TEAM RNS PRESENTS

RIPPER: Team RNS

0hr 45min total- 65.7mb

RELEASE DATE: 2003-05-20
RIP DATE: 2003-03-29

01 Assess The Mess                0:34
02 Theme To A Fake Revolution     3:25

05 That's Entertainment           3:17
06 A Is For Apathy                4:16

08 Top Of The World               3:34
09 Song About Nothing             3:56
10 Stereotype                     3:48

12 Hey, That's Right!             3:58
13 The Shape Of Things To Come    3:37

Here's their second attempt at
releasing a new cd.  Their previous
attempt "Anyone For Doomsday?" got
cancelled 2 weeks prior to hitting
retail.  Track 13 on this cd plays good
for about the first 40 secs or so,
then goes into skip/static mode. It
does the same on the cd itself, so its
not the fault of a bad rip.  We apologize
for that, but this type of problem is
out of our hands until we can get
another copy or one of the respectable
groups out there fixes it.

"Asking the listener to 'transform' is
sort of like a dare, a challenge," says
Powerman 5000 frontman Spider One of the
title of the band's new album.  "It's
saying, 'Change.  Be something you're
not.  Defy expectations."'

Transform (set for release May 20, 2003,
on DreamWorks Records) is the fourth
album from the platinum Los
Angeles-based quintet.  Its arrival
finds Spider characteristically
reflective, in this case about mass
culture and its impact on him and his

"What I've been noticing lately," he
continues, "is how the culture dictates to
people, especially to kids.   It tells
them who they are, or worse, who they
should be.  But it's a bullshit,
manufactured version of who they are,
created by advertisements  you know,
'Become a soda commercial.'  It's just

Still, Transform isn't simply another
call to fight the power.  Spider
clarifies: "What I'm saying is: We're
all fucked.  There's a song on the
album called 'A Theme To A Fake
Revolution' that refers to 'a battle
won and lost with confusion.'  Really,
your only chance at a defense against all
this is to create confusion.  Confuse
the powers that want to co-opt who you
are.  If they can't understand who you
are, they can't steal your identity."

The notion of transformation also has
another meaning for PM5K.  Spider
acknowledges: "On the surface, the
title is also a reference to the new
members of the band."  That would be
bassist Siggy Siursen and drummer Adrian
Ost, whose introduction has effected a
sonic as well as physical transformation

The band first took shape in Boston in
the early '90s, after Spider met
drummer Al3 and discovered they shared
a passion for hardcore of both the punk
and hip-hop varieties.  PM5K's first
full-length album, 1995's independently
released The Blood Splat Rating System,
made a big impression in Beantown and
was named both Best Metal Album and Best
Rap Album in a local readers poll.

In 1997 Spider, Al3, guitarist Adam 12
and bassist Dorian 27 moved to Los
Angeles after signing with DreamWorks
Records (they were recruited for the
label by A&R exec Ron Handler).  That
year also saw the release of Mega!!
Kung Fu Radio, which presented new songs
along with completely remixed versions of
the Blood Splat material.

Two years later, PM5K added guitarist
Mike Tempesta aka M.33 and unleashed
their third album, the sci-fi-influenced
Tonight The Stars Revolt!  Thanks to
driving, electro-edged tracks like the
Top 20 rock hit "When Worlds Collide"
and Powerman's relentless touring
schedule, the album sold more than a
million copies.  Follow-up Anyone For
Doomsday? was recorded in 2001 and
prepared for release, but at the last
minute, Spider went with his gut and
changed his mind.  From a creative
standpoint, the record didn't feel ready.

"We were literally two weeks in front
of this thing hitting the shelves when
we decided to pull it," he attests.  "We
had ads, we had a tour booked, we had
posters and whatever  all done and

At first, the band wasn't sure how to
proceed.  But within that confusion was
the potential for transformation.  "One
thing I said to everybody was, 'Throw
the rules out,"' Spider explains.
"'Forget what you think this band should
be; forget what you think our fans
expect.  Just follow your instincts."'

Recalling what came next, he adds with
a laugh: "Shortly after I made that
statement, two original members  Al and
Dorian  quit.  I don't know if the
freedom to do whatever scared them or
what, but they decided to bail.  And
that made the stakes even higher."

But it also had a liberating effect,
which can be heard throughout
Transform.  The album manages to be
both harder and more tuneful than its
predecessors, stepping away from the
techno-intenso soundscapes of Tonight
The Stars Revolt! and toward a more
traditional rock approach.  "We ended up
taking a step back to go forward," Spider
says.  "We stripped away a lot of the
artificial nature of the band that
we're known for."

And they brought on a new rhythm
section.  Finding drummer Adrian Ost was
easy.  He was recommended by Edsel Dope,
of the band Dope, whom Spider
befriended during the Tonight The Stars
Revolt! tour.  "I knew instantly that
Adrian was the guy," Spider recalls.  "I
think we auditioned two or three other
guys, just to see, but finding him was

Locating the right bassist wasn't so
easy.  "A lot of people who play bass
approach it as if they just didn't feel
like learning guitar," Spider allows.
"But Dorian was really good, an
accomplished bass player.  We needed
someone who could play as well or
better than him."  They wound up
auditioning 40 bassists before they
found Siggy Siursen.

Once the revised lineup was in place,
Spider took the new PM5K into the
studio, en masse, to cut the album as a
band.  "For the past couple of records, we
would create the music in this
computerized, Pro Tools environment
recording separately, bringing in this
riff to lay over that loop," he
informs.  "It was a very non-organic way
of making music.  This time, we just got
in a room, plugged in and played.  We
did what we did in the old days, and it
made this a better record."

In fact, the Powerman sound that
distinguishes Transform is much closer
to the roar the band makes live.
Producing the album with Joe Barresi,
who engineered Tonight The Stars Revolt!
(and who has worked with Queens Of The
Stone Age and Pennywise, among others),
PM5K captured something raw and

"I think the guitar players were dying
to stretch out," Spider ventures.  "And
the drumming is much more free than in
the past.  When I listen to this album,
I can picture the band playing."
Pondering how his musical values have
evolved, he says: "It's funny, because
I've sort of regressed.  I grew up in a
suburb of Boston  a punk kid listening
to Minor Threat and The Clash.  I had my
first hardcore punk rock band when I was
13, and I had all these idealistic
notions about music and what you could
do with it.  But over the years, I kind
of got away from that; once I became
part of the whole system of making
records, I sort of let it go."

Transform is essentially a return to the
band's roots, one that Spider realizes may
raise a few eyebrows.  He can't help but
see the humor in the little image
problem he's created for himself,
remarking: "I'm just waiting for people
to say, 'Wait a minute  weren't you the
guy in the spacesuit two years ago?"'

His response?  "Yeah, I was the guy in
the spacesuit.  But a lot of the
messages we were putting out there when I
was wearing the suit are the same one's
we're talking about today.  I mean, I
guess it's stupid for me to try and
explain that 'When Worlds Collide' was
not about rocket ships  it's actually
about class structure and cultural
conventions.  But the great science
fiction has always been social
commentary, and that's what we've tried

The book, then, is the same, even if
the cover has changed.  "It's
essential for us to change, throw some
curve balls," Spider insists.  "I say do
whatever you want, whether it's with
music or anything else.  Because
ultimately, there is no instruction
manual for living in this world, and if
you do manage to find one, I suggest you