Monster Magnet started life way back in 1989 as a lo fi stoner rock band. While their early albums are more space rock and feature lengthy jams, by about 1995 the band had incorporated a more hard rock approach and become a bit radio friendly. After the superb Dopes To Infinity, which I thought was the perfect mixture of their early stoner sound and their arena rock aspirations ( more of that later), the follow up, Powertrip was the album that broke Monster Magnet. The title song even featured quite a bit on [v] and MTV back in the day.

With Powertrip Monster Magnet became a hard rock band. More accessible definitely but not suffering for it. The music still kicked ass. It was just catchier than ever. The opening 3 songs are superbly written American stadium anthems. Catchy riffs, big choruses and memorable vocal lines, “Crop Circle,” “Powertrip” and “Space Lord” are superb. The fun doesn’t stop there though. “Temple Of Your Dreams” has bassist Joe Calandra nailing a groovy as fuck bass line while vocalist Dave Wyndorf exhorts you to plant a bomb in the temple of your dreams. I’ve always been a fan of quirky lyrics and it rarely gets better than Monster Magnet.

Song number 5, “Bummer” is just that. A seven and a half minute heavy sludge monster that seems like a return to the old days, only better produced. The moody and contemplative “Baby Gotterdammerung” slows this down for a bit, but only for a bit.

The album ends with another set of 3 quality songs. The very stoner friendly Sabbath riff borrowing “Atomic Clock,” the layered dreamy space rock of “Goliath and The Vampires” and album closer, the acoustic “Your Lies Become You.”

With Powertrip Dave Wyndorf finally wrote the break through hit album and gained entry to the stadium rock elite. Touring with Metallica and Aerosmith, Monster Magnet were set to take over the American rock scene. Things didn’t quite work out that way but that’s a story for another day.

For now though, Powertrip is lots of fun and rocks like a motherfucker. Can’t really ask for more.

Monster Magnet – Powertrip

Label – A & M Records

Year Of Release – 1998