Monster magnet

1989-1995

The first line-up of Monster Magnet brought together fellow countrymen of the band's founder Dave Weindorf: vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBein, bassist Joe Callandra and drummer John Kleiman. In 1989, the team recorded two tapes: Forget About Life, I'm High on Dope and I'm Stoned, What Ya Gonna Do About It? . The band's first official release was the single Lizard Johnny / Freakshop USA released by Circuit Records in Long Island . Promotion in the big show business, the newly created group began with the release of their debut EP Monster Magnet , which included six tracks and was published on the German record label Glitterhouse Records . Although during the rehearsals he was the soloist in the Cronin group, when it came to recording, Weindorf recorded all the vocals. The mini-album included songs “Snake Dance” and “Nod Scene”, which later appeared in Spine of God , and “Tractor”, which was re-released for Powertrip .

In 1990, the band signed with Caroline Records, and then released the song "Murder / Tractor". Soon, Monster Magnet left vocalist Tim Cronin. In 1991, the guys released their first album, Spine of God . The album was a typical incarnation of the stoner , and is located in 28th place in the "Top 50 of All Time" Heavy Planet . The album includes the song “Medicine” (which will be released 10 years later in God Says No ), which is the band’s first music video. One reviewer called Spine of God "a metal album for those who hate metal albums."

Particularly interesting instrumental rock jams recreating the image of interplanetary flights were combined in the mini-album Tab ... 25 , which was recorded before and released after Spine of God . This latest release from Caroline Records is the culmination of a Monster Magnet experiment with psychedelia and space rock .

The tour, along with the outgoing Soundgarden, attracted the attention of A&M Records major bosses to the team. When there were only a few days left before signing the contract, Weindorf seriously quarreled with guitarist McBain, who was replaced by guitarist Ed Mandell from Atomic Bitchwax . Despite a last-minute line-up change, the new 1993 Superjudge album was a great debut on the major label. On this fairly strong record, the band preferred crisper, more muscular guitar riffs. Unfortunately, the image of retro rockers by the mid-90s seemed already quite outdated and unfashionable: in the days of the post-Nirvana alternative boom, retro rock was of no interest to anyone. As a result, LP Superjudge sold rather sluggishly. Two songs “Twin Earth” and “Face Down” were released as singles (accompanied by videos), but even this did not really help make the album more commercial.

1995-2003

Experiencing tremendous pressure from record bosses that required more tangible material returns, in 1995 the musicians recorded Dopes To Infinity , which was dominated by space rock . The album included the rock hit "Negasonic Teenage Warhead", which rose to the Top 20 of the rock chart and won through a music video that was regularly played on MTV . Dopes to Infinity was the first release in the biography of Monster Magnet , which appeared in the American Heatseekers rating under # 22. The label's expectations began to come true, but the group expected more success. In a promotion tour in support of the album, the warming up teams replaced one another, one of the most interesting was the COC group. Despite the rather successful tour and all the promotion efforts, the disc was not particularly popular, only slightly surpassing its predecessor.

Tired of studio work, and especially of intense touring, Dave Weindorf took a time out and went to Las Vegas to think alone on new material.

His condition was not the best, “as if I had returned from the war,” says the musician. For six months he could only ride a motorcycle, read old comics and feed squirrels. When inspiration came, he wrote what is called binge - a song a day. As a result, released in 1998, the new Powertrip long play made a real breakthrough, taking Monster Magnet's career to a new round. It was the most purebred hard rock album of the group for their entire career. And the most successful in a commercial sense. He led the Heatseekers rating and was featured in the first hundred hits of Billboard in 97th place. The material Powertrip reflected many vices of the modern world - greed, debauchery, cruelty. In this case, as Weindorf notes, he tried to return to the music such an almost forgotten thing as a joke. The first single, “Space Lord”, began its winning streak on the air in the summer of 98, followed by “Powertrip”, “Temple of Your Dreams” and “See You In Hell”, which, of course, pushed Powertrip to a half-million circulation. In general, the album was a breakthrough, and for the first time in its career, Monster Magnet earned the title of “golden record”.

