Monster Magnet
Dopes To Infinity
A&M Records
Released 3/21/1995
9/10
My first exposure to Monster Magnet was the bombastic Super Judge released in 1993. To be honest, I had no idea who this band was, but I became an instant fan soon after. The music was spacey, iconoclastic and more importantly you got to know the mercurial nature of one Dave Wyndorf. His lyrics stood out because of his uncompromising views of the world; not to mention his love for comic books and flagrant stoner mentality.
I know his love of comic books really drew me to his music and it was this love that turned up on Dopes To Infinity. This was the band's breakout release, spawning their first hit single with "Negasonic Teenage Warhead". Again, a song that became the inspiration for the X-Men character baring the same name thanks in large part to writer Grant Morrison.
Dave was a big Marvel Comics fan, so he wrote "Ego the Living Planet" based on the Marvel entity created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It's no secret that Dave's love for Jack Kirby is infinite and I can vouch for this after interviewing him in 2014. During our interview we talked a lot about comic books and Dave flat out confessed his love for Kirby. He also said he was a voracious reader that started out in the 60's, so it's no surprise his love for the medium would show up in the lyrics of some of Monster Magnet's most famous songs.
But getting back to Dopes; this release was epic on many levels. Negasonic Teenage Warhead was the song that brought them to the public consciousness. It was featured in the film S.F.W. directed by Jefery Levy and produced a trippy music video directed by film director Gore Verbinski. The album did reach # 51 on the UK charts and #30 on the German charts. Despite some great songs like "Dopes To Infinity" and "Dead Christmas" that heaped tons of critical praise, sales in America only tracked slightly better than Super Judge.
Even if the sales weren't as high as they should have been, I still consider Dopes a high point in their career. The music is refined and lyrically focused towards pop culture references. The stoner rock ethos remains intact with a grander sense of scale and being in the cosmos; and I love that! With Super Judge the music was expansive tonally and lyrically, but Dave decided to pull back slightly on Dopes.
The songs are still potent, but just focused in a different direction. Take for example "King of Mars" which slings some love towards American writer Edgar Rice Borroughs. The song delves into themes of rebellion, creativity and individuality and details the plight of Tarzan while he pursues to embrace his own individuality over societal norms. It's such a great track and one of several magnificent tunes to be had here.
I could go on and on, but Dopes To Infinity is a strong effort through and through. There's solid tracks like "Look To Your Orb For The Warning" and "Blow 'Em Off". Plus, the stellar "I Control", I Fly featuring a lyrical smorgasbord of themes exploring control, freedom and individuality. In fact many of the songs on Dopes show off Dave's iconoclastic spirit working wonders on a track like "Third Alternative". There's no doubt that Wyndorf and company set out to write a record with a sense purpose and new found vigour.
In the end, Dopes to Infinity was the start to mainstream acceptance and it definitely entered the pop culture zeitgeist. For that reason I have always held this record in high regard and it's a damn shame the record sales didn't go through the roof like a Metallica or Megadeth record did. Check out Dopes for the super cool cover artwork and hyper fuelled lyrics. I guarantee you this album will not disappoint.
Kenneth Gallant for Dead Meat, HMS
