Kick Out The Jams (Live)

As live albums go it was ok. Got duped into believing the mc5 were the bees knees when I was younger so I've listened to this before. Nowhere near as revolutionary as I'd been led to believe.

Helen Mirren in a thong gyrating up against Usain Bolt. The waiter cries "that's not how you tie a bow tie". Paul McCartney eats a large cream cake with his hands and laughs.

AND IT'S LIVE!!!!

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!!!

(The drummer aside) a triumph of enthusiasm over ability. But that’s what rock and roll should be about, no?

Bit more my speed. Decent album, nothing really stands out though, kinda jammy. My favorites were Dreamer and Asylum, and tge sax man going HAM on Crime of the Century. Probably won’t be in my regular rotation though.

2/5

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.

I think they're angry

I've never heard of MC5 but I seem to be in some kind of rut with generator, with all my albums being from the same few years all weel. All I can tell from the cover is that the band is white and aggressively American and probably somewhat chaotic. I don't know what MC5 stands for but I do like the name of the album "Kick out the Jams". Getting started listening this music mostly comes across as energetic noise? Quite distinct from the Hendrix, Allman Brothers, Joni Mitchell, or that godforsaken Incredible String Band I've been listening to. Ah, ok, readying about who MC5 is, I get it now, and have a framework for my brain to process these sounds. Not sure I'll put it in heavy rotation but I certainly respect that these boys clearly came to play. I can hear the roots of much music I really like, making me embarrassed not to already be familiar with MC5. That's the point of this project, I guess. 2 stars for being reasonably listenable if sloppy and an extra star for sheer effort. Did I need to hear this album before I died? Yes I think I did. (Also, Motor City 5. And I'm not sure it is fair to call someone "paunchy" when compared to Iggy Pop. Because aren't we all paunchy compared to Iggy Pop?)

This is surprisingly "punk-y" for '69. Definitely heavy-duty psychedelic hard-driving chaotic rock going on here. It's a little too much for me but I bet if I were a teen when this came out I would've enjoyed it and wanted to see them perform live. I can imagine this record was played in quite a few suburban homes in the late 60s and early 70s by teens who wanted to annoy their parents. (Side Note: at times, I swear I hear what sounds like a much messier version of Neil Young's '(Keep On) Rockin' In The Free World', which is a coincidental kind of fun.)

Pretty fun stuff. 6-7/10

I bet that was a party.

just rock n roll.. thats enough

This album is wild. I've heard of MC5 before, but didn't know their genre. They're like a punkier version of The Who's early years! Must be the US take on the sound. Appreciation, I give it a 3. Personally, 2.

An interesting listen! I learned some about early punk and MC5 today, but primarily I learned it just isn’t for me.

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.

Good solid rock. That's it.

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

This live album is indeed a grotesque riot of musical cruelty and primitivism, but also an impressive example of destructive power and music of the heart. After that you will understand why modern punk rock is nothing more than a fashion statement. (8/10) FT: Kick Out The Jams , Come Together

Great performance, great songs!

I want to rate this higher because they influenced so many bands that I love. There's a lot of energy and grit on display here BUT...it's not that great. The title track is a classic and there's a few other good songs but a lot of it just doesn't hold up. Other people took inspiration from them and improved on it greatly. I'm very grateful that MC5 existed but they might be my least favorite of the proto-punk bands. 2 stars for the album add another for the path they paved.

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.

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.

Rocks pretty hard.

I liked the songs but really not a fan of live albums. That said, this one is better than most. It really captures their energy and made me wish I was at the concert.

I can see that this is an influential early punk project, and the live aspect does help increase the energy. However, the whole thing is poorly put together; even the mixing is just plain terrible on some tracks

jimi hendrix but punk

Cool album. Wasn't familiar with this band but will probably listen to them again.

I get this even though it’s not particularly my style. I won’t listen again.

