I have a confession to make: I’m a Powerman 5000 fan. I know that’s not a cool thing to say in the year 2007, when metalcore and emo/screamo have ruled the hard rock roost for the past few years, essentially doing to nu-metal what grunge did to glam over a decade ago, namely eviscerating the genre and exposing the silliness of it all. While a couple of bands have managed to survive the fallout with credibility intact (System of a Down, Slipknot, Deftones, Incubus), the second-tier acts are left grasping at straws. Really, what’s the difference today between Drowning Pool, Static-X, or Saliva and Warrant, Slaughter, or Trixter? The difference being there’s no nostalgia (yet) for the wallet-chain swinging set. But for me, I never lumped PM5K in with those other bands, even though 99% of the population does.
I first heard Powerman circa 1996 or so, opening for Danzig. They were the first band on the bill, had yet to release a nationally distributed album, and were known only for having Rob Zombie’s little brother as their front man. Oh yeah, and they stole the show. Powerman in their early days were a rap/metal/funk amalgam that was easy to groove to and impossible to categorize. Their debut Mega! Kung-Fu Radio remains an odd footnote in both Powerman’s history and nu-metal in general. The simplistic riffs and down-tuned guitars that would characterize the nu-metal genre and their later work were not yet all-encompassing, and PM5K had a freshness and goofy fun-factor that made them quite enjoyable.
Fast-forward a couple of years. Korn are superstars. Fred Durst is everywhere. Bands like Godsmack and Staind are beginning their rise to fame. And Powerman 5000 release their second major label release, Tonight The Stars Revolt!. It is an instant hit, due in large part to the success of the breakout single “When Worlds Collide” which was featured in countless video games and MTV promos. Gone was the rap and funk of their previous releases, replaced by the generic riffage that dominated the airwaves at the time. The songs were formulaic, silly, and a huge step down from Kung-Fu Radio. Yet oddly enough, even though I was beginning to chafe at the banality of nu-metal, I dug it. The band had adopted some sort of sci-fi spacemen personas, and even though their music played strictly by the rules, PM5K stood out for me, particularly in the live department. I saw them on a tour for that album and to this day it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. In any regard, Spider and company seemed like they were on top of the world.
And then something funny happened. With nu-metal beginning to fade from the spotlight, Powerman went back into the studio and recorded what should have been the follow-up to Tonight the Stars Revolt! Release dates were set, promos sent out, the WWE even began using one of the tracks (“Bombshell”) as the entrance music for the then-popular Dudley Boys. Entitled Anyone For Doomsday? the album had the makings of being just as big of a success as its predecessor, as it should have caught the last crest of that nu-metal wave. As anyone who knows anything about the band already knows, it was not to be.
AFD, completed and ready to roll, was pulled from the release schedule and shelved mere days before it was to hit shelves. Many stories have been bandied about as to the reasoning behind the move. Some say that the album’s title was too controversial so soon after 9-11, while others claim that the record company could see the writing on the wall and knew that the genre was on its way out. Spider himself had a different and much more believable reason for yanking the album---he didn’t like it. As anyone who has heard AFD can attest, that shit-canned album was little more than a clone of Tonight the Stars Revolt! a sci-fi themed by-the-numbers affair that offered absolutely nothing new. Unhappy with spinning his wheels, Spider opted instead to essentially commit career suicide and deep-six the project and record a brand new album, the critically well-received but commercially disappointing Transform. Despite poor sales the aptly titled album was a success from an artistic aspect. PM5K had reinvented itself yet again, this time as a no-frills rock band, lacing its radio-friendly hooks with a more punk-themed anti-establishment stance. Despite my affection for their earlier material, Transform remains my favorite Powerman album. Until now.
2006 brought us a new PM5K album, Destroy What You Enjoy. Despite a collective shrug of the shoulders from the majority of media trendsetters and a near-complete change of lineup, Powerman has delivered a damn good album. With no major-label micro-management to worry about and no real commercial expectations or pressure, Spider has been set free to make the music that he wants to, and that music is more of the Transform-era goodness that he left off with last time. No spacesuits, no nu-metal, just rock and roll with a punk-rock sneer. The tunes are instantly memorable (“Wild World” especially is irresistible) and the band sounds tighter than ever. Lyrically, it gets a little bit dunderheaded, but then again I don’t look to rock stars for my political commentary. So long as it’s not embarrassing, I can deal with boneheaded or nonsensical lyrics.
Will Destroy… sell six million copies? Not even close. Will it even match Tonight…? Probably not. But in terms of quality rock, it has already surpassed it. It’s refreshing to see an artist make the albums he or she wants to make instead of what they are supposed to. While the wild experimentation of the early days is still missed, if you’re going to make just a good old fashioned rock album this is the way to go. Hard driving, not complicated, and fun. To borrow one of Destroy What You Enjoy’s song titles---now that’s rock and roll.