Kick Out The Jams (Live)

Oh, boy, I'm gonna get in trouble for this one. This album is considered by many as holy writ, and MC5 has a reputation as a forerunner of punk, and for good reason. MC5 has two cards to play: raw aggression and high energy. The singers can't sing, the guitarist can't play, the music is as basic as can be, and they still can't execute it worth a damn. These guys make The Stooges look like effete music snobs that attended Julliard. Hard pass. 0/5

“Kick Out the Jams” (Live) by MC5 (1969) Ok, folks, listen up. If you’re from southeastern Michigan (or otherwise sentient) and think you ‘get’ the cultural revolution of the 1960s without knowing this album or group, you are undereducated. This is an important album. There are eight tracks, which can be summarized as: Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex, Revolution, Sex, and Fantasy. Sex is the vehicle; Revolution is the substance; Fantasy is the prognosis. Focus on the substance. In “Motor City Is Burning”: “Ya know, the Motor City is burning people There ain't a thing that white society can do Ma home town burning down to the ground Worser than Vietnam Let me tell you how it started now ... It started on 12th and Clairmount that morning It made the beat cops all jump and shout Ah said, it started on 12th and Clairmount that morning It made the pigs in the street freak out The fire wagons kept comin', baby But the Black Panther snipers wouldn't let them put it out Well, there were fire bombs bursting all around Ya know there were soldiers standing everywhere I said there was fire bombs bursting all around me Ya know there was National Guard everywhere Ah can hear my people screaming Sirens fill the air, fill the air, fill the air Ah said, the Motor City is burning, people I ain't hanging round to fight it out Ah said, the Motor City is burning, people Just not hang around to fight it out Well, I'm taking my wife and my people and they're on TV Fireman's on the street, people all around Now, I guess it's true I'd just like to strike a match for freedom myself I may be a white boy, but I can be bad, too Yes, it's true now, yes, it's true now Let it all burn! Let it all burn! Come on baby! Come on baby!” A frank recognition here of the understated strategy: the way to ‘let it burn’ is to shoot the firemen. This music inspired me as a teenager. Nixon, however, was not pleased. 5/5

Powerful primal proto punk. Feels like the band is literally on fire, screaming in the bowels of hell. All live albums should be like this.

I remember music snobs in college loving this and not getting it. Still don't get it. Kind of sounds like shit.

Lame rock n roll messiness. I'm sure it's inspirational to heaps of early punks and blah blah blah, but 2/5.

Primal, unrelenting rock fury. 5 stars, motherfucker.

I'm impressed by the band's punk energy, especially for 1969, but most of these songs are just about sex despite all the stuff at the beginning about starting a revolution and changing the world. It's annoying to hear a band pretend to be about something grand but then sing songs about simultaneous orgasms instead. I'm pretty sure that most people wouldn't exist without sex; MC5 hadn't discovered something monumental. It's ok to make songs about fucking but say something important if you promise to change the world.

People revere this album. I have no idea why. Someone influential must have once said it's essential and now it's a "the emperor's not wearing any clothes" scenario. I mean, this is utter sh!t. Tuneless noise, pointless rage.... just... no.

Dumbfounded this was in the list. Shockingly bad

I still have my U.S. pressing of this album that I purchased from Ashwoods for $1.50. Like any Stooges or VU albums, they couldn’t give this record away. I always thought it was one of the most raucous live albums I’d ever heard. But it wasn’t until later that decade, particularly when I got into Radio Birdman, that I appreciated the part this record played in promoting the so-called Detroit Sound. In 2004, I finally got to see the remnants of the band at Selinas when they were on their world tour as DKT-MC5, with Michael Davis, Wayne Kramer & Dennis Thompson in a band padded out by guests, including Deniz Tek from Birdman & Evan Dando from The Lemonheads. They were terrific. They opened with Ramblin’ Rose (one of the great live album openers of all time) & included all 4 songs from Side 1 of the album, and nothing from Side 2. Unfortunately my pressing has John Sinclair’s (see song about him by John Lennon)word “motherfuckers” overdubbed by “brothers & sisters” in the intro to Kick Out The Jams, but what a track. Tyner’s vocals are so crazy on this record. Anyway, I’m a fan. I love the covers. They’d played with The Troggs in ‘68 - I’m not sure what they’ve done here with I Want You, but it certainly rocks. And whatever Sun Ra had to do with Starship, it’s a cacophony that makes perfect sense. I imagine. Great production by Bruce Botnick. In the 60’s, you rarely got noisy live recordings that were this clear.

