting; it feels out of balance with the rest of the song. It’s a real shame that one element was mishandled, because otherwise it’s a really great tune. The solo is great, and it’s a rare good spot for production. It captures the heat wave vibe Wayne liked to do with his film score compositions. You could put “Change No Change” over the footage of the 5 at the ’68 DNC and it wouldn’t feel too out of place. We get the first appearance of Vicki Randle on backing vocals...I think? Whoever designed these liner notes should be drawn and quartered. She rocks the cuts she’s on. I wish we got more of her, to the point where I wish we got more female backing vocals on the original three MC5 albums. Brenda Knight, Joanne Hill, and Merlene Driscoll on “Sister Anne” were one of my personal highlights of High Time.

Of course, The Edge Of The Switchblade is a cover of a Wayne solo song; off 1994’s The Hard Stuff. Not helping the Heavy Lifting Is A Wayne Solo Album allegations!

It’s funny, this is one of the most collaborative efforts on the album. We have the Alice In Chains frontman – no not Layne Staley, the other one – and fucking Slash dropping by. And yet it feels the most like Wayne’s idea of the MC5, and Wayne’s alone. “Switchblade” tells the story of the MC5: the ’68 DNC, shit hitting the fan, making a change, and hardly getting paid. But given the circumstances of Heavy Lifting’s release, this version of “Switchblade” has a tragic twist.

In the original version, the first verse is likely about Rob Tyner:

“He had some wild hair and a wild mind, he knew something 'bout everything/He was a Shaman warrior and a poet priest, he loved to dance and sing/He could rock the house with style and nerve, and he knew when to take a chance/A mainline mellow who saw the future, and he took a rebel stance/He was strong, he was not afraid, he was the edge of the switchblade.”

But now, coming from Wayne and William Duvall’s voices on this posthumous MC5 album, this verse is also about Wayne.

Do I prefer the original recording? Yeah. But “Switchblade” is the sweetest moment on Heavy Lifting. It’s the heart of the album; obligatory canned “woo!”s, nod to “Kick Out The Jams” and all. Sure, the lyrics are clunky. But like I said in ABH: there were no Dylans, Lennons, or McCartneys in the MC5. It’s pointless to expect any now!

With Black Boots, the other critical flaw of Heavy Lifting makes itself known. At a run time of just under 42 minutes, High Time was the longest MC5 record. It was an exploration into a territory previously unknown to the guys, with extensive overdubbing, multiple songwriters at the helm, and the whole-ass Salvation Army Band!

Conversely, Back In The USA is 28 minutes. A tight, snappy, bratty, pop-oriented rock record. Heavy Lifting is produced with that Back In The USA pop sensibility, but with half the energy...and it’s four minutes longer than High Time. Heavy Lifting is just. Too. Long. Too many songs that missed the mark were included in the final track listing. “Black Boots” with its awkward...rock-hip-hop beat? Whose idea was this?? Is the first of many.

Thank god a sense of fun is back for I Am The Fun The Phoney. I’m so mad my vinyl copy of the album didn’t come with a lyrics sheet, because I need that glorious “piss in the sink” line in print!

I’ll be the first to say I’ve been very critical of frontmen of MC5 lineups. It’s no secret they have BIG shoes to fill, and if the gum-swallowing was any indication I have my favorite. (Sorry, Handsome Dick. You did your best with DKT.) While I might not be the biggest fan of Brad Brook’s songwriting personally, I have to commend him for even having the guts to try his hand at this position! He does exactly what he needs to do: suit the material. Again, I really wish we got to see what he would’ve been like actually performing this material in a live show setting. I truly feel it would’ve given all this some much-needed dimension. I also have to acknowledge that Brad wrote a batch of tunes Wayne loved enough to put out under the MC5 name. The MC5 was Wayne Kramer’s baby. He nurtured their legacy like no one else. The fact that he saw this stuff worthy enough to add to the MC5 canon speaks to their relationship.

Twenty Five Miles...cool that they covered it, but skip. Because Of Your Car...skip. I believe Boys Who Play With Matches was the first single released for the album? It was the one I responded most to; more than the title track and Can’t Be Found. That’s probably because the song is structured like the 5’s arrangement of “Thunder Express”! My buddy Bryan and I agreed “Boys Who Play” was just okay. But now, in the context of the full record, it feels like a sequel song to “Switchblade”; telling the story of the archetypal rebellious kids who became rock-and-rollers.

Then come the much-awaited Dennis feature tracks: Blind Eye and “Can’t Be Found.” Oh god, “Blind Eye.” The “old man yells at cloud” song. These damn kids with their phones and video games, they have no idea what’s going on in the world! It’s moments like this that highlight the stark difference between the MC5 and Wayne Kramer’s MC5.

The original MC5 was over by the time Wayne was 23. And listening to these sounds and these lyrics...I’m pretty sure there’s not a single guy under 50 playing on Heavy Lifting.