Punk rock band MC5's debut album 'Kick Out The Jams' is a live album recorded over two nights - including Halloween - in Detroit in 1968. This album is a forerunner to punk rock, because at the time there was no such genre and the band's music was considered hard rock or garage rock. At release the album was commercially popular, but critically seen as a flop. The music was considered only to be a passing phase of rock and was reviewed as such. The band were troublemakers and this also caused problems for the record company at release. Now, this album is held in high regard for starting punk rock and being an energetic live album. Every time you listen to this album, you are being transported back to Detroit in the late 1960's to listen to a band "kick out the jams" with their "new-fangled rock".

Run-of-the-mill late 60's rock, complete with pretentious lyrics, calls for a 'revolution' and out-of-tune instruments. Not totally awful, but boring. 2/5

Fun and interesting listen. The rawness and high energy carried this one for me as this would have been a groundbreaking show to see back in the late 1960's. The vocals reminded me of Gene Simmons from the early KISS albums (pre-Destroyer), and I got a lot of Clash-vibes as well which means they might have been a big influence on the punk genre (could they have possibly been the first punk band?). I can see the innovation that probably earned them a spot on this list -- the performance is wild and very experimental for its time, especially on the last track Starship; however I found some parts sloppy and that most of the album wasn't very memorable after it was over. I also am still against the idea of including live albums on this list in general as it is not as impressive to put your already proven songs or covers together to create a collection of songs. While I got some enjoyment out of this one, I probably would not come back to it. I'll give it above average due to its significance, but not by much. 3/5. NOTE: I did some additional research, and it turns out that this is actually their debut album. Very interesting choice to introduce yourself to the world through a live performance, but it makes sense to me as they probably felt they couldn't replicate their sound in a studio. This makes it a bit better than a standard live album, but I am keeping my score the same as it still didn't stand out a ton to me.

Classic first wave of rock

I had never heard of this band before. There were a couple of songs that were good but there were some weird ones. A live album didn't help it.

Horribly produced, you can barely tell what’s going on. The band playing noise doesn’t help.

Messy and raw, bad mixing, not awful but also not good

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

So much fun

Honestly, this is just a fun album. It's innovative in certain ways, of its time in others, but it seems like this would have been a fucking awesome concert to go to. Just constant wailing guitars and rock 'n roll yelling 4/5

chaotic, rebellious energy, motherfuckers!

Disappointing

The energy is there, but without much representation in the mids it’s hard to distinguish one track from another in a live environment.

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.

Would never have guessed this was from the 60's. I liked it

хороший альбом

Kick out the jams mother fu———

September 14, 2021 I listened to this on bad headphones, but I wanted to like it more than I did. Maybe worth another try later since I usually like this kind of stuff more.

Hard to believe this was from the 60s. Early eary punk.

Pretty terrible chaotic American pap!

Kick out the jams is all you need to know about this record. Incendiary sloppiness that was a building block for punk rock that came a few years later. Messy greatness

I had to do a search to find the uncensored intro to the title track. With a 2021 lens, such language isn't such a big deal, but saying motherfucker in 1969 was quite racy. I initially thought the music was quite heavy for 1969 although Led Zep's 1st two albums were that year and Hendrix and The Who were also playing heavy then so they had company. While I have a distaste for heavy rock from the late 70s and later, I still enjoy heavy stuff from 69 and the early 70s. I generally think this album is well recorded for a '69 live album (comparing it to Live at Leeds for example) but the production seems to fail badly e.g. I assume the guitar solo at the end of Rocket Producer wasn't supposed to sound that kerfuffled. Also, the mixing makes the lead guitar a wrecking ball. I guess having the vocals being overpowered is OK since the guy can't sing that well and we wouldn't be able to understand what he was saying anyway. The one track where we can understand the lyrics is Motor City is Burning since the verses are played like a ballad so we can hear the lyrics. I expect this was intentional since it's the song that delivers an important political message. It is historically significant to hear the music that defined the protest movements at that time. I haven't been in Detroit for a while but the downtown area remained gutted for at least 25 years (+?) after the race riots hat are the topic of Motor City. I'm not entirely convinced this album was influential for the punk movement - the lineage to The Who is more obvious - but I will defer to the experts who see the link. These two points deserve a +1 but I'm not feeling generous enough to give the race riot connection and punk influence each a +1.

