10381 - MONSTER MAGNET - COBRAS AND FIRE (THE MASTERMIND REDUX) (2015)
MONSTER MAGNET
''COBRAS AND FIRE (A MASTERMIND REDUX)''
OCTOBER 9 2015
60:16
**********
1 She Digs That Hole 05:48
2 Watch Me Fade 03:06
3 Mastermind '69 06:28
4 Cobras And Fire (Hallucination Bomb) 09:16
5 Gods, Punks And The Everlasting Twilight 06:57
6 The Titan 03:49
7 When The Planes Fall From The Sky (Sitar and Psych Version) 05:50
8 Ball Of Confusion 07:23
9 Time Machine (Instrumental) 06:19
10 I Live Behind The Paradise Machine: Evil Joe Barresi's Magnet Mash Vol.1 05:16
**********
Philip Caivano/Bass Guitar
Bob Pantella/Drums, Percussion
Garrett Sweeny/Guitar
Dave Wyndorf/Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Thom Jurek
After 2014's Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol, it's tempting -- at least at first glance -- to greet Cobras and Fire (A Mastermind Redux) with some degree of suspicion. After all, why do two remake albums in a row? Simple. In an interview at the time of Milking the Stars' release, Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf claimed he was so pleased with the results that he was already at work on something crazier. He wasn't lying; this is it. Where 2010's Mastermind was a well-produced (some would argue overly so) exercise in '70s hard rock, Cobras and Fire is saturated in swirling, fuzzed-out, sprawling, hard space psych. Of the ten tracks here, only five are actually redos from Mastermind proper. Other jams are essentially brand-new recordings from smeared strains, riffs, and vamps from that set. First single "She Digs That Hole" is dominated by a humming bass and distorted vocal. When the blasting wah-wah guitars kick in, it's rawer and wilder than the original. That said, it never loses the boogie, even when it careens into the red zone. Conversely, it's odd to hear the power chord riffing of "Gods and Punks" -- done here as "Gods, Punks and the Everlasting Twilight" -- transformed into a slow, menacing ballad that threatens with sinister intent, but never releases its tension. "Mastermind '69" is fueled by organs and plucked sitars, and illumined by spiky guitar fills and reverbed drums. The title track is actually a new version of "Hallucination Bomb." The plodding riff from the original is replaced by droning sitars and acoustic six-strings with reverbed electrics pulsing percussively in the backdrop. At three minutes it begins to pick up steam; at four it explodes into a thudding, squalling acid-drenched burner. A cover of the Temptations' classic "Ball of Confusion" is all but unrecognizable. Forget psychedelic soul; this version creates a collision between Space Ritual-era Hawkwind and the Edgar Broughton Band of Wasa Wasa. The stoner strut of "When the Planes Fall from the Sky" is subtitled "Sitar and Psych Version" here, and it is. It's slower but no less heavy as the East Indian instrument takes over the guitar solo role amid wafting organs, echo chambers, and ugly, greasy, walloped tom-toms. At nearly nine minutes, closer "I Live Behind the Paradise Machine: Evil Joe Barresi's Magnet Mash, Vol. 1" is a loosely knit sonic assemblage of bits and bites from various Mastermind tunes -- and other sources. It doesn't really go anywhere -- other than oblivion, which admittedly might have been the point -- but it does provide a nice trance vibe to go out on. Like Milking the Stars, Cobras and Fire creates something almost wholly other, a new way of hearing these songs free from the moorings of their sources. It adds another dimension to Monster Magnet's ever expanding musical persona.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Eduardo Rivadavia
Retro-rock visionaries Monster Magnet spent much of the 1990s struggling against the prejudices imposed upon image and sound by alternative rock fashion nazis. In fact, it wasn't until that movement's late-'90s decline that the band's dogged persistence finally paid off and their fourth album, Powertrip, catapulted to gold sales status on the strength of its massive hard rock hit "Space Lord." In the meantime, Monster Magnet had managed to become one of the most successful and influential bands associated with the so-called underground "stoner rock" scene. And yet their influences span much further than that scene's foundations in '70s hard rock and metal, delving into space rock, psychedelia, and beyond.
