Search - Johnny Thunders, Wayne Kramer :: Gang War

Live and wasted

C. G. McIntyre | Central NJ, USA | 05/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd is a mix of two seperate Gang War shows, and on the first show the band is in pretty good form and the sound is pretty good. It really does sound like a cross between The Heartbreakers and the MC5. Johnny's guitar is there in all it's buzzsaw glory, and every once in a while Wayne lets some wild acid drenched lines fly, and their styles really complment each other pretty well. The band mixes it up with some raunchy rock and roll, playing a mix of Johnny and Wayne's tunes with some great covers (who can forget their version of These Boots Are Made for Walking or Chuck Berry's Around and Around?) To sum it up, the first 3/4 of the cd is some dirty rock and roll.



However, the show that starts with The Harder They Come (which is the same material as on Live at the Channel Club) has Thunders completely out of it. By this point (as we learn in the surprising in depth liner notes) Johnny's wife has just left him, and, true to form, he immedietly started self destructing. So he spends half of these last 5 tracks berating the audience between and during the songs (The Ten Commandments is particularly hard to listen to).



If you're a Thunders or an MC5/Wayne Kramer fan, this is a CD that you want. The first 3/4 of this cd has both of them in fine form play some raw and wild rock and roll with a punk bite to it. If you're just getting into these guys, maybe this ain't the best place to start. Do yourself a favor and make sure you got the Heartbreakers LAMF The Lost 77 Mixes, Thunders' So Alone, and the MC5's Kick Out The Jams first. If I could, i'd give this 3 1/2 stars, but because we're talking about punk royalty here, I'll round up."

Johnny Thunders&Wayne Kramer - 'Gang War' (Freud Jungle)

Mike Reed | USA | 11/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As much as a huge MC 5 fan that I am,I can't BELIEVE I've never even heard of this short-lived punk 'supergroup'(if you care to call it that).After former MC 5 guitarist Wayne Kramer was released from jail in 1979,he apparently teamed up with former NY Dolls guitarist to form this side project,Gang War.Turns out Gang War never did release an actual lp,but there are a few live recordings of their several live performances they did.Think one factor that I really liked about this seventeen track CD was the element of surprise here.Could NOT believe some of the tunes that turns up here,like MC 5's "Ramblin' Rose", Thunder's "London Boys", Nancy Sinatra's smash hit from way-back when, a slammin' effort of "These Boots Are Made For Walking", Chuck Berry's "Around And Around", Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" and Kramer's "Hey,Thanks". I mean, is this JUST a fun record or what? Very much recommended, if you like what you read here. Sound quality is good, too."

HORRIBLE

William Olmstead | Banning, Ca. | 02/26/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I love Johnny Thunders and Wayne Kramer but his CD of some pretty sad concerts is awful. Johnny sounds like is is at the height of his addiction and is often lackluster or incoherant. Wayne's guitar work is fine. I was looking forward to a meeting of the two but this was disjointed. I can see why they didn't stick it out. Once again, I love Thunders but I felt sorry for Kramer to have to work this way. Also, the sound sucks. If you need this for your Thunders collection, go for it."