I know this gets credited as being one of the first punk albums, but it's pretty hard to listen to. Sloppy, bad production, and the song endings go on forever. There's good attitude and some decent songs underneath it all but as my co-judge deftly pointed out, the fact that it's a live recording makes it sound even more like noise.

Most of this sounds pretty much the same and the production values are really rough, much like the group and the music so I guess that's fitting. I'll boost this up by one star given its influence on the punk genre, but this isn't something that I'll seek out in the future.

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

Meh

A seminal live album from a rock innovator for hard rock and punk. MC5 is showing off their merits and impact in this album which shows the speed and frenzy they brought to the mainstream.

2/5 nope, way to metaly

I'm sure this is great for someone but it's not something I'll revisit any time soon.

de vraag is, wat heeft deze man genomen om dit bij zijn top albums te zetten? I don't feel it

1,5 Ik denk vroeger goed maar het aged gewoon echt niet wel, rommelig en Wild vind ik het.

was niet slecht maar ook niets speciaal

Rockin’ Live

Really underwhelmed the first time I listened and had the same dull play through this time as well

Don't dig it

It's raw. It'll push you to start a garage band and scream into your mic. The first two tracks are amazing. And after that it's constant jamming. That being said, I felt it's main appeal was it's massive influence to garage rock and proto-punk. I felt it was one of the weaker punk albums I've listened to. Although I'd love to rock to the later songs, they were largely forgettable, and with each song's long length, if you're not in the right mood, it reduces to nothing more than noise rock. Overall, worth another listen if you have the right setting.

Has some pretty incredible energy, but it's not something I see myself reaching for very often.

very noisy, very screamy, was fun to read about the bands this band inspired. certainly fun loud punk.

Wow is this ahead of it's time. No wonder it's such a big influence

Not a punk fan 3/5

Great start, this is more my speed. 3of5

Not much gained out of this. Seems like a fair bit of noise.

Great album

The electric protopunk live album rocks. EPIC

Some nice loud punk rock

Terrible musicianship. At some points its just noise and gibberish. Ill leave this off my list. Past kick out the Jams , meh

Production quality leaves a lot to be desired. Seems like there's some good songs in here, but it just sounds like noise, or is too quiet most of the time.

Great live rock album

Powerful and raw live performance. I enjoyed it.

Not for me at all. 1/5 stars.

Live albums are fun. I like rock like this. I'm not good at reviews but I'm thankful for the project.

Good vibes never heard of these guys

The best thing about this album is the energy. Kick Out The Jams itself is a classic garage punk track which stands out but for the most part it melds into a haze of fuzz and feedback and impressively for a live album it captures the essence of a great show.

A blistering, frenetic cacophony of energy and excitement. What a live experience this would have been. Really enjoyed and will revisit

Can't fault their energy. Not sure of it's significance.

I don't know what they're saying.... I- Favorites: Borderline Motor City is Burning

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.

The sound of Detroit setting fire to the 60's and kicking the door open for punk to eventually rip up what became of the 70s. Takes balls for your debut album to be a live recording but it captures the incendiary nature of MC5 more than any studio would. And right now...Right now.....Right now its time to...

Mir vollends neu, aber schönes Album!

Füllt echt eine musikhistorische Lücke!

Raucous.

Undoubtedly energetic and angry in a yoof/punk style, probably fun to watch their gigs, but not pleasurable to listen at home. More in tune guitar soloing please!

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

My sort of music. Good and rocky.

noisy

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.

