Time // Wounds

I absolutely loved Mos Generator when I first discovered them in 2014 with Electric Mountain Majesty. For years I was obsessed with that band and I picked up a number of very collectible records from the band... of which, I still get occasional messages on Discogs about, asking if I could please sell (never going to happen). While I was initially blown away with Mos Generator's heavy rock sound when I discovered them, the band have since been pushing their sound and incorporating some different influences to their style. Change makes me nervous, but with each album Mos Generator have proven that they still deliver the goods.

With the release of Time // Wounds in 2022, Mos Generator posted a number of messages on social media, thanking thier fans for sticking with them on "an album that steps way beyond the boundaries of our usual foundations". I was starting to wonder if this was the record that the band was going to get too proggy and maybe lose me. I didn't rush out to give any of the advance singles a listen, and was thinking that I may let this album pass me by... and then I saw a comment from Tony Reed (singer/guitarist) about the song Getting Good At Revenge where he describes the influences as starting with a No Means No intro riff before diving into a Black Flag My War-era sound for a bit. Okay, I needed to listen to that immediately. Damn. While this style is limited to that one song, it still convinced me to buy the album.

Much of what is pressed into these wax grooves still maintains that original Mos Generator identity. No doubt they are still rooted in heavy rock, but there are layers and a bit more complexity here, and I'm here for all of it. I can't believe almost let this one pass me by. First pressing limited to only 200 on the band's own Music Abuse label.

Mos Exiles

Mos Generator have already released a live album this year that was pressed in very limited quantities, and I was very happy to get my hands on one. It was a very cool DIY release, and the packaging was very well done. When I heard that the band was going to be releasing another EP later in the year, and I saw the cool limited pressings that were being done for it, I knew that I had to be first in line to get my hands on one.

The 12 inch EP itself contains a couple of outtakes from their Shadowlands sessions from last year, plus a different version of Woman Song, and then a few cover songs on the b-side...but what really grabbed my attention was the "hand made one of kind Wax Mage pressing". I wasn't sure what this was, but I wanted one! The price was no joke for this limited pressing, but I still couldn't resist. When it arrived, I was immediately in love with how the vinyl looks.

In addition to the great looking vinyl, these songs are great. Mos Generator do not disappoint and even those songs that didn't make the cut for the last album still sound amazing here...plus the band knows how to do cover songs right, and their versions of deep tracks like Sabbath's Air Dance and Van Halen's Light Up The Sky are solid gold. This entire record is a blast.

One more picture of that vinyl, but this time with some back light!

Night Of The Official Bootleg

Mos Generator have been one of my favorite Heavy Rock bands for the past five years or so. They have to be one of the hardest working bands out there, as the main man behind the band, Tony Reed, seems to always have something going on. After the band had finished their European tour in 2017, Tony found a flash drive in his guitar case, which turned out to be a forgotten recording of their show in Manchester UK.

Tony Reed loves to get his hands dirty with the D.I.Y. ethic, and decided to take that live set, and press it to vinyl for the fans. He ran with the idea to design this release after the bootlegs from the 70's, and used an old David Bowie bootleg as inspiration for the design. Tony printed out the cover sheet on either yellow or blue paper, hand numbered them, and then glued them to the white cover stock. Overall, I absolutely love the look and feel of this live record.

100 pressed.

Included with the record is an insert that explains the story behind the record and gives all kinds of nerdy info regarding the setlist for the show. Excellent package through and through.

Shadowlands

Four years ago, I first heard Mos Generator when they released their Electric Mountain Majesty album. That album was huge for me, and I spent the next couple of years obsessed with the band, and ate up every split and 7 inch they released until their next full length album, Abyssinia, dropped.

I've cooled off on the band since the Abyssinia album...I mean it was still a great record, but the band was getting overplayed in my playlist, so I put them on the back burner for a little bit.