With the new rhythm guitarist Phil Caivano, Monster Magnet set off on the biggest tour of their career, which lasted two years. They performed both as headliners and as the opening act for other bands - Aerosmith , Rob Zombie , Metallica , Megadeth . Among the most interesting shows are performances on the same stage with Marilyn Manson . The frontman took advantage of the respite after the tour for a very unusual (as for a rocker) class: he gave a course of lectures to students at Bowling Green University, with whom he shared his thoughts on the state of modern culture and its future. In 2000, the team recorded the track "Silver Future" for the soundtrack of "Heavy Metal 2000" and completed work on their fifth album, God Says No , which was released in Europe in October. And their new American record label Interscope pulled without a good reason with the release. The main reason, as it is logical to assume, was the changed situation in the music market: against the background of the ubiquitous boy bands and cute pop princesses, the stern long-haired rockers with electric guitars looked rather ridiculous. The album was released in the States only a year later. Two rather interesting singles, “Silver Future” and “Heads Explode”, were featured in the Top 30 mainstream rock rating. But the precious first impulse was lost, and the success of the release in America was rather modest. It really was the softest, pop-oriented album in their discography, in which even synthesizers and an electronic drum machine sounded. The experimental courage of the restless Dave Weindorf this time led to dubious results. And soon after the release, Joe Calender and John Clement left the band. Billboard God Says No ranks 153rd on the list.

2003 - Present

In 2003, Monster Magnet released Greatest Hits , a double album featuring their best songs, rarities, and music videos from the A&M era. After that, the group signed a contract with the European label SPV GmbH , and already at the beginning of 2004 released Monolithic Baby! in Europe , and then in the USA . The places left the participants were taken by Jim Baglino and Michael Wildwood (the latter, after a short cooperation, was replaced by the founder of Love Among Freaks, Bob Pantella). The next chapter of Weindorfiana (as the Monster Magnet style dubbed the press) deserves all praise. Quoting an American critic,

In March 2005, Kaivano left the group due to disagreements with Weindorf, who the latter described as peaceful. Continuation of Monolithic Baby! expected in March 2006, so that the Monster Magnet European tour coincides with the re-release of Spine of God and Tab ; one way or another, the plans were not destined to come true. On February 27, 2006, the frontman received an overdose of the drugs prescribed to him.

In 2007, it was announced that Monster Magnet was releasing a new 4-Way Diablo album, which was postponed for a year due to an overdose of Weindrof. Later another hit collection was released - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Monster Magnet . After recovering, Weindrof returned to rock and roll as strong and focused as ever.

In 2008, Caivano returned to the Monster Magnet European tour.

November 24, 2009 it became known that the group has signed a new contract with Napalm Records and is going to return to the studio in January 2010 to record an album for release in the summer ^[1] . The new Mastermind album was released in October 2010. The group went on a large-scale tour in support of the new record in Europe in August, and then in November - December 2010. On the first day of the tour, that is, November 3, Ed Mandl left the group, and for a while he was replaced by Garrett Svenny ^[2] .

In the fall of 2011, the Monster Magnet was on tour, and in early 2012 the guys sat in the studio to record the sequel to Mastermind .

Significantly influenced by Monster Magnet space rock 70s, in particular Hawkwind and Captain Beyond . The group is modernizing detailed meditative jams and ultra-heavy riffs of Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer , using, in addition to space rock, the achievements of grunge and psychedelia . On the pages of music magazines you can find the most diverse characteristics of Monsters . Rolling Stone : "The Decadent Jacuzzi of Psychedelic Rock "; Entertainment Weekly : “Monstrously hallucinogenic ... Mother for those who crave maximum psychedelic overload”; New York Times : "a mind-expanding team." And here is how frontman Dave Weindorf describes the work of his group:

Studio albums

• 1991 - Spine of God
• 1993 - Superjudge
• 1995 - Dopes to Infinity
• 1998 - Powertrip
• 2000 - God Says No
• 2004 - Monolithic Baby!
• 2007 - 4-Way Diablo
• 2010 - Mastermind
• 2013 - Last Patrol
• 2014 - Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol
• 2018 - Mindfucker

Mini Albums

• 1990 - Monster Magnet
• 1991 - Tab
• 2001 - Monster Magnet