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

Cool album, just thought i'd like it more

Soms leuke 'jams' maar het live aspect draagt hier weinig bij

Dit is duidelijk een punk-album. 1 clipje op YT start zelf met de woorden 'the most dangerous band in America' . Muzikaal niet echt een hoogvlieger, maar wel van genoten

nah

Nice drive.

dont see anything special. was recently told they were "important" which just adds to the ball of confusion

Omdat het MC5 is, maar live-albums vind ik nooit leuk om naar te luisteren

meh

2 nummers geluisterd, maar kon het niet meer aanhoren.

Live denk ik best een goede band maar uit dit album komt dat wat mij betreft niet echt tot z'n recht. Veel energie maar ook wel erg veel een gruizige geluidsmuur.

Zaten we net in een lekkere flow, krijgen we dit!

Dumbfounded this was in the list. Shockingly bad

not worth the reputation if you ask me. It's alright and parts were really good but a lot of it is just house band fare.

meh

Was aite. Bit noisy for 9am

Rockero, enérgico, muy vital

“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

Inicios del punk.

Super boring rock

I did not "come together" on yet another live album. Maybe if I were there I'd get into it more but this is just another "look what you missed" album and it doesn't even really sound like I missed much.

Pas facile comme ecoute. Des fois il y a des bouts qui sortent du lot. Fuzz et disto sont a l’honneur, mais c’es tres punk decousu. 2.80

Nice gig, still not getting this live albums being included on the list

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

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

This was okay.

Pretty heavy 60's jams

It's easy to understand, listening to this, how they became influential in a short amount of time. Their sound is exciting, electric, captivating. My only previous exposure to this was RATM's cover of Kick Out the Jams, but I think I might be a new fan.

awesome energy. tunes meh

Another roots of punk

Wicked strong vibes. Really raw and powerful. .

j some really good not particularly unique classic noisy rock !

quite chill, nothing really stood out but good vibes throughout 3.5

Best wel lekker album met veel gitaarsolos

Punk clearly originated in Detroit with the MC5 & The Stooges. Not usually a huge fan of live albums but I think it works well here to capture their raw energy. Quite soulful to boot which most of the punk that came later lacked (except The Clash). Disappointed Spotify has the edited version of the song "Kick out the Jams" here on this album - go listen to the real deal with the proper intro on one of the many compilations in their discography. It's only a matter of seconds but it makes a huge difference.

That first track is very RCE. I love it. Honestly this whole thing makes me miss live shows, I can't wait for their return. First 3 songs are very nice. The following songs aren't as good except for Motor City is Burning and Starship is.. I'm not sure, pretty indulgent but of 1969 probably way more novel. I think I like proto-punk. This could come out this year and I'd believe it.

An unenjoyable live album. 2.5.

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.

Without having a background info, I really didn't enjoy this or the band. But after reading about the importance of the band and some of their songs, I can see why it was included in the 1001. MC5 was one of the first punk bands ever, being around in the 60s. They were also extremely influential in counter culture and provided an outlet for some of the things that were happening in the US at the time, especially Detroit. I need to go listen to their later album to see how their sound changed over their short run

A fun garage/punk band that has RATM vibes. Will listen to again

2.9

The title track’s a total banger, but past that? Eh.

I WANNA SEE SOME REVOLUTION

+

MC5 kicks ass.

Fucking awesome

Var nära en etta.

Boring

another live album? i don't really like live albums but let's give this one a whirl post listen: no

It's on the list for its importance in defining punk and for defying censors, but when you listen to it, it's kind of just a pretty good live album. I put the title track on my playlist, but beyond that, I doubt I'll think of this album again. Best track: Kick Out The Jams

not my style

First punk record? Definitely at least proto-punk here. Very good, top-to-bottom, with lots of raw energy throughout. Not something I would probably listen to a whole bunch, but enjoyable. Spotify edits out the famous opening for some reason.

I love kick out the jams (the track) but as an album this is a little too 60's for me

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

Noisy world changing rock n roll

Några sköna låtar. Proto punk och säkert skitcoolt när albumet släpptes i slutet på 60-talet. Men det står sig svagt mot t.ex Stooges.