Tony Reed has to be one of the hardest working dudes in Heavy Rock music. I mean, Mos Generator has basically had a new release every year since 2012, and he has no signs of slowing down...and he keeps the fire burning with the release of Shadowlands.

I was a bit underwhelmed with Shadowlands when I first gave it a spin, but I think that was because I was getting dragged down by the seven and a half minute album closer, The Wild And Gentle Dogs, which falls a little flat for me. However, with repeat listens, I'm really digging all the other songs here, and some of them are some nice heavy hitters. Great stuff.

One of my favorite things about the Mos Generator records is the story that is included for each song, explaining the song writing and recording process. I geek out over this cool behind the scenes insight.

Lies Of Liberty '87

Mos Generator have always been a bit hard to stick into a specific genre. Their mix of Stoner/Doom/Rock makes it difficult to describe their sound. With their latest release, Lies Of Liberty, the waters get even more muddy.

Back in the mid 80's, before Mos Generator was even a twinkle in Tony Reed's eye, and he was still an angry young punk, he had band named Lies Of Liberty. The songs never received a proper recording at the time, so in 2016 Tony Reed pulled the Mos Generator guys together to have a bit of fun and put them to tape.

Old dudes playing punk songs from their youth. I'll back that.

This record is a blast. Eleven songs in eighteen minutes.

Abyssinia

Back in 2014, Mos Generator kicked up quite a storm in my Top 10 list for the year...seemingly coming from nowhere with Electric Mountain Majesty, and shooting up to the number two spot. Man, I fucking loved that record. They are a band that should be huge in the Heavy Rock scene, and yet it seems that they are still largely ignored. Shame.

The band has been hitting the road quite a bit over the past year, so hopefully that will help get their name out there, and push their new album, Abyssinia, to the masses.

With Electric Mountain Majesty, I missed the chance to score the colored vinyl, so I was glad to not make the same mistake with the new record. 200 pressed on "bone white" vinyl.

While Abyssinia is a killer record, I still find it kind of underwhelming as a new release. Mos Generator released three split 12 inches last year, and of the ten songs on the Abyssinia LP, seven of them were from those splits. This means we are really only getting three new songs here. Man, I wish the band would stay away from the split format, and just release their own shit.

Mos Generator / Sower

After releasing their excellent full length Electric Mountain Majesty in 2014, Mos Generator cranked out three split 12 inches in 2015. Throw in a couple of 7 inch releases, and guitarist/singer Tony Reed's solo project of obscure 70's covers, and you've got to be impressed by the dude's work ethic.

The four songs on this newest split remind me why I lost my mind over the Electric Mountain Majesty album a couple years ago. The band continues to impress with their stoner/doom sound. One of the cooler things about this record is the Voivod cover of The Prow. It seems like kind of an oddball cover for Mos Generator to do, and while it is a bit of a different sound than the three other songs on the split, the band pull it off flawlessly. Well done.

For most Mos Generator splits, the band on the flip side rarely does anything for me, and that is the case with Sower. Not terrible, but nothing that I'd reach for on a regular basis.

Pressed on three different colors of vinyl...red, yellow and grey. 100 pressed of each.

Since there was a pressing error with the Mos Generator / Stubb split that I received last year, Tony made good on his promise and sent me a replacement copy of the record.

Error Generator

Mos Generator don't ever stop. After releasing one of my favorite records last year with Electric Mountain Majesty, Mos Generator have released three split 12 inches (one of which I still need to pick up), a split 7 inch, and a limited 7 inch...giving us a total of eleven new songs for 2015. While I wish the band would stop dicking around with the split record format, and just release everything on an LP, you've got to be impressed with their work ethic.

