Feature Photo: Frank Schwichtenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
MC5 formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963 and became one of the most influential American rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The classic lineup featured Rob Tyner on lead vocals, Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith on guitars, Michael Davis on bass, and Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson on drums.
The band fused garage rock, rhythm and blues, free jazz, hard rock, and radical political theater into an explosive sound that helped establish the foundations of punk. Their first album, Kick Out the Jams, was recorded live at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom. MC5 then made two studio albums, Back in the USA and High Time, before the original group dissolved.
Wayne Kramer later revived the MC5 name for touring and new recordings. The posthumous album Heavy Lifting was released in 2024 after the deaths of Kramer and Dennis Thompson and became the first new MC5 studio album in fifty-three years. The band also received the Musical Excellence Award from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.
This discography presents MC5’s three studio albums and the principal official live releases, including archival recordings of the classic lineup and the later MC50 touring ensemble.
MC5 Studio Albums
Back in the USA
Released: January 15, 1970
Back in the USA was MC5’s first studio album. Producer Jon Landau replaced the sprawling improvisation of the live debut with short, tightly arranged songs and a deliberately lean sound. The record opens with Little Richard’s “Tutti-Frutti” and closes with Chuck Berry’s “Back in the U.S.A.,” placing the band’s original material inside the history of American rock and roll.
Rob Tyner remained the commanding lead voice, while Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith condensed their guitar attack into concise songs. Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson supplied a fast and disciplined rhythm section. The record’s speed, political frustration, and direct songwriting became especially influential on later punk bands.
CD Track Listings:
- “Tutti-Frutti” – 1:30
- “Tonight” – 2:29
- “Teenage Lust” – 2:35
- “Let Me Try” – 4:15
- “Looking at You” – 3:01
- “High School” – 2:42
- “Call Me Animal” – 2:06
- “The American Ruse” – 2:31
- “Shakin’ Street” – 2:20
- “The Human Being Lawnmower” – 2:24
- “Back in the U.S.A.” – 2:26
High Time
Released: July 6, 1971
High Time was the final studio album released during MC5’s original career. Geoffrey Haslam produced the record, while the members received individual songwriting credits and developed more elaborate arrangements than those heard on Back in the USA.
“Sister Anne” combines hard rock with a Salvation Army-style brass ending. “Future / Now” moves through several sections, and “Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)” brings horns into one of Fred Smith’s most powerful compositions. The album’s mixture of hard rock, soul, blues, jazz, and experimental structure demonstrated how rapidly the band was developing before its breakup.
CD Track Listings:
- “Sister Anne” – 7:22
- “Baby Won’t Ya” – 5:31
- “Miss X” – 5:09
- “Gotta Keep Movin'” – 3:24
- “Future / Now” – 6:20
- “Poison” – 3:24
- “Over and Over” – 5:13
- “Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)” – 5:30
Heavy Lifting
Released: October 18, 2024
Heavy Lifting was the first new MC5 studio album since High Time. Wayne Kramer developed the record with singer and songwriter Brad Brooks, producer Bob Ezrin, and a large group of guest musicians. Kramer co-wrote twelve of the thirteen songs and contributed guitar and vocals before his death in February 2024.
Original drummer Dennis Thompson appears on “Blind Eye” and “Can’t Be Found.” Other guests include Tom Morello, Slash, William DuVall, Tim McIlrath, Vernon Reid, Don Was, and Joe Berry. The album was released one day before MC5 received the Musical Excellence Award at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.
CD Track Listings:
- “Heavy Lifting” featuring Tom Morello
- “Barbarians at the Gate”
- “Change, No Change”
- “The Edge of the Switchblade” featuring William DuVall and Slash
- “Black Boots” featuring Tim McIlrath
- “I Am the Fun (The Phoney)”
- “Twenty-Five Miles”
- “Because of Your Car”
- “Boys Who Play with Matches”
- “Blind Eye” featuring Dennis Thompson
- “Can’t Be Found” featuring Vernon Reid and Dennis Thompson
- “Blessed Release”
- “Hit It Hard” featuring Joe Berry
MC5 Live Albums
Kick Out the Jams
Released: February 1969
Kick Out the Jams was MC5’s debut album and one of the most important live records in rock history. Elektra recorded the band at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom on October 30 and 31, 1968. Jac Holzman and Bruce Botnick, whose work also included The Doors, produced the album.
Rob Tyner’s commanding vocals, Wayne Kramer and Fred “Sonic” Smith’s interlocking guitars, Michael Davis’ bass, and Dennis Thompson’s drumming captured the violence and excitement of the band’s stage performance. The album reached number thirty on the Billboard 200.
The uncensored introduction to the title track and John Sinclair’s confrontational liner notes generated controversy, but the album’s lasting significance comes from the music. Garage rock, hard rock, free jazz, soul, and political urgency collide throughout the eight-song sequence.
CD Track Listings:
- “Ramblin’ Rose” – 2:39
- “Kick Out the Jams” – 2:52
- “Come Together” – 4:29
- “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)” – 5:41
- “Borderline” – 2:45
- “Motor City Is Burning” – 6:04
- “I Want You Right Now” – 6:02
- “Starship” – 8:15
Do It
Recorded: 1971; Released: 1987
Do It documents MC5 performing live in Detroit during the final phase of the original band’s career. The eight-track release mixes familiar songs with covers and otherwise unavailable performances, including “Rock ‘n’ Roll Pips” and the frequently misspelled “Unknowed Rock.”
Track Listings:
- “Back in the U.S.A.”