Of the 2 tracks Dennis is on, “Can’t Be Found” is superior. I don’t need to tell you that. Through the making of ABH, I discovered Dennis was the 5’s secret weapon. He had this elastic way of playing; he was susceptible to these bursts of energy from the guys. He was a really unique drummer in the sense that he wouldn’t set the groove, he followed it the same as everyone else. Followed the path and all its twists and turns. It’s what makes Kick Out The Jams so exciting to listen to. I’m also pretty sure he never played a mushy passage in his life: see “The American Ruse” and “Skunk.” I didn’t realize how much I missed his playing on an MC5 record until I heard it again.

Blessed Release...fucking weird. Nine Inch Nails meets Emotional Rescue-era Stones. Skip!

The album closes – quite abruptly – with Hit It Hard. Of all the nods to High Time on Heavy Lifting, this was the most overt. There’s horns, there’s saxophone, there’s Vicki pulling one hell of a performance. She’s one of the unsung heroes of the album for sure. Wayne really loved funk music; James Brown was one of his biggest inspirations. So I have to commend him for his best attempt at funk to close this out.

The 1960s counterculture was all about symbols, right? Heavy Lifting is more of a symbol than it is an MC5 album.

Regardless of my mild but hopefully even-handed feelings on the album, this body of work meant so much to someone I respect so deeply. Again, the MC5 was Wayne’s baby. High Time was never meant to be their last album. Everyone thought they at least had one more in them, especially Wayne. He wanted to see thatthrough. I’m glad that intent was carried out. It was very hard to come to this conclusion, seeing as this is an album by my literal actual favorite band. I’m truly sorry to say I could do without the core version of Heavy Lifting. If it was 28 minutes long instead of 45, I know I’d have liked it a lot more. And yet, the deluxe edition with 10xMC5 is a must-have. You have to hear the MC50 lineup.

Now that I think of it, maybe Heavy Lifting’s working title, We Are All MC5, would have saved it from the inescapable hype that proved to be its downfall. Considering the Kick Out The Jams hype train that derailed the original MC5...this might be a perfect circle. As a very wise man once said: “We believed in our innocence that the horizons were limitless. But say, hey, we live on a planet, you know? It’s a ball. The horizon appears to be limitless, but if you take it as far as you can go, you wind up back in the same spot again. Because it’s all a circle.”

At the end of the day, it’s amazing I even get to write this review. I’m a 25-year-old MC5 fan evaluating an album of new material under the MC5 name! Not only that, but I got to read and review a book of stories I so desperately wanted to hear. And after a record...six? Seven? Some stupid number of nominations, I got to watch my favorite band inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on TV. I watched someone say The Word on live television!! I just really wish the guys could’ve seen it too.

I wish they could’ve seen our current world. What would they have thought? What would they have said? Two of them didn’t even get to see the 21st century. I get really hung up on the fact that Mr. Future Now himself, Robin Tyner, didn’t even really get to see the 1990s. What would he have thought of home computers? Wireless internet? Social media? Streaming? Crypto? NFTs? AI? What the fuck? The future ishere, right now. And it all feels very final.

In a way, this was the quintessentially MC5 way for things to play out. I don’t know what it is about thoseguys, but nothing MC5-related ever comes easy. They only ever reunited because Rob died. They only seriously reformed because Fred Smith died and it was time to take their legacy seriously. The documentary project that would’ve delivered their incredible ridiculous story to so many new sets of eyes and ears failed. For a myriad of reasons, on both sides. I don’t think we’ll ever know the full story of A True Testimonial. Then the reunion lineup ended because the D in DKT died, before he could ever finish his book. The 5 only madeit into the Hall of Fame because Wayne died, and...come on. You have to admit Dennis being the last man standing was THE most MC5 way things could’ve possibly gone. And now he’s gone. They’re all gone. And John Sinclair isn’t even around to say anything about it because he’s gone too.

Unless something truly crazy happens with A True Testimonial’s distribution rights – I’m not holding my breath – this past weekend was the end of the line. This is it. Rock-and-roll’s great comedy of errors is over, and we’re the last ones sat in this empty goddamn theater. I’m sad it’s over. I’m mad it took this long. I’m happy it happened at all. I’m disappointed none of the guys get to enjoy it with us. I’m grateful for the fans who came before me who got us here; who banged on the door of the Hall of Fame until they finally let our boys in. I’m grateful for the people this band has connected me with; I count myself so very fortunate to havebeen able to speak to people credited on their albums. I’m grateful for everything they gave us. Above all, I’m in awe. Still. Just as much as when I cracked their first album open for the first time.

It sounds like Becky Tyner feels the same way:

“Thinking about them, I just sit back from a place of awe.”

(quoted from: Brad Tolinski, Jaan Uhelszki, Ben Edmonds: MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band (2024)

At the end of ABH, I said something like “the MC5 were rock-and-roll’s prometheus.” They took fire from the gods, brought it to us mortals, and they paid a steep price for it. The flame has dimmed significantly since the boys left our mortal plane for whatever is beyond us.

I’ll have to move on to being annoying about other things; like getting King Crimson in the Hall of Fame, getting a vinyl run of Blood Brothers, and god willing getting to write said release’s liner notes. But I will keep tending to the embers, because that’s what I was put here to do, and this band showed me my purpose. For that, I will always be so grateful.

Long live the mighty MC5.

Personal favorites: “The Edge Of The Switchblade”

– AD ☆

Watch the full episode above!