This album ROCKS. It's kind of amazing that it's from 1969, as it wouldn't be out of place ten years later at the onset of punk. Similar feelings about the Stooges album that we listened to recently. I hadn't had a listen in a while and it was great to get reacquainted.

Jesus Christmas this blew. Singers who can’t sing. Musicians who can’t play. Engineers & producers who can’t engineer & produce. And the worst example of a 60’s band that “thinks it has something to say “.

SO good. Can you imagine having been at that show?

I know MC5 for one reason: the Presidents of the United States of America covered "Kick Out the Jams" on their debut album. The Presidents' version is far more polished, which is hardly surprising given how raw MC5's original is. And that raw sound—which borders on amateurish at times—defines the entire album. But that's not criticism; it's what makes the album quintessential proto-punk. The fact that it was recorded live emphasizes the lack of polish and allows their personality to shine. I was originally set to give this three stars, but then I listened to it again ... and again. And a little more. And it holds up. The track that stands out the most is "Motor City is Burning," not necessarily because it's better than the rest, but because it's the bluesy eye of the sonic storm, providing a stark contrast from the proto-punk chaos that surrounds it. But I'm not seeing a throwaway track here. They're all solid. The album's loud and dirty and imperfect, and that feels just about perfect.

Testify! Kick Out The Jams is one of the best debut albums and one of the best live albums of all time. This and the Stooges debut are the birth of punk. I can not describe how much I love this album. I'd the name MC5 for years seeing the name dropped by so many bands. Pre internet it was nearly impossible to track this stuff down. Hearing the Bad Brains version of Kick Out The Jams while watching Pump Up The Volume finally put the music to the name and got the reverence for the band straight away. I don't think I listened to this album in whole until I went out and bought it finding out I was to design the poster for a special show by MC5/DTK. I have never been so excited by designing anything as much as that poster.

Fucking awesome

Decent, OG punk but with Jimmy Hendrix vibes. 4/5.

MC5 are overrated as hell

The soundtrack for going batshit crazy, overdosing on ketamine, sweating and screaming in a crowd of 164 people doing the same in a smashed up, crackhut in the woods. I definitely see the appeal. The guitar solos in "motor city is burning" are the most washed up shitscrambles of early rock and roll and punk tropes I have ever heard though.

This album definitely puts the "proto" in "proto-punk", as this really does feel like an unfinished, beginner's prototype for punk music, if that can be imagined. The spirit of punk is present though: they are making loud noise and they don't give a shit. This has very unpolished production, mediocre execution, and for my taste, is almost unlistenable. While I get that this is heralded for being the birth of punk music, I'd rather just listen to some "post-birth" punk music that has better production and execution. As stated, the spirit of punk is here in its proto state, but the majority of this album was just not very good.

This was so laughably bad I'm not sure how it snuck onto this 1001 list. 1/10.

