MC5 has revealed details of its upcoming album, ‘Heavy Lifting,’ which is its first studio album in over 50 years. The album will feature all-new material, and the twenty-four-minute lead single ‘Boys Who Play With Matches’ was released on June 6. The band’s founding member Wayne Kramer on guitar and vocals, co-wrote 12 of the 13 songs with Oakland singer-songwriter Brad Brooks before his death in February at the age of 75 due to pancreatic cancer. The remaining member, drummer Dennis ‘Machine Gun’ Thompson, also contributed to the forthcoming LP shortly before his death in May, making Heavy Lifting his last studio recording.
The ‘Heavy Lifting’ album is scheduled to arrive on October 18. The new album will feature guest appearances from well-known musicians like Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, Slash, Alice in Chains’ William Duvall, Tim McIlrath from Rise Against, and others. The band shared teaser footage of the title track, “Heavy Lifting,” on their Instagram feed in 2022.
Producer Bob Ezrin described the album as “very heavy” with a “revolutionary message and good sense of humour.” More specifically, Ezrin said, “There’s a little bit of heavy metal. There’s quite a bit of funk. But it’s a heavy record, and it’s a guitar record left, right and center.” Kramer talked about the project in an interview with Uncut, saying, “This album continues from where ‘High Time’ left off. In that, I think it’s an artist’s responsibility to reflect the times they’re going through. And I think that we made an album that is in sync with where we’re at today and the challenges that we’re facing, and that carries a positive message.”
MC5’s new album will be available as a bonus edition, which will include previously unreleased live recordings from the band and appearances from Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, and frontman Marcus Durant of Zen Guerrilla. The ‘Heavy Lifting’ tracklist includes thirteen new songs and a bonus tracklist of ten additional songs. Also, the album’s release date is one day before the band will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2024, which includes several other artists, like Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, and Kool & the Gang.
This year has been a tough one for MC5. Though the upcoming album has been highly anticipated by fans, both founding members Wayne Kramer and drummer Dennis Thompson died this year, making ‘Heavy Lifting’ a particularly poignant output. MC5’s former manager, John Sinclair, also passed away in April. Sinclair was an influential figure in the music industry, known for his activism and poetry, and he played an instrumental role in helping launch the careers of several musicians, including Iggy Pop & the Stooges
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