Dedicato alla memoria di alcuni pilastri del suono di Detroit quali Fred "Sonic" Smith, Rob Tyner e Dave Alexander, l'album � una robusta scorribanda nel passato della 'citt� dei motori' ed insieme un ponte sonoro che conduce direttamente ai nostri giorni. Scorre la linfa vitale del rock'n'roll pi� crudo e sanguigno in questi solchi, dai classici 'revisited' degli MC5 - "City Slang", "Future/Now", "Over & Over" - passando per i Radio Birdman di "I.94" attraverso uno stupendo remake di "The harder they come" di Jimmy Cliff, per finire con una grezza gemma, "I got a right", firmata Iggy Pop/ James Williamson. Un sound coinvolgente che caratterizza pure gli episodi originali "Citizen of time", "Fire comin'", "100 Fools" e soprattutto la dinamitarda "Better than that". La leggenda della Motor City pu� continuare...

ROBERTO CALABRO'

It's dedicated to the memory of "Detroit musicians" Rob Tyner (MC5), Fred Sonic Smith (MC5, Sonic's Rendezvous Band) and Dave Alexander (Stooges), so it's not hard to guess what kind of music is going to be on it. The real question is, 'Is it going to be any good?'

The answer is a resounding 'Hell YES!'.
It kicks off with a raucous reading of Sonic's 'City Slang', a crystalline rendition that kicks hard. You can really hear the guitar interplay between Kramer and Tek, which is a hell of a lot more powerful than lack of distortion might indicate.

Iggy Pop-ish vocalist Scott Morgan - formerly of Sonic's Rendezvous Band - really lets loose, and we're off to a flying start. A ska-flavoured version of Tek's '1.94' (which dates back to the pre-Birdman days of TV Jones) sounds more relevant than any of the young crop of punk/reggae synthesists.

An impassioned reading of the MC5's 'Future/Now' reminds you of just how powerful - morally and musically - that band used to be.
'Fire Comin', a new Tek song written with this album's bassist (from Wayne Kramer's current band), Paul Ill, is all twisted, staccato guitars and spoken word with a howling chorus - lyrically a kind of 'New Race' proposition about the overturning of the old world order.

Kramer gives a devastating rendition of Jimmy Cliff's 'The Harder They Come', giving the song's melody lines even more power and definition with a heavy treatment. 'Better Than That' is a Kramer/Tek co-write that sounds a little too safe for my liking - I just can't hear the energy meters peaking. Those meters do more than peak on the Stooges' 'I Got A Right' - they explode.

This album was made for the sake of collaboration, and as a tribute to dead friends and heroes. It succeeds brilliantly.

But it does more than just succeed on those terms - it's a great record in and of itself, whether you give a damn about who's involved or not. Rock'n'roll - Detroit or otherwise - rarely sounds this powerful.

Simon McKenzie