5/5. Just unadulterated punk. The guitar playing is sloppy, the singing is chaotic, the rhythm is nonexistent mostly. This is how live albums should be, no filter just raw sound. I love this so much, just blast it at full volume. The lack of clear production works in its favor, so it annoys the people who don't care to listen. Best Song: Kick Out The Jams, Motor City Burning, Ramblin' Rose

Shocking nobody, I really liked this. There's no shortage of people who will tell you all about how important this album was for American culture. I won't waste your time with another recitation. Just know that it's true. This one was huge. But we're here for the music, right? And, from a musical perspective, "Kick Out The Jams" is an amazing moment at the crossroads of genres. It's a "missing link" album that shows the moment in time when the Vietnam-era rock peaceniks stopped "making love not war" and their anger with American nationalist culture boiled over and became something new. Something sonically violent and disruptive and impossible to ignore. It's a snapshot of a transition and I'd love it for that alone. But, lucky for us, that's not all that's here. It's right at the edge of punk with all of the violent energy that implies but it's ALSO at the end of the 60s with all of the layered psychedelic guitars and wild rhythms that come with the time period. This is still '69, after all. Influenced by their contemporaries like Hendrix, King Crimson, The Who, and more, MC5 brings serious musical chops to the stage. The guitars are every bit as shreddy and psychedelic as Floyd and the grooves grind every bit as hard as a Zeppelin joint. It's got everything you want in an album from '69 AND it brings the revolutionary energy of a punk band. How can you not love that?! It's musically fantastic. Add to that its cultural importance and it's an easy 5 for me.

A good case can be made that punk has its origins in the late 1960s garage rock scene in Detroit which includes the Stooges and MC5. MC5 is what you get when people with counterculture sympathetic beliefs get angry and aggressive. The music is messy, distorted, and frenetic. Along with the purposefully provocative lyrics and stage show, MC5 is clearly a herald of the nascent punk scene

The thing with all these garage bands is they all have one, maybe two, cracking tracks. I don't think a single one of them has an album's worth of material that stands up. They're all fun though. And MC5 are obviously wild and Kick out the jams motherfuckers is an all timer. The motherfuckers appears to have been airbrushed off Spotify. The rest is kind of a historical artifact, the lyrics, and well, the rage, is definitely a window on the times. But I don't necessarily want to listen to it. I'm listening to this on a day where the far right knuckle draggers have been causing chaos rioting and looting around the North (oh and throwing bricks at eachother's testicles) after the Southport child murders. So it feels apt. That similar energy is in the air, for entirely stupid reasons, but it's there.

Thoughts before listening: Kick out the jams motherfucker! Review: So I get that its important in the history of rock music and youth culture that in 1969 the MC5 were out there playing loud dirty rock n roll and dropping f-bombs on record, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. This isn't great. The recording is very muffled sounding and while the band has a ton of energy, their songs aren't necessarily all that great. Maybe its a you had to be there type of a situation? Anyway, I added the title track to my playlist and while the music/recording is probably a 2 to me, I'll give this 3-stars because of its importance.

Kick Out the Jams I had this on CD, I think I bought it at one of those CD fairs in Dunelm House. One of those hipster albums that people love because of its proto punk energy and late 60s righteous hippy politicism. There’s no doubt it captures that raw punkish energy and excitement and the earnestness of their sloganeering, and there is a palpable thrill to it, however when it comes down to it the songs aren’t particularly great and the playing is what you might generously call ‘loose’. The relatively poor sound quality also works both for it and against it: you get the sense of excitement and chaos but its muddiness and in the red distortion can make it a hard listen. There is some great riffing in parts and when it roughly all comes together it is good, like on Kick Out the Jams and Come Together. But the rest of it is a bit of a slog musically, only kept alive by the energy, but, really, that can only take you so far. It's cool as a document of the times and of the excitement rock music can generate and as a forerunner of punk, but aside from the title track, which is great, and Come Together it doesn’t ultimately have a great deal of re-listenability. 4 for rawness, energy and excitement 4 for musical historical context 3 for sound quality 2 for quality of playing 2 for song quality Average that out and you get 3, which seems about right 🦵🦵🦵 Playlist submission: Kick out the Jams

Kick out the Jams is a great riff, but they just don't seem as good as the Stooges

Hendrix, wish edition

Je n'ai pas eu la moindre nouvelle de mon camarade d'écoute robtheillère depuis plusieurs semaines. Si vous avez quelconque information à partager, merci de me contacter sous le review du prochain album de Stevie Wonder. Merci d'avance.