New Jersey native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future punk producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late '70s before retiring from music altogether. But, after teaching himself guitar, Wyndorf began assembling Monster Magnet with a handful of fellow New Jersey natives, vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Calandra, and drummer Jon Kleiman. Fusing their metal, punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound that helped them stand out from the era's burgeoning retro-rock movement -- also counting the Black Crowes, White Zombie, and many others. After releasing a self-titled six-song EP through Germany's Glitterhouse Records, Wyndorf assumed all vocal responsibilities, while Cronin retreated to a behind-the-scenes "conceptual consultant" position -- much like that of John Sinclair for the MC5.
In the meantime, Monster Magnet had signed with independent label Caroline Records in 1992, and recorded their first full-length album: the very impressive, uniquely dark psychedelic masterpiece Spine of God. The productive sessions also yielded a number of extensive space rock jams that would later be issued as the Tab album in 1993. A video for first single "Medicine" and a support tour with the fast-rising Soundgarden also helped attract powerhouse A&M Records, but even as they prepared to sign with the label, Wyndorf had a serious falling-out with guitarist McBain, who was soon replaced by Ed Mundell. Despite the last-minute change, 1993's Superjudge proved to be a stellar major-label debut -- although it did see the band sacrificing some of its rampant feedback in exchange for more clearly defined, muscular metal riffs. Unfortunately, the group's retro-rock image had become highly unfashionable at the time, arriving at the height of the post-Nirvana alternative boom, and the album sold poorly. Under mounting pressure to make their follow-up more commercial, Monster Magnet delivered a decidedly sleeker -- though no less space rock-drenched -- effort in 1995's Dopes to Infinity. This yielded a Top Ten rock single in "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and was supported by extensive touring with C.O.C., among others, but the album sold only slightly better than its predecessor.
Finding himself mentally and physically exhausted in the aftermath, Wyndorf exiled himself to Las Vegas to begin composing the tracks that would shape 1998's breakthrough release, Powertrip. By far the group's most straightforward hard rock album, Powertrip channeled all of Sin City's vice, greed, and sex into its hedonistic but surprisingly accessible tracks, and first single "Space Lord" went on to dominate rock radio that summer, driving the album over the gold sales plateau. With new rhythm guitarist Phil Caivano in tow, Monster Magnet then embarked on a marathon two-year world tour, both as a headliner and as support to the likes of Aerosmith, Metallica, and Megadeth. By the year 2000, the band had contributed the track "Silver Future" to the Heavy Metal FAKK2 soundtrack and completed work on its fifth album, God Says No, released in Europe in October. But the group's new American record label, Interscope (which had swallowed A&M in a hostile takeover the year before), inexplicably fussed and messed with the album before finally releasing it domestically in April 2001. Precious momentum and sales were therefore lost to an influx of import copies of God Says No -- according to most seasoned fans, already a "difficult," overtly commercial album to begin with -- and Monster Magnet soon found themselves rudely dropped.
Following this unforeseen setback, Wyndorf watched as various bandmembers pursued side projects. Ed Mundell recorded a number of well-received albums with his power trio the Atomic Bitchwax, while Tim Cronin and Jon Kleiman collaborated on the Ribeye Brothers and Gallery of Mites. But, Monster Magnet duly reunited for a short North American tour in early 2002 and, a year later, a new deal with the German SPV label was announced. Recorded in late 2003, the group's sixth full-length album, 2004's Monolithic Baby!, would be recorded with a new rhythm section consisting of bassist Jim Baglino and drummer Bob Pantella. In 2005, Phil Caivano left the band amicably, and the rest of the group started recording in L.A. with producer Matt Hyde. Reissues of Tab and Spine of God were released in the meantime, along with a 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection disc of their greatest-hits. In November 2007, after a European tour, 4-Way Diablo was released. In 2009, Monster Magnet signed with metal label Napalm Records, and the next year released Mastermind, followed in 2013 by their ninth long-player, Last Patrol. Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol -- which was described by Dave Wyndorf as a "reimagined" version of their prior album after being tweaked with "a weird '60s vibe" -- arrived the following year. That same spirit informed Monster Magnet's next album, Cobras & Fire (The Mastermind Redux); it was released in the fall of 2015.
