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Steppenwolf - Monster

(Audio CD)     MSRP $ 9.98   Amazon Price $ 9.98   Savings $ 0.00
Release Date: 25 October, 1990, Mca
TRACK LISTING    
  1. Monster/Suicide/America
  2. Draft Resister
  3. Power Play
  4. Move Over
  5. Fag
  6. What Would You Do (If I Did That To You)
  7. From Here To There Eventually
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Real Rock
Do you think now " musicians" knows how to play rock? Listen to Steppenwolf and learn.
Some kind of proof amazon reviews are only by people who are already fans
22 stellar reviews of this, I am flabbergasted.

I looked this up because we were talking about it on a messageboard:

patrick posted this on Aug 25th, 2006 at 09:59:53 am
this looks and sounds ill in a conceptual way, it doesn`t sound
like Steppenwolf, right?

Peter**********IsDead posted this on Aug 25th, 2006 at 05:56:23 pm
Steppenwolf have a few bangers, c`mon

and one of the best LP covers ever -
[IMAGE]

i cant find a good size pic of it but if you own it you know
PERFECT 70s dirtbag vibe on the cover

the_real_***** posted this on Aug 25th, 2006 at 07:11:16 pm
that Steppenwolf-Monster LP has songs called Fag, Monster and Suicide, has the best cover art ever and it still totally sucks.

Negative*** posted this on Aug 25th, 2006 at 07:56:21 pm
I was all stoked when I picked up monster at a garage sale. I owned it for less then 3 hours before I put it in the trash. The cover is GREAT though.

youth****** posted this on Aug 25th, 2006 at 09:18:05 pm
Those song titles (Steppenwolf) are incredible beyond belief.


diffrn`t strokes I guess
But she just patiently smiled and then bore them a child
This is quite simply another classic in a long line of classic Steppenwolf albums. The track `a) Monster b) Suicide c) America` is perhaps their most ambitious recording, and it succeeds on all levels, becoming an anthem of America in a way, that conjures up associations to Walt Whitman and others. The first part, `Monster`, is just brilliant music with a lyric, that shows Steppenwolf as more poetic, than they usually are. `Suicide` is darker, terrifying, and delivered full of delicious hard guitar. And then comes the angelic ending of `America`, which manages to be overblown, without this being anything but another boost to its greatness.

`Draft Resister` follows in the vein of the first track`s greatness. It is dark, gloomy hard rock, notable for the same abundance of great melodies, that was shown on the first track (one feels, that these two first songs possess magic enough to fill a whole album with moderate songs, had that been necessary, but instead it`s just these two, overflowing with melody and hard rock!)
`Power Play` is almost as strong as `Draft Resister`, that is, quality doesn`t fall, but neither does it rise. All what was said of good things about `Draft Resister`, however, can also be said about `Power Play`.
`Move Over` is just magnificent, with its formidable start and right-between-psychedelia-and-disco sounds (meant in a good way). Ought to have joined `Born To Be Wild` and `Magic Carpet Ride` in the US Top 3.
`Fag` is far less spectacular than the other songs, not in itself a bad song, just not as delightfully imbued with the overflowing exuberance of the earlier tracks. The least interesting track, it is still good enough, and it doesn`t spoil any of the experience. If you listen to the album from beginning to end, it`s not like you get bored here and stop the album, it is just not a highlight like the others.
`What Would You Do (If I Did That To You)` is quite simply an awesome rock song, an underrated Steppenwolf-gem, as dark & gloomy as `Draft Resister`, and at the same time as light as `Move Over`. All these traits are duplicated in the last song, `From Here To There Eventually`, which is almost as good, a bit slower and more epic.

All in all, this is an outstanding album. It gets 4 stars out of 5, because the melancholia of the mood doesn`t change enough through the album, making it somewhat depressive to listen to several times. It`s not like I don`t love dark albums, but, like the case of Joy Division`s outings, they can just become too much, and I prefer things like Suede or David Bowie, where more upbeat tracks rescue you now and then, before you plunge even deeper into the dark night of the soul. `Monster` has more of these upbeat tracks, than for example Joy Division, but the still retain the feeling of emptiness, which fills the entire album (it`s on purpose, Steppenwolf has done a masterful job capturing this feeling). But where Bowie`s songs are like dark worlds, this is a dark void, and though it is just as brilliant, it is harder to listen to....

Ok, I`ll change it to 5 stars, one can`t blame them for making an album that captures emptiness... that doesn`t make the art less magical...
-- zzzz




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