WAYNE KRAMER
The Hard Stuff+
(MuscleTone)
Guitarist/songwriter Wayne Kramer has his place in rock history assured as a member of the legendary Detroit combo the MC5. While that legacy is one of which he's justifiably proud—not every musician can claim to have been a key member of such an influential band—it tends to overshadow his unfairly overlooked solo career. After many years in the wilderness due to drug problems, jail time, anonymity and failed collaborations (see Gang War, his aborted early 80s combo with Johnny Thunders—or better yet, don't), Kramer hooked up with the good folks at indie label Epitaph in the 90s for a short series of terrific albums that proved the man's music every bit as vital in the present as it was back in the day. Then Epitaph inexplicably let the albums fall out of print. Fortunately, Kramer has since set up his own label MuscleTone ("Rock music for grown-ups") and has set about reissuing his solo catalog.

Originally released in 1995, The Hard Stuff+ was not Kramer's first record under his own name (that would be the obscure Death Tongue, due for reissue later this year), but it was the first to have any kind of high profile. Justifiably so—it may be the best rock & roll record of the past decade. Kramer performs like a man with something to prove. Every flaming Stratocaster lick, gritty vocal and snarling riff testifies that this is a musician at the peak of his game, not a relic from another time. He sings in a passionate, soulful bark that pays homage to his late bandmate Rob Tyner (one of the greatest rock singers ever) and strangles his six strings like they'll escape off the fretboard if he doesn't hold them in place. The young turks backing him up (including members of Clawhammer, Bad Religion, Pennywise and the Melvins) rise to the example set by the old man and kick out the jams like they were born to it. On the basis of sheer aural pleasure alone, The Hard Stuff+ makes mincemeat out of anything on the radio that calls itself rock.

Kramer wants more, however, than to just engage the punk kids. He's also determined to show that loud rock music can be made for adults. While every tune here rocks ferociously, with no compromise to bleeding ears or throbbing backs, he avoids the sex, drugs and rock & roll clichés that even the 5 indulged in lyrically. Instead Kramer takes a look around his home base of Los Angeles and puts the hard living to music. Songs like "Pillar of Fire," "Hope For Sale" ("Those seals on TV ain't really crying/They accept that they were born to die") and "Bad Seed" delineate the grim realities of life on the street, where the only light in the darkness comes from a hard guitar riff. It's a darkness he knows about personally as well, as he details in "Junkie Romance" and a faithful remake of the 5's "Poison." He summarizes the message of his music in the opening track, as, aided by a classic power rock riff, he tells of poor souls slipping through the "Crack in the Universe," a song every bit the equal of anything he did with the 5.

Not everything is quite as street-dark, however. He also finds time to reminisce about the old days, connecting the revolutionary impulses of his youth to the political fires of the present in "Edge of the Switchblade" and finds time for some fashion appreciation in "Sharkskin Suit." He also contributes two jazzy spoken word pieces that stand out starkly from anything he's previously done: "Incident at Stock Island," a (true?) story of ego and bad blood, and "So Long, Hank," a tribute to the late Charles Bukowski. As if all this wasn't enough, this version of the album includes three bonus tracks: a raw, pulse-racing take on "God's Worst Nightmare" (later re-recorded and released on Dangerous Madness), a party-hearty-you-idiots anthem called "'Til the Police Come" and another trip through inner city hell entitled "Back to the Wasteland." Add on two CD-ROM videos (for "Crack in the Universe" and "Junkie Romance") and a fresh set of liner notes by Kramer himself detailing the making of the record, and you have a genuinely improved version of what was already a classic album. The Hard Stuff+ is timeless American rock & roll. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the BellRays, Rollins Band, Bob Mould