When I first receive this newest split with the band Stubb, I was quite confused. I dropped the needle to the record, and everything sounded like some kind of fucked up chaotic mess. It starts off with some spoken word intro, then drops into an old Mos Generator riff, and from there it goes off the rails with some atmospheric noise shit for the next 15 minutes. I figured that this must be the Stubb side, as it didn't sound like the Mos Generator I knew. I flip the record over...nope...while these songs don't sound bad, they sure aren't Mos Generator. Must be Stubb. So what the hell was going on with my Mos Generator side?!? I fired off a message to Tony Reed from the band, and he wasn't aware of any issue, so I finally reached out to the record label. Yup...seems like there was an error at the pressing plant, and while the majority of the pressing turned out fine, a few of them must have been pressed with the wrong or faulty plates. Mine was all fucked up, and they offered to send me a replacement copy. Here we are three months later, and I'm still waiting.

Tony Reed is a solid dude, and when we coordinated a three way deal between me, him and HeviSike out of the UK, Tony emailed me mp3s of the songs so that I could listen to them while I waited for the record to arrive. I'm glad to have them because these songs are damn good.

Mos Limited Generator

You know how some bands only release new music once every five years (Iron Maiden, I'm looking at you)? Mos Generator are not that kind of band. Seems like every time I turn around, Tony Reed and company are releasing something new.

The band had a new piece of vinyl ready to go for Record Store Day this year, but apparently they weren't happy with the pressing quality, so they scrapped the whole thing. They had 25 of them pressed, which I assume was a test pressing. The band sold a few to close friends and fans, and then put up the last 10 in their webstore. I jumped on it as soon as I saw the announcement, and managed to grab a copy of the most limited pressing Mos Generator has done.

The signed sleeve is a nice touch.

On this record we get one new song, Wicked Willow, and an acoustic reworking of Electric Mountain Majesty. Man, that new song is great...hell, the whole thing sounds great. I'm not sure why the band didn't release a regular pressing of this record.

Mos Generator love their splits. After their split with Isaac earlier this year, they give us this fun little split with Daily Thompson.

Mos Generator cover a song from a band out of Washington state called Golden Pig Electric Blues Band. Apparently the band was around in the mid-90's, and were a big influence on drawing Tony Reed back to playing that Sabbath influenced, heavy rock sound from his teenage years. This is a cool little tribute.

Like most splits, there is really only one side that I'll be spending a lot of time with. While the Daily Thompson side isn't bad, I just don't see myself being draw to listen to it like I will be for the Mos Generator side.

Only 50 pressed on metallic gold vinyl.

The Live Great Mos Generator

I discovered Mos Generator last year, and quickly fell in love with anything that guitarist/singer Tony Reed had a hand in. The band doesn't seem to get out and tour very much, so when I discovered that they were going to be playing a few gigs on the East Coast, I made it my mission to catch one of the shows.

In the end, I made a drive over two and a half hours into the middle of New Hampshire to watch Mos Generator play live. Round trip, I ended up spending around six hours on the road, to watch the band play a 45 minute set...and it was totally worth it. To be in that small room, at the back of some pizza shop, and stand about a foot in front of Tony Reed and watch him play those riffs from Electric Mountain Majesty...it was truly a special experience. After their set, I got to talk with Tony for a couple of minutes, grab a piece of vinyl, and then hit the road just after midnight for the drive home.

When I checked out the merch table after the show, the only piece of vinyl that I didn't already own was The Late Great Planet Earth, so I obviously took the opportunity to finally add it to the collection. This album isn't my favorite by them...it is a bit more laid back and trippy at times, with a bit of a Pink Floyd/early 90's era Voivod influence, and not a straight forward ripper like Nomads and Electric Mountain Majesty...but there are still some excellent songs on here, like On The Eve and Opium Skies, that are essential.

Originally released back in 2005, and out of print for some time, this is the 2014 re-issue pressed on "random" colored vinyl. My copy is a nice baby shit green with some nice streaks of color throughout it.

Psych Splits

I listened to a lot of Mos Generator last year, and their Electric Mountain Majesty album ended up as one of my favorites of 2014. When singer/guitarist, Tony Reed, posted on Facebook that he had a few copies available of a new split that his band did with Isaak, I jumped at the chance to buy a copy from him. Since it was released overseas, on some Italian label, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity, and save myself the hassle of trying to track one down...plus there is something more cool about buying your records direct from a guy in the band.

