#tim cronin

Monster Magnet: Powertrip (1998)

20 years ago, I was criss-crossing the upper Midwest on tour with Monster Magnet (and Megadeth and Sevendust), coordinating radio station visits, watching Dave Wyndorf and his retro-rocking goblins “take it out on the slaves,” and recruiting strippers to join the band on stage each night.

Said my boss at the time, “He may never come back!”

But I did come back, eventually, lugging with me lasting of memories, some fantastic concert photos (*), this autographed LP (which I now deeply regret framing), and an enduring hard-on for Powertrip -- one of those rare heavy rock LPs that is both a band’s best-seller and best effort (even if by a hair).

But Powertrip really checked off every box, topping Billboard’s influential Heatseekers Chart and Kerrang! magazine’s Album of the Year poll, earning gold status in the U.S. (making it the best-selling stoner rock album of all time), and spawning the group’s signature hit, “Space Lord.”

“I lost my soul when I fell to earth, My planets call me to the void of my birth. The time has come for me to kill this game, Now open wide and say my name ... SPACE LORD MOTHERFUCKER!” (**)

Indeed, though I love Spine of God, Superjudge and Dopes to Infinity just as much, in their own ways, Powertrip encapsulated everything that was great about Monster Magnet’s retro-rock revival via the spacey “Crop Circle,” the colossal groove of “Bummer,” and the psychedelic “3rd Eye Landslide.”

There's even a ready-made hammer horror soundtrack in “Goliath and the Vampires,” satanic surf rock in “19 Witches,” and numerous riff-mongous delicacies in the title cut, “Temple of Your Dreams” and a remade “Tractor” (originally recorded for the band’s eponymous Glitterhouse EP).

And one more thing about that ‘98 tour: the best part was Magnet opening every show with my personal favorite Powertrip song, the underrated classic “Atomic Clock.”

So, I may be a little biased for several obvious personal reasons, but in a discography packed with risk-taking LPs, I think that, when all is said and done, Powertrip remains Monster Magnet’s most undeniable statement.

* That’s a ton of Missouri dust kicked up by the moshing crowd you see overhead.

** True story, the band overdubbed the second “mother” knowing they would never get on the radio without it, but listen closely and you’ll hear the “fucker” slowly emerging later in the song.