Review:

on 2011-08-12 CharlesMartel Said:

"Kick out the Jams" is one of the all-time classic examples of an album with attitude. MC5 brought the burning political issues of the late sixties in America - race relations and the Vietnam War - to the fore with their music. They rabble-roused a generation of disaffected youths and told them to do something about it. MC5 were the brick wall the idealistic optimism of the summer of love crashed into.

In spite of the fact that this album came out a good seven years before the release of the Damned's "New Rose", MC5 are often described as being a punk band because of their influence on that genre and the similarity between the message. That is a bit like calling Robert Johnson a hard rock musician, but the point is understood if not exactly accurate. "Motor City Is Burning" is my favourite track but there are no poor tracks on this album, including the oft-criticised "Starship".

Its importance lies in its place and time in American musical-political history. The hippies had faded as their naive dream that love and peace will conquer all and can bring about real change in the world was shown to be nothing more than drug-induced wishful thinking and an excuse for a massive shagfest. However, the underlying anti-establishment message they had created remained and was gaining political impetus. Like the punks after them, people were waking up to the fact that the establishment was lying. The establishment had always lied, but previously each one of us had been expected to keep our place in society and not rock the boat for the communal good. The generational shift to the baby boom generation was underway, bringing ideas which were radically different from the previous immediate post-war generation. Spurred by the embarrassing and flawed Vietnam conflict and the stalling of civil rights advances under Nixon, MC5 did not preach passivity as did the hippies - they preached revolt against the status quo.

"Are you part of the problem or are you part of the solution?"

was screamed as an intro to one of the songs. The crowd at the Detroit Grande Ballroom loved it. This was politics. But one always gets the suspicion that this was politics conducted at a safe distance from the realities of political society. Political society was outside the walls of the Grande Ballroom. Inside it, you could be whoever and whatever you wanted to be. Perhaps that was why the audience responded so enthusiastically. You could be seen to be doing something without actually doing it. Perhaps it is my latent cynicism which gets in the way. In truth, this album didn't make much a difference either. One could write an entire essay about whether music or the arts in general have EVER made a real difference. I have lived through punk, post-punk and the ska revival. I have my doubts if music can change the world, though it can perhaps do so vicariously, by changing a person who then goes on to change the world.

Nonetheless, this album scared the bejesus out of the establishment. The young were voicing their intention not to be controlled, they were to be heard and feared. They did not want to hear the lame old excuses which had satisfied their parents, they wanted action and would force it if they had to. The MC5 called for people to stand up and be heard, and the establishment did not like it one bit. The music matched the message, raw, loud and with little finesse. The message matched the music, raw, clamorous and simple. In that sense, MC5 were true precursors of the punk movement as it manifested itself in the UK some seven or eight years later.

This album represents a rare moment in modern musical history where politics and music collide. It should therefore not be lacking in anyone's album collection unless your taste begins with Britney Spears and ends with Atomic Kitten, in which case you are a sad individual beyond hope or redemption.
Rating: 7/10