Powerman 5000
Boston-based underground electro-metal band Powerman 5000 have earned a popular cult following thanks to their dynamic blend of comic book hero/sci-fi-themed punk, hard rock, and industrial metal. After making a big splash with 1999's platinum-selling Tonight the Stars Revolt!, the long-running group has cycled through members while continuing to build on that initial success with highlights arriving via 2003's Transform, 2014's Builders of the Future, and 2024's Abandon Ship.
Helmed by vocalist Spider (aka Michael Cummings, Spider One, or MC Spider -- and younger brother of Rob Zombie), Powerman 5000 emerged in the early '90s and found favor with local audiences with the release of their 1994 indie debut EP True Force and 1995's LP The Blood Splat Rating System, the latter of which appeared on Conscience Records. Two years later, the band moved to Dreamworks (and relocated to Los Angeles), where they released a revamped version of their debut as Mega!! Kung Fu Radio.
Touring with the likes of Marilyn Manson and Korn, as well as a stint on Ozzfest, expanded their fan base and led up to Powerman 5000's 1997 science fiction-esque follow-up Tonight the Stars Revolt! During shows and promos for the album, the band was often found sporting spacesuits and other sci-fi paraphernalia. The record went platinum, helped in part by the success of singles "When Worlds Collide" and "Nobody's Real" on MTV. The halted release of a since-aborted album titled Anyone for Doomsday? signaled the departure of longtime bassist Dorian Heartsong (aka Dorian 27) and drummer Al Pahanish (aka Al 3) in early November of 2001. A year later, drummer Adrian Ost (aka Ad7) was added to the group; bassist Siggy Sjursen joined 40 auditions later before 2002 came to a close.
Powerman 5000, including Spider and longtime guitarists Adam Williams (aka Adam 12) and Mike Tempesta (aka M.33), was back in full effect. Transform, their fourth album, marked their new more punk-inspired, less-industrial sound and new lineup when it was released in spring 2003. It debuted at number 25 on the Billboard charts and produced a hit in the song "Free," though Dreamworks dissolved in the middle of the album's promotion. A rarities collection appeared in 2004 on Spider's own Megatronic label; more lineup changes would occur before the eventual release of the band's fifth full-length. Williams and Tempesta exited, replaced on guitar by Johnny Heatley and ex-Alien Ant Farm's Terry Corso. Powerman 5000 inked a deal with DRT Entertainment in spring 2006 and Destroy What You Enjoy surfaced that August, with subsequent touring.
After returning with an all-new lineup featuring Spider One, guitarists Dave Piro (Velkro) and Evan Rodaniche (Evan 9), bassist Gustavo Aued (X51), and drummer Gordon Heckaman (GFlash), the band went back to their industrial metal ways, releasing their sixth album, Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere, in 2009. A covers album, Copies, Clones & Replicants, arrived in 2011, and was followed by another lineup change, with Piro, Rodaniche, and Heckaman, leaving the band. Stepping in to fill the vacancies would be guitarists Richard Jazmin (Zer0) and Nick Quijano (Sci55ors), and drummer DJ Rattan (Rattan), who would all appear on the band's seventh studio album, Builders of the Future, in 2014. In September 2017, the band released "Sid Vicious in a Dress," the first single from New Wave, which arrived later that October. They moved to Cleopatra Records for album number eight, 2020's industrial/electronica hybrid The Noble Rot. In 2024, they issued Abandon Ship, an apocalypse-themed set of songs that included a revamped version of their 2001 hit "Bombshell!"
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine & James Christopher Monger /TiVo
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Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Tonight The Stars Revolt
Rock - Released by DreamWorks on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Noble Rot
Hard Rock - Released by Cleopatra Records on Aug 28, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Copies, Clones & Replicants
Progressive Rock - Released by Cleopatra Records on Aug 30, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Black Lipstick
Hard Rock - Released by Cleopatra Records on Jun 3, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Builders Of The Future
Rock - Released by Powerman 5000 (AG Records 2017) PS on Jan 1, 2014
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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When Worlds Collide (Re-Recorded)
Progressive Rock - Released by Cleopatra Records on Oct 15, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Mega!! Kung Fu Radio
Rock - Released by Universal Music Mexico on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Builders Of The Future
Rock - Released by Powerman 5000 (AG Records 2017) PS on Jan 1, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Brave New World
Hard Rock - Released by Cleopatra Records on Aug 12, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Dancing Like We're Dead
Metal - Released by Cleopatra Records on Apr 26, 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo