Founding member Wayne Kramer promised a few years ago that there would be a new album from MC5. 53 years after their last release, High Time, it has been announced that Heavy Lifting, their third and final album, will be released October 18 via EarMusic. The long-awaited news comes with the release of the new song, “Boys Who Play With Matches.”
The new record features guitar and vocals from Kramer who passed in February and original MC5 drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, who died in May. Special guests on the new album include Slash, Tom Morello, William DuVall (Alice in Chains), Vernon Reid (Living Colour) and Don Was. Bob Ezrin handled production on the new project.
In an interview last year, Kramer discussed the album and said: “Live long and stay creative. This is my attitude. And this album continues from where ‘High Time’ left off. In that, I think it’s an artist’s responsibility to reflect the times they’re going through. And I think that we made an album that is in sync with where we’re at today and the challenges that we’re facing, and that carries a positive message.”
The band will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
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