**********
WIKIPEDIA
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
''COBRAS AND FIRE (A MASTERMIND REDUX)''
OCTOBER 9 2015
60:16
**********
1 She Digs That Hole 05:48
2 Watch Me Fade 03:06
3 Mastermind '69 06:28
4 Cobras And Fire (Hallucination Bomb) 09:16
5 Gods, Punks And The Everlasting Twilight 06:57
6 The Titan 03:49
7 When The Planes Fall From The Sky (Sitar and Psych Version) 05:50
8 Ball Of Confusion 07:23
9 Time Machine (Instrumental) 06:19
10 I Live Behind The Paradise Machine: Evil Joe Barresi's Magnet Mash Vol.1 05:16
**********
Philip Caivano/Bass Guitar
Bob Pantella/Drums, Percussion
Garrett Sweeny/Guitar
Dave Wyndorf/Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Thom Jurek
After 2014's Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol, it's tempting -- at least at first glance -- to greet Cobras and Fire (A Mastermind Redux) with some degree of suspicion. After all, why do two remake albums in a row? Simple. In an interview at the time of Milking the Stars' release, Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf claimed he was so pleased with the results that he was already at work on something crazier. He wasn't lying; this is it. Where 2010's Mastermind was a well-produced (some would argue overly so) exercise in '70s hard rock, Cobras and Fire is saturated in swirling, fuzzed-out, sprawling, hard space psych. Of the ten tracks here, only five are actually redos from Mastermind proper. Other jams are essentially brand-new recordings from smeared strains, riffs, and vamps from that set. First single "She Digs That Hole" is dominated by a humming bass and distorted vocal. When the blasting wah-wah guitars kick in, it's rawer and wilder than the original. That said, it never loses the boogie, even when it careens into the red zone. Conversely, it's odd to hear the power chord riffing of "Gods and Punks" -- done here as "Gods, Punks and the Everlasting Twilight" -- transformed into a slow, menacing ballad that threatens with sinister intent, but never releases its tension. "Mastermind '69" is fueled by organs and plucked sitars, and illumined by spiky guitar fills and reverbed drums. The title track is actually a new version of "Hallucination Bomb." The plodding riff from the original is replaced by droning sitars and acoustic six-strings with reverbed electrics pulsing percussively in the backdrop. At three minutes it begins to pick up steam; at four it explodes into a thudding, squalling acid-drenched burner. A cover of the Temptations' classic "Ball of Confusion" is all but unrecognizable. Forget psychedelic soul; this version creates a collision between Space Ritual-era Hawkwind and the Edgar Broughton Band of Wasa Wasa. The stoner strut of "When the Planes Fall from the Sky" is subtitled "Sitar and Psych Version" here, and it is. It's slower but no less heavy as the East Indian instrument takes over the guitar solo role amid wafting organs, echo chambers, and ugly, greasy, walloped tom-toms. At nearly nine minutes, closer "I Live Behind the Paradise Machine: Evil Joe Barresi's Magnet Mash, Vol. 1" is a loosely knit sonic assemblage of bits and bites from various Mastermind tunes -- and other sources. It doesn't really go anywhere -- other than oblivion, which admittedly might have been the point -- but it does provide a nice trance vibe to go out on. Like Milking the Stars, Cobras and Fire creates something almost wholly other, a new way of hearing these songs free from the moorings of their sources. It adds another dimension to Monster Magnet's ever expanding musical persona.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Eduardo Rivadavia
Retro-rock visionaries Monster Magnet spent much of the 1990s struggling against the prejudices imposed upon image and sound by alternative rock fashion nazis. In fact, it wasn't until that movement's late-'90s decline that the band's dogged persistence finally paid off and their fourth album, Powertrip, catapulted to gold sales status on the strength of its massive hard rock hit "Space Lord." In the meantime, Monster Magnet had managed to become one of the most successful and influential bands associated with the so-called underground "stoner rock" scene. And yet their influences span much further than that scene's foundations in '70s hard rock and metal, delving into space rock, psychedelia, and beyond.
