MC5 Albums Ranked

MC5 was an American rock band from Lincoln Park, Michigan, formed in 1964. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson. MC5 was listed by VH1 as one of the most important American hard rock groups of their era. Their three albums are regarded by many as classics, and their song “Kick Out the Jams” is widely covered. “Crystallizing the counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening”, according to AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the MC5’s leftist political ties and anti-establishment lyrics and music positioned them as emerging innovators of the punk movement in the United States. Their loud, energetic style of back-to-basics rock and roll included elements of garage rock, hard rock, blues rock, and psychedelic rock. Here are all of the MC5 albums ranked.

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8. The Big Bang! Best Of The MC5 (2000)

“The only songs that could be considered their “signature” tunes are “Kick Out the Jams” and “The American Ruse.” The rest of the compilation is split evenly between crunchy psychedelic rock of the late ’60s, and bar-band blues of the turn of the ’70s.”

7. Thunder Express (1999)

“The final two tracks on Thunder Express are taken from the band’s debut single I Can Only Give You Everything / I Just Don’t Know (1966).  Here the boys are filled to the brim with piss and vinegar.  Bursting with energy and rebellion.  Determined to change the world.  Listening to these 1966 recordings after the 1972 session is like whipping out a couple’s wedding photos in the midst of them filing for divorce.”

6. Live Detroit 68/69 (1988)

“A collection of pre-first LP live recordings. Six of the seven tracks were from a performance at the Unitarian Church, Detroit, 8/9/68, while the last was recorded at Westfield Highschool, Michigan, 1/10/69. Though from their heyday in the late 60’s, this album loses points for very poor fidelity. It seems rather obvious these performances were not intended to be recorded, and the sound is well beyond crude.”

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5. Kick Out The Jams Motherf*cker (2015)

“What’s not to like about this album? Seriously. It’s full-on rock music with great music and soaring lyrics. A must-have for any garage rock lover.”

4. Babes In Arms (1983)

“Kicks off with a great acoustic version of “Shakin’ Street,” which is probably my fav MC5 song. Then it runs through a potent set of songs that cover all of the bases of the band, serving as a decent best-of of sorts. The songs here are all alternate versions, and all of them are as good or better than their better-known counterparts. A particularly great rendition of “Sister Ann” and an inspired cover of Them’s “I Can Only Give You Everything” make this essential for fans.”

3. High Time (1971)

“For a band that was about to break up, the MC5 approached “High Time” with the same intense passion they had brought to their two previous albums. The songs were far less politically rigid than their other material, and producer Geoffrey Haslam gave it the kind of huge sound that had sold millions of units for other hard rockers.”

2. Back In The USA (1970)

“Back in the USA, they do sound more conventional, sure. But these songs are tight, well-played, and crackle with immediacy. “Tonight,” “High School,” and “Teenage Lust” bristle with youthful, hormonal energy, as does “Call Me Animal.” On Side Two, the group is at their political best, featuring a concise, two minute critique of the middle class in “The American Ruse,” as well as one of the era’s most over-looked anti-War cuts in the stuttering, machine-gun rhythm of “The Human Being Lawnmower.”

1. Kick Out The Jams (1969)

““Kick Out the Jams” is the electronic apocalypse that forever placed Detroit, a noisy nowhere land in mid-America, on the map, an amp-rattling shack bash that’s required listening for anyone studying thermodynamics.  The title track, “Ramblin’ Rose,” “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa),” the atmospheric, grimy slice-of-life “Motor City Is Burning,” and the tortured lament “I Want You Right Now” are alternately abrasive, mangy, and breathtakingly homicidal, ultimate needle-freak breakdowns punctuated with basic monster-mash guitars which howl like coyotes and die in glorious blazes of confusion.”