Hard to listen to because the sound quality is just so crappy

Is fully what it is – which is mainly chaotic and screechy. I guess you had to be there. Might also help to know more about the jams they were aiming to kick out and how/why they were/are different than countless other politically outraged combos yowling their heads off in garages around middle America. Maybe just screechier and more chaotic? The big, slabby, psychedelic guitar riffs are decent; one half-expects them to break into “Wild Thing” at a few moments. Their oft-repeated “thank yous” at the end of every song are interesting; for outraged protesters, they seem awfully grateful and even mannerly toward the audience (not that that’s a bad thing). What this is not is musical or very listenable. Like, literally – it’s nearly impossible to hear what’s being shouted … er, sung. Also seems worth noting that a good bit of what's audible sounds like it might be about love and, you know, girls, not the military industrial complex, the pigs, racism, etc (though of course one can make out a bit of that stuff, too). Lastly, would Sun Ra consider this a tribute? Maybe including one (or more) of his records would help us know. 1.5 for 2 (and only because rounding up makes me feel slightly better about my lack of political commitment and because I’m sure the live shows were fun and as many got laid as achieved consciousness-raising).

Live albums are something else; there's just an energy that you don't get from a studio recording. I liked this way more than I thought I would.

This has great energy, but I have to admit that I am a sucker for live recordings... particularly for straight ahead rock and roll bands. I also liked that this had a real anarchistic streak, definitely anti-establishment... what could be more rock and roll?

extremly rocky live. unbelieveably energetic album.

this is garage rock at it's finest. one of my fav live albums

A phenomenal, landmark album that still kicks ass.

The roots of PUNK!

Loud, mean, and dangerous. Very cool.

Album number 200 and it’s an absolute fucking rush. A complete whirlwind of late 60s garage psych which relentlessly imposes lick after lick, hook after hook and political soliloquy after… you get the idea. It’s perhaps not fair to assess this live recording in terms of the usual intentionality of the studio album. But either way, this is just such a great record and its influence hasn’t diminished over the years. Shame one of them became a right-wing loon…

Goddddammmmnnn right!

Brother Wayne - kick out the jams motherf**ker!!!!!!! Classic classic

5 out of 5, this is a great proto-punk album that should at least be listened to once.

finally, true early punk that's not like doo-wop rock with extra screaming. now this is a good example of a band that does it right, loud, nasty, and earth-shaking performances that get both you and the recorded audience all hyped up. this was the era where music experienced quite the big shift in creativity and i'm pleased to report that this is one of the good examples of that. there's the wannabe "punks" with the pompadours and jackets and the REAL punks with the crazy hair and CRAZIER vibes. sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll.

Ammen dét her er tæske fedt! Den skal spilles næste gang der er bal, med alle dem som kan lidt spar 2!

Awesome rock album, a real find

So, I'm guessing these guys inspired KISS, but without the makeup? I've never heard of them before, but I like them! This sounds way ahead of its time. MC5 totally rocks. Liked songs added: - Kick Out The Jams - Rocket Reducer No. 62 - Talk - Motor City Is Burning - I Want You Right Now

If this was a studio album, I would take off some points for the kind of loose structure. But a live recording is actually probably a better way to show the pure Garage/Psy Rock energy.

Hail to the Motor City! Awesome energy.

Again, so heavy for the 60's?? Loving it. Absolutely brilliant

I'll never forget when I stumbled over a YouTube recording of MC5 playing on a 1972 German television broadcast of Beat Club. Rob Tyner's larger-than-life stage presence and afro bobbing around as he glistened and fist-pumped his way through "Kick Out The Jams" instantly made me lose my cool. From the drop they don't miss; the band opens with four titanic blasts of guitar, bass and drums, and throughout the whole set are clearly in tight command of their groove. I wish this record were as well-mixed as that broadcast was! MC5 is clearly an essential document of its time and forerunner to punk - have to give it five stars, but it bums me out to know even Wayne Kramer described this recording as not their best night.