- “Rock ‘n’ Roll Pips”
- “Looking at You”
- “Unknowed Rock”
- “Motor City Is Burning”
- “Tutti Frutti”
- “19th Nervous Breakdown”
- “Kick Out the Jams”
Teen Age Lust
Recorded: January 1, 1970; Released: 1996
Teen Age Lust captures MC5 at the Saginaw Civic Center in Michigan. The performance was recorded shortly before the release of Back in the USA and combines songs from the band’s debut with new material, rhythm-and-blues covers, and the extended improvisations that remained central to its concerts.
Track Listings:
- “Intro / Ramblin’ Rose”
- “Human Being Lawnmower”
- “Tonight”
- “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)”
- “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
- “Teen Age Lust”
- “Looking at You”
- “Fire of Love”
- “Shakin’ Street”
- “Starship / Kick Out the Jams / Black to Comm”
Phun City, UK
Recorded: July 1970; Released: 1996
Phun City, UK preserves MC5’s performance at the Phun City festival in Worthing, England. The festival became an important event in the British counterculture, and the recording demonstrates how naturally the band’s Detroit energy translated to an international stage.
Track Listings:
- “Ramblin’ Rose”
- “Tonight”
- “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)”
- “Miss X”
- “Looking at You”
- “I Want You Right Now”
- “Sister Anne”
- “Kick Out the Jams / Black to Comm”
Starship: Live at Sturgis Armoury, June 27, 1968
Recorded: June 27, 1968; Released: 1998
This archival release captures MC5 before the recording of Kick Out the Jams. The Sturgis Armoury performance presents the band moving between original material, blues and soul covers, free-form improvisation, and the hard-driving stage attack that made its Detroit concerts legendary.
Track Listings:
- “Ramblin’ Rose”
- “Kick Out the Jams”
- “Come Together”
- “Revolutionary Blues”
- “I’m the Man for You (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)”
- “James Brown Medley: Cold Sweat / I Can’t Stand Myself / There Was a Time”
- “Upper Egypt”
- “Tutti Frutti”
- “Borderline”
- “Born Under a Bad Sign”
Are You Ready to Testify?: The Live Bootleg Anthology
Released: January 25, 2005
Are You Ready to Testify?: The Live Bootleg Anthology is a three-disc collection drawn from the Sturgis Armoury performance, the Saginaw Civic Center show released as Teen Age Lust, and a September 1968 concert at Detroit’s First Unitarian Church.
Disc One:
- “Ramblin’ Rose” – 2:53
- “Kick Out the Jams” – 3:42
- “Come Together” – 5:14
- “Revolutionary Blues” – 5:51
- “I’m the Man for You (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)” – 5:06
- “James Brown Medley: Cold Sweat / I Can’t Stand Myself / There Was a Time” – 8:19
- “Upper Egypt” – 5:03
- “Tutti Frutti” – 1:46
- “Borderline” – 3:13
- “Born Under a Bad Sign” – 4:44
Disc Two:
- “Intro / Ramblin’ Rose” – 3:41
- “Human Being Lawnmower” – 2:50
- “Tonight” – 3:06
- “Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa” – 5:16
- “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” – 5:49
- “Teenage Lust” – 2:46
- “Looking at You” – 4:57
- “Fire of Love” – 3:56
- “Shakin’ Street” – 3:29
- “Starship” – 2:12
- “Kick Out the Jams” – 3:01
- “Black to Comm” – 7:25
Disc Three:
- “I Want You” – 5:07
- “Starship” – 7:27
- “I Believe to My Soul” – 3:47
- “Black to Comm” – 11:00
Live at the Grande Ballroom 1968
Released: November 8, 2005
Live at the Grande Ballroom 1968 combines three outtakes from the October concerts recorded for Kick Out the Jams with additional material taped earlier in 1968. The clearer Grande Ballroom performances are joined by longer experimental pieces that reveal the band’s free-jazz and improvisational ambitions.
CD Track Listings:
- “Brother J.C. Intro” – 2:47
- “Motor City Is Burning” – 4:35
- “I Believe to My Soul” – 3:00
- “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama La Fa Fa Fa)” – 6:11
- “I’m Mad Like Eldridge Cleaver” – 18:55
- “Ice Pick Slim” – 18:12
- “Black to Comm” – 7:19
10xMC5 Live
Recorded: 2018; Released: February 28, 2025
10xMC5 Live documents Wayne Kramer’s MC50 anniversary tour. The touring ensemble included Kramer with Kim Thayil, Brendan Canty, Dug Pinnick, and Marcus Durant. The album was initially included as a bonus disc with expanded editions of Heavy Lifting before receiving a separate digital release.
Track Listings:
- “Ramblin’ Rose” – 4:31
- “Kick Out the Jams” – 4:20
- “Come Together” – 4:20
- “Motor City Is Burning” – 5:04
- “Borderline” – 3:19
- “Gotta Keep Movin'” – 3:29
- “Future / Now” – 4:32
- “Poison” – 3:44
- “Shakin’ Street” – 2:43
- “Sister Anne” – 5:41
10 More
Recorded: 2018; Released: December 5, 2025
10 More presents another group of performances from the MC50 world tour. The album was recorded in Seattle, Cincinnati, and Hamburg and features Wayne Kramer with musicians including Kim Thayil, Brendan Canty, Billy Gould, Matt Cameron, and Marcus Durant.
Track Listings:
- “Call Me Animal”
- “I Believe to My Soul”
- “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)”
- “The American Ruse”
- “Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)”
- “Teenage Lust”
- “Looking at You”
- “High School”
- “Baby Won’t Ya”
- “Starship”
Read More: Top 10 MC5 Songs That Inspired a Generation
Updated August 3, 2026.
Complete List Of MC5 Albums And Songs article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026
