Heavy Lifting
{{about||the 2023 album|Amanda Marshall|the Carly Rae Jepsen song|Tug of War (Carly Rae Jepsen album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Heavy Lifting
| type = studio
| artist = MC5
| cover = HeavyLiftingMC5.jpeg
| alt =
| released = October 18, 2024
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Hard rock
| length = 45:19
| label = earMUSIC
| producer = Bob Ezrin
| prev_title = Total Assault
| prev_year = 2018
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
Heavy Lifting is the third and final studio album (fourth album overall) by the American rock band MC5, released on October 18, 2024.{{cite web|last=Deming|first=Mark|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/heavy-lifting-mw0004306433|title=Heavy Lifting – MC5|website=AllMusic|accessdate=October 30, 2024}} It is the band's first studio release since 1971's High Time.{{cite web|last=Gallucci|first=Michael|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mc5-heavy-lifting-album-review/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral|title=MC5, 'Heavy Lifting': Album Review|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|accessdate=October 31, 2024}}
Background
In March 2022, guitarist Wayne Kramer announced that a new MC5 album would be released later in the year, along with a U.S. tour under the name We Are All MC5.{{cite web|last=Minsker|first=Evan|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mc5-announce-first-new-album-in-51-years-and-us-tour/|title=MC5 Announce First New Album in 51 Years and U.S. Tour|website=Pitchfork|accessdate=November 6, 2024}} He later confirmed that the album would be released in Spring 2024.{{cite web|last=Brannigan|first=Paul|url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/mc5-slash-tom-morello-william-duvall-vernon-reid|title="The record is a guitar extravaganza": Heavy Liting, the first MC5 album since 1971, will feature Slash, Tom Morello, Alice In Chains' William DuVall, Vernon Reid, and more|website=Louder Sound|accessdate=January 18, 2025}} Kramer passed away in February 2024 from pancreatic cancer, as the album was nearing completion.{{cite web|last=Howie|first=Guy|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/is-the-new-mc5-album-still-happening/|title=Is the new MC5 album still happening?|website=Far Out|accessdate=January 18, 2025}} Kramer enlisted a battalion of friends (including MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson) to deliver the MC5’s last album.{{cite web|last=Perry|first=Andrew|url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/new-music/mc5-heavy-lifting-review/|title=MC5 Heavy Lifting Review: Spirited valedictory offering from the late Wayne Kramer|website=Mojo|accessdate=October 31, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://newnoisemagazine.com/reviews/album-review-mc5-heavy-lifting/#google_vignette|title=Album Review: MC5 – Heavy Lifting|website=New Noise Magazine|accessdate=November 2, 2024}}{{cite web|url=http://devilsgatemusic.co.uk/review-mc5-heavy-lifting/|title=REVIEW: MC5 – HEAVY LIFTING|website=Devils Gate Music|accessdate=November 3, 2024}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_lyrics = Wayne Kramer and Brad Brooks; except for "The Edge of the Switchblade", written by Wayne Kramer; "Twenty-Five Miles", written by Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, and Edwin Starr; and "Blind Eye", written by Wayne Kramer, Brad Brooks, Bob Ezrin, and Jill Sobule.{{cite web|last=Wray|first=Daniel|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20241017-how-revolutionary-band-mc5-soundtracked-us-counterculture|title='They were the real essence of rock 'n' roll': How revolutionary band MC5 soundtracked US counterculture|website=BBC|accessdate=November 6, 2024}}
| headline = Heavy Lifting track listing
| title1 = Heavy Lifting (feat. Tom Morello)
| length1 = 3:20
| title2 = Barbarians at the Gate
| length2 = 4:18
| title3 = Change, No Change
| length3 = 4:03
| title4 = The Edge of the Switchblade (feat. William DuVall & Slash)
| length4 = 4:16
| title5 = Black Boots (feat. Tim McIlrath)
| length5 = 2:53
| title6 = I Am the Fun (The Phoney)
| length6 = 3:35
| title7 = Twenty-Five Miles
| length7 = 3:53
| title8 = Because of Your Car
| length8 = 3:02
| title9 = Boys Who Play with Matches
| length9 = 3:10
| title10 = Blind Eye (feat. Dennis Thompson)
| length10 = 3:16
| title11 = Can’t Be Found (feat. Vernon Reid & Dennis Thompson)
| length11 = 3:48
| title12 = Blessed Release
| length12 = 3:03
| title13 = Hit It Hard (feat. Joe Berry)
| length13 = 2:42
}}
Personnel
= MC5 =
- Wayne Kramer – performance, horn arrangements
- Brad Brooks – performance
- Don Was – performance
- Vicki Randle – performance
- Abe Laboriel Jr. – performance
- Winston A. Watson Jr. – performance
- Stevie Salas – performance
= Additional contributors =
- Bob Ezrin – production, mixing
- Robert Vosgien – mastering
- Dave Way – engineering
- Nicole Schmidt – engineering
- Julian Shank – engineering
- Kyle Stephens – engineering
- Luke Reynolds – engineering
- Ryan "Toby" Hyland – engineering
- Matt Binder – engineering
- Jerry Becker – vocal recording on "Barbarians at the Gate" and "Hit It Hard"
- Everett Brooks – shouting on "I Am the Fun (The Phoney)"
- Severine Brooks – shouting on "I Am the Fun (The Phoney)"
- Joe Berry – horn arrangements
- Jason Federici – photography, graphic design
- Jim Newberry – Wayne Kramer portrait photography
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|type=album|3629757|name=Heavy Lifting}}
{{MC5}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heavy Lifting (MC5 Album)}}