One of the first punk rock record. You can’t live it enough!

I expected to hate this based on the reviews but after listening, this is what rock n roll should be. Intense energy, in your face lyrics, and just absolutely melting faces while going nuts. 10/10. I can see the hype.

Undeniable energy wants to get up and turn the stereo louder itself

What a fantastic album! I really loved the thrashy, heavy, punk sound from this band. I never heard of them until now and I will definitely keep this album in my records! So good! Favorite Song(s): "Kick Out the Jams", "Rocket Reducer", "Motor City Is Burning"

Rama lama fa fa fa!

I don't get it. How can your debut album also be a live album. It's like the chicken and the egg. Did the music some first or the tour. In order to tour, you've gotta have music that people have listened to, which, you know, requires an album unless you were playing on the corner or in the subway. Anyway, live album.... but then again... this can't possibly be a compilation because they don't have any other albums in order to compile from. What a quandary I'm found myself in. Well, given that they compiled something out of nothing...

I think the most remarkable thing about this is that it’s late 60s. If it was I’m the late 70s I could get it. But this ran way ahead of its time.

ahhh that is where kiss got their sound from

10/10 genius proto-punk, absolutely loved this I would love to start listening to their other stuff

4.5 this is amazing and so not what i was expecting! the first song set the bar high but the rest didn’t disappoint. i also listened to jeff buckley’s cover of the titular song and it’s stunning. mc5 were wayy ahead of their time this shit still slaps even though i don’t usually enjoy live albums. hard to choose a favourite but i want you right now followed by starship is one of the best song pairings i’ve heard in a while and such a good end to the album. there were moments i found myself tuning out of and i don’r remember being blown away by borderline hence the reduction of .5 but really overall i had an amazing time with this.

Are we allowed to give 7 stars?

Fuck you! This is the high society, this is the real high society!!! 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

Generally don't care for live albums, but I wanna be part of the solution, man!! Fuck yeah!!!

Man, 1969, what a time to be alive. And this album is ALIVE. Absolutely electric. You can hear a revolution. You can hear everything that punk rock would become. It goes 0-60 in 3 seconds flat and never takes any 1 of those 10 feet off the gas. (Except for in those pesky fade-outs which seem entirely unnecessary today and are probably just a relic of where and when this album was mixed. And honestly, there’s a bit of of character and appeal in that imperfection. A certain marinade for the raw flavor dished up across all 8 tracks.) I’ve never listened to MC5 or heard of this album. But this is just awesome. Great, great live album. THIS IS THE HIGH SOCIETY. I dig the experimental bend in “Starship” but don’t dig that song as a closer. This needed a high energy encore to take us home. 4+, rounding-up-to 5 STARS! Also just so great to hear a punk band behind before there was any inclination of what a punk band was. A punk band pulling on all their influences from rock n roll, to blues, to drawn-out, experimental droning. Just following taste and natural inclination, these 5 created something wholly new. Not unlike that which that other 5—Grandmaster Flash’s—created with the Message.

L O U D

Pure Pre-Punk, Detroit style. Power rock at its finest.

Might be a 5. This is right, electrifying, and a taproot for my favorite features in music. Kick Out the Jams was of course a stellar song but that intro, and every other song was blistering

Great punk album! I loved it!

More bands should make their live albums their first album.

This album totally rocked! Super impressed, one of the best punk albums—or live album I've ever heard. Had never heard of these guys but will dig into them more and for sure being replaying this. Really resonated with me upon first listening.

Hard fast 60s in your face rock. Totally my style.

"Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem or whether you are going to be the solution." Well, this record is undoubtably the solution. Absolute masterpiece.