New Jersey native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future punk producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late '70s before retiring from music altogether. But, after teaching himself guitar, Wyndorf began assembling Monster Magnet with a handful of fellow New Jersey natives, vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Calandra, and drummer Jon Kleiman. Fusing their metal, punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound that helped them stand out from the era's burgeoning retro-rock movement -- also counting the Black Crowes, White Zombie, and many others. After releasing a self-titled six-song EP through Germany's Glitterhouse Records, Wyndorf assumed all vocal responsibilities, while Cronin retreated to a behind-the-scenes "conceptual consultant" position -- much like that of John Sinclair for the MC5.
In the meantime, Monster Magnet had signed with independent label Caroline Records in 1992, and recorded their first full-length album: the very impressive, uniquely dark psychedelic masterpiece Spine of God. The productive sessions also yielded a number of extensive space rock jams that would later be issued as the Tab album in 1993. A video for first single "Medicine" and a support tour with the fast-rising Soundgarden also helped attract powerhouse A&M Records, but even as they prepared to sign with the label, Wyndorf had a serious falling-out with guitarist McBain, who was soon replaced by Ed Mundell. Despite the last-minute change, 1993's Superjudge proved to be a stellar major-label debut -- although it did see the band sacrificing some of its rampant feedback in exchange for more clearly defined, muscular metal riffs. Unfortunately, the group's retro-rock image had become highly unfashionable at the time, arriving at the height of the post-Nirvana alternative boom, and the album sold poorly. Under mounting pressure to make their follow-up more commercial, Monster Magnet delivered a decidedly sleeker -- though no less space rock-drenched -- effort in 1995's Dopes to Infinity. This yielded a Top Ten rock single in "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and was supported by extensive touring with C.O.C., among others, but the album sold only slightly better than its predecessor.
Finding himself mentally and physically exhausted in the aftermath, Wyndorf exiled himself to Las Vegas to begin composing the tracks that would shape 1998's breakthrough release, Powertrip. By far the group's most straightforward hard rock album, Powertrip channeled all of Sin City's vice, greed, and sex into its hedonistic but surprisingly accessible tracks, and first single "Space Lord" went on to dominate rock radio that summer, driving the album over the gold sales plateau. With new rhythm guitarist Phil Caivano in tow, Monster Magnet then embarked on a marathon two-year world tour, both as a headliner and as support to the likes of Aerosmith, Metallica, and Megadeth. By the year 2000, the band had contributed the track "Silver Future" to the Heavy Metal FAKK2 soundtrack and completed work on its fifth album, God Says No, released in Europe in October. But the group's new American record label, Interscope (which had swallowed A&M in a hostile takeover the year before), inexplicably fussed and messed with the album before finally releasing it domestically in April 2001. Precious momentum and sales were therefore lost to an influx of import copies of God Says No -- according to most seasoned fans, already a "difficult," overtly commercial album to begin with -- and Monster Magnet soon found themselves rudely dropped.
Following this unforeseen setback, Wyndorf watched as various bandmembers pursued side projects. Ed Mundell recorded a number of well-received albums with his power trio the Atomic Bitchwax, while Tim Cronin and Jon Kleiman collaborated on the Ribeye Brothers and Gallery of Mites. But, Monster Magnet duly reunited for a short North American tour in early 2002 and, a year later, a new deal with the German SPV label was announced. Recorded in late 2003, the group's sixth full-length album, 2004's Monolithic Baby!, would be recorded with a new rhythm section consisting of bassist Jim Baglino and drummer Bob Pantella. In 2005, Phil Caivano left the band amicably, and the rest of the group started recording in L.A. with producer Matt Hyde. Reissues of Tab and Spine of God were released in the meantime, along with a 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection disc of their greatest-hits. In November 2007, after a European tour, 4-Way Diablo was released. In 2009, Monster Magnet signed with metal label Napalm Records, and the next year released Mastermind, followed in 2013 by their ninth long-player, Last Patrol. Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol -- which was described by Dave Wyndorf as a "reimagined" version of their prior album after being tweaked with "a weird '60s vibe" -- arrived the following year. That same spirit informed Monster Magnet's next album, Cobras & Fire (The Mastermind Redux); it was released in the fall of 2015.
**********
WIKIPEDIA
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
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