Powerman 5000 digs into the one of the more promising but apparently forgotten musical hybrid genres of the '90s -- the marriage of
heavy metal, spastic
funk, and hard, heavy
rap. Like other music of this type (such as, in very different ways,
Biohazard,
Anthrax -- who once recorded with
Public Enemy -- and
Primus),
Mega!! Kung Fu Radio is hard to explain and to describe. Essentially a turbo recharge of
PM5K's 1995 full-length release,
The Blood Splat Rating System (which merely won Best Metal Album, Best Rap Album, and Album of the Year in a reader's poll in their hometown of Boston), remixed and remastered and with two new songs,
Mega!! Kung Fu Radio isn't a true
rock & roll album, but it rocks hard. It isn't exactly a
rap album, either, though lead singer
Spider doesn't sing one single lyric, instead barking out the lyrics in a hard staccato delivery. Using the hallmarks of
hard rock,
funk and
rap styles,
PM5K creates a new, huge, violent sound, blurs of motion, and high-impact collisions in titles such as
"20 Miles to Texas, 25 to Hell" and
"A Swim with the Sharks." ~ Chris Slawecki
