4.09.2010

MC5 - Babes in arms




Wayne Kramer assembled this collection of 15 rare MC5 tracks, and while trying to cover the career of a band who helped give birth to punk rock AND made it onto Spiro Agnew's enemies list might seem like a near-impossible task in less than an hour, Babes in Arms does a pretty respectable job of capturing what the MC5 were all about in one convenient package. Most of the cuts on Babes in Arms are alternate versions of songs from the band's three studio albums, but while the most of the tracks appear in variant mixes or longer edits, the differences are minimal enough that they can pass for the originals in a pinch (one crucial exception: a great acoustic version of Fred "Sonic" Smith's "Shakin' Street"), making Babes in Arms a solid "Best of the MC5" collection. Even more importantly, the set also includes several excellent and hard to find early single sides, including the amusing garage-protest nugget "One of the Guys" and a primal, in-the-red rave-up on "Looking at You" that leaves the version on Back in the U.S.A. in the dust. The one previously unreleased song, "Gold," is an unfocused jam that doesn't really go anywhere, and the sound quality of the source materials isn't all that hot (especially on the CD version), but otherwise Babes in Arms is a howling, furious blast of what made the MC5 one of the finest (and most dangerous) American rock bands of the 1960s. Crank it up loud -- the guys would want it that way.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice! Can't wait for the download link.

Thanks a lot for your effort to spread garage rock!

The Bomber said...

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=70H7H0Q0
passw: mza-garage.blogspot.com

Dan_invader said...

Yo tengo este disco en su primera version CD con una portada diferente (en naranja). ¡Gran disco y gran blog! Un saludo macanudo.

Dr. Funkenstein said...

Awesome, thanks a lot!!

the Yellow Label Tea said...

Hey!! great blog... I'm looking for "The Arrival of the eyes" and I can't find it anywhere... do you have it by any chance? I'd really appreciate it if you post it.
Thanks for all the music you've already posted.
Cheers

Zeno said...

Love this band :) Give me more :D Thank You.

Anonymous said...

far out man... thanx

martin41smith said...

this is what we want, thanx man superb stuff

Anonymous said...

A great comp - Thank you.

Unknown said...


A licensed Loan Lender, We offer Affordable Loan at 3% interest rate available for local and international borrowers, Are you seriously interested in getting a genuine Loan without stress? Do you need this Loan for business and to clear your bills? Then send us an email now for more details via:majidvijahlending@gmail.com


LOAN APPLICATION FORM.

(1)Full Name:
(2)Country:
(3)State:
(4)Address:
(5)Sex:
(6)Occupation:
(7)Amount needed:
(8)Loan duration:
(9)Loan purpose:
(10)Telephone

Email Us:(majidvijahlending@gmail.com)