Published on Aug 20, 1999
Monster Magnet is one of those hot bands getting some pretty
good airplay on the hard rock stations. Their latest CD takes a no
nonsense approach, but it is their previous release,
Dopes To Infinity, with its creative use of organ,
mellotron, and even a theremin, which I think is the more
interesting CD.
Dopes To Infinity is Monster Magnet’s first taste of
commercial success with their hard driving single “Negasonic
Teenage Warhead”. It’s not hard to see why they broke through as
lead singer/songwriter Dave Wyndorf started writing more developed
songs, and the band opened their sound a bit as well, not unlike
what the alternative band Soundgarden did for
Superunknown.
While there are no obvious singles on
Dopes To Infinity such as “Black Hole Sun” or “Spoonman”,
there are plenty of very good songs. They start out of the gate
running with the rocking title tune, a great edgy blues type rocker
that sets the right tone for the rest of the CD.
The spaceyness becomes apparent on the fourth song, “All Friends
And Kingdom Come” with its heavy use of organs and its slow tempo.
Another slow but heavy tune is “Look To Your Orb For The Warning”
which has an almost industrial sound, not unlike bands like
Stabbing Westward.
As for the rest of
Dopes To Infinity, there is a lot they do right, and a
couple of things they do wrong. The good news is that the CD
contains some interesting twists. For example, they actually have
an acoustic number called “Blow ‘Em Off”. I was waiting for this to
be one of those tunes that starts off slow and acoustic, then
explodes into a metal frenzy. Thankfully, they do not ruin a pretty
good tune with that tired cliche.
My favorite song is “King Of Mars”, a hooky rocker with a Husker
Du thing going on. There is also “I Control, I Fly”, a fast, short
rocker that really soars. And in another interesting twist, there
is actually a sixties sounding psychedelic tune called “Dead
Christmas”. The sound reminds me of the kind of song Ted Nugent
would have done in the sixties, but the cynicism of the lyrics is
pure nineties.
What it does wrong is have a couple songs that are too long and
drawn out. “Third Alternative” wears out its welcome pretty fast.
It would have been an effectively angry song had it not dragged on
so long. The instrumental “Ego, The Living Planet” is just a noisy
throwaway with nothing interesting going on. Another instrumental
called “Theme From ‘Masterburner'” (where do they come up with
these song titles?) is much better with plenty of great guitar and
bass work, and some unpredictable moments.
The best thing about Monster Magnet on
Dopes To Infinity is that they make every song sound
distinct and somewhat different from the next, while still rocking
with abandon when they need to, but not afraid to try something
different either.