Powerman 5000 - Transform

If I told you I liked this album would you respect me less? Maybe you pre-judged the band based on what you have previously heard from them, or perhaps you heard their fist single off of Transform, “Free” and just didn’t dig it. Either way, I think you would be surprised how much the band has changed since their last album, and how damn catchy the new songs are. Ok, brief history of the last 3 years for the band. After spending some time working on the follow-up to their successful Tonight the Stars Revolt, Powerman 5000 completed what was to be their next release. However, two weeks before it’s official release, the band pulled it from the shelves, got rid of two members, and decided to start over. They then recorded an entire new album minus their trademark space man image and synth heavy mixes. That brings us to Transform, and album in which the band replaced the superficial image and gimmicks with a little more honesty and a lot more rock. Some people may not buy into the new “image” and think it is just another marketing scheme, but I believe there is something really worthwhile here. I do think that critics of the album will undoubtedly point out that the band isn’t really doing anything amazing musically here, and I agree completely. It appears that the band is comfortable with just writing catchy rock songs and leaving it at that. But is there really anything wrong with that? Did you really expect Powerman 5000 to ever blow you away? Not really, and thus I am satisfied with an album full of solid rock songs with catchy choruses and nice grooves. I guess the key is to not expect too much in the first place and you won’t be let down. I don’t think I would be doing the review justice if I failed to mention the extremely awkward “That’s Entertainment”, which is really stands out as a sore spot on the album. It has a Marilyn Manson / Videodrone feel to it, that just doesn’t really fit here. However, beyond that one track, the rest of Transform manages to keep me interested and I think if you give it a chance it might just work for you too. [www.powerman5000.com]