Album Review: MC5 – Heavy Lifting

Detroit’s highly anticipated and celebrated punk rock album, five decades in the making

There’s no denying that MC5 — the Motor City Five — paved the way for American punk rock and even spearheaded heavy metal, reimagining music. Their debut album, Kick Out the Jams, premiered in 1969 before the band ultimately disbanded in 1972. Now, MC5 is back with Heavy Lifting, despite the emotional turmoil of 2024. The band’s last founding members — Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson — passed away earlier in the year. But MC5 has been rightfully immortalized and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making Heavy Lifting much more poignant and something to revere, especially since the band hasn’t had an album in over 53 years.

The album’s title track, “Heavy Lifting,” featuring Tom Morello, embodies the best of classic punk rock and immediately reminds listeners that MC5 never misses a beat. The album is a perfect culmination of MC5’s exploratory sounds, the punk rock/heavy metal pioneers delivering an unshakable performance. Suffice it to say that each song is infectious, fun, and exactly what fans expect of MC5. “Barbarians at the Gate” is as dynamic as it is punchy and emotive, each instrument perfectly in sync and intrinsically MC5. “Change, No Change” has all the classic elements expected of a band that’s seduced and inspired listeners for more than five decades; this coveted album is rightfully celebrated and highly anticipated. Psychedicd undertones play gracefully against thought-provoking (and often harrowing) lyrics that make Heavy Lifting the triumph it’s hailed as.

Heavy Lifting unfurls one note at a time, each track taking listeners on a journey across time and space to a day and age when MC5 was just beginning to pave the way for a completely new — and revolutionary — wave of music. Five decades refused to silence what MC5 has to offer, and Heavy Lifting is a testament to this band’s lasting effect on music history.