Find me another punk band who can play seven quality songs and then record the absolute insanity of Starship; Won't be easy. The solos leave something to be desired. That about sums it up: This was an energizing listen, stands up against the intervening decades of music, and still sounds like it's coming from the bottom of a dirty bucket. What more can a guy ask for?

Holy fuck. Let me repeat that just in case you didn't catch it the first time. HOLY FUCK. The energy emanating from this album could power all the homes in Detroit for a year. It's rare that a band's debut album is a live album, but I can see why in this case. It's hard to overstate the power of this album and its importance in the history of rock n' roll. Gotta give it up to my motor city homeboys the MC5. 5 stars.

KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERFUCKERS PREFS: TOUT MOINS PREF: RIEN

Let's be honest with ourselves, live albums are a bit shit, that's just a fact. Capturing the magic of a great band live is nigh on impossible. So if this truth is held to be self evident and Kick Out The Jams is this good, MC5 must have been an absolute force of nature to see live in person. This is everything that is good about rock n' roll - heavy, high energy, raw, intelligent, super cool, sleazy, punky, bluesy - all the good adjectives. So effortlessly iconic that they have the dubious honour of having their logo worn by teenager influencers who wouldn't know a white panther if it jumped up and bit a hole in their $100 t-shirt. KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHER FUCKER!!!

First time listening to MC5, and Iv had this on repeat all day. This is one of the best live albums Iv ever heard. Brilliant and can see the influence this band had on punk music that was to follow. The mix of blues and garage rock and the raw aggression and high energy makes it a five star album in my book.

Fantastic album one of the best live albums of all time - Raw true insperaters love this album

Great performance, great songs!

I'd heard this before, thanks to The KLF and Primal Scream. It really is phenomenal, lightning in a jar energy. Wish I'd been there, dude.

So much fun

chaotic, rebellious energy, motherfuckers!

Great album

One of the all-time great live records. Definitely a favorite of mine.

I WANNA SEE SOME REVOLUTION

Solid. Maybe the exception to the rule re: live albums.

Nice and Noisy. Starship is perfect.

Very punk, for 1969. In some ways, harder and more radical than Jimi. I will need to listen to it a few times to get a hang of the music, but this 60s acid rock is delicious, so I'll enjoy it some more. 4/5

Må have være vildt nok at være i den første moshpit nogensinde

Aside from the Stooges, I cant think of another band from the late 60’s who influenced punk and alternative music as much as MC5. They really deliver a frenetic energy absent from their peers. “Starship” sounds like it shouldve came out 10 years later.

Great high energy rock. A good album, and worthwhile listen.

Punk's roots start here. Personal enjoyment: 4/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5

Enjoyable live album

Best Song: Kick Out the Jams. Full of energy, great vocals. I wish that they had condensed more of their other tracks to this sub 3-minute length to really concentrate the impact. Worst Song: Starship. There was no reason to take things in this unfocused, proggy direction after such a tight, punctate album. Overall: The perfect example of how to do a live album. Rather than trying to emulate a studio performance in a live setting, the goal here seems to be to provide a raw and energetic show. Music that gets in your face. Music that makes you appreciate live music. It fuckin' rips.

Sloppy, all over the place, not super coherent. In other words, the perfect way to kick off punk rock. Is it anything special musically? No. But it is fun to listen do? Absolutely yes.

the forefathers of punk. gritty, raw, and good.

Well this was awesome. Glad to have listened to this slice of Detroit music history. I like the fuck the establishment songs the best, like Motor City Is Burning, which is a song about the Detroit Riot that they adapted from John Lee Hooker. I recommend the original song too; it's blues style, with Buddy Guy on guitar, and also very good. Starship is weird in the best way.

I'm moreso amazed that music like this was made in 1969 rather than the music itself. I've never listened to this album before, but I have to imagine that it might be one of the single most influential in this list.

Hell yeah