Mos Generator typically takes a straight forward, hard rockin' approach, but these songs take things in a more atmospheric and darker direction. I love reading Tony's stories on how these songs took shape, and the influences behind them. He mentions a Voivod influence with Time & Other Thieves, and there is no denying it...man, this thing sounds like it could have come off Nothingface. Very cool. I struggled a bit with these songs when I first heard them, but the more I listen to them, the more I like them.

I'd never heard Isaak prior to this song that they recorded for the split, but this epic 14 minute trip captures my interest. At some point, I'll have to check out their LP from a couple years back.

I really like Stone Axe...no, I mean that I fucking LOVE Stone Axe. I listened to the shit out of their two albums last year, and I've been looking forward to the opportunity to grab this split they did with Wight. With Tony and Heavy Head selling a limited amount of the Mos Generator/Isaak split, I decided that while I was in the webstore, I'd grab a copy of the Stone Axe split as well. These songs aren't as strong as some of their other stuff, and are a bit more laid back, but it is still Stone Axe, so it is still cool.

The Wight side of this split features two laid-back trippy stoner jams. At first these songs didn't really excite me, but the more I listened to them, I realize that they aren't supposed to...this is more like something you listen to when you need to just tune out and chill, and I can dig that.

100 pressed on white with pink splatter vinyl.

Destroy! The Mos Generator

I first heard Mos Generator this year, but apparently they have been around for a while, releasing their first album back in 2001. I've had a bit of catching up to do.

I've been a big fan of All That Is Heavy distro, but due to a family matter, they have been shut down for the past 4 months or so. As soon as they were back up and running, I jumped into their webstore to show them how much I'd missed them. Since I've been riding the Mos Generator high, and All That Is Heavy only had a few copies left in stock of the Destroy double LP, I decided to grab a copy.

This Destroy! The Mos Generator double LP is a compilation containing various tracks from 2001 to 2008, covering stuff from their first three albums, plus some additional rarities and live stuff. While there are a couple of clunkers on here, for the most part Mos Generator continues to impress. My obsession with the band grows...

While not exactly essential, this double album does contain a few rare gems like their cover of Rush's Garden Road, and a live version of Sabbath's Wicked World.

500 pressed on red and gold colored vinyl.

Generating The Mos

Since I've been riding high on all things Mos Generator and Stone Axe, I recently decided to "like" them on Facebook. As I was scrolling through the Mos Generator page, I noticed that the band had recently announced that they were going to be takinging some songs from their demo recording sessions, and release them on vinyl in very limited quantity. The numbers were so limited, in fact, that it was sold out by the time I saw that the band was going to press them. I commented that I was disappointed to have missed out on it, and hoped to get in on it the next time they decided to do something cool like this.

Shortly after my comment, I received a friend request from Tony Reed, the guitarist and singer for Mos Generator. I tried not to get too fanboy-ish, and just politely accepted the request, assuming that he had just added me as a friend so that his wall, promoting Mos Generator, Stone Axe, and the various other stuff he does, like his killer Pentagram covers, would be included in my news feed. That was cool with me.

A couple weeks later, I received a private message on FB from Tony, telling me that if I wanted a copy of that limited press demo LP, that he had a few left, and I could buy one if I wanted. I was stoked to say the least. I accepted the offer, and took the opportunity to let the man know just how much I liked the new Electric Mountain Majesty album, and sent him a link to my blog post. He wrote me right back, thanking me for the kind words and that he liked my blog. We then spent some time exchanging pictures of our record rooms, and talking about music, including his jukebox loaded up with Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Black Flag and Misfits. Turns out, the guy not only writes some killer rock riffs, but also digs hardcore...including a stint where he played with dudes from ALL in a band called Goodbye Harry. The guy just loves music, and enjoys talking it with anyone that obsesses about it as much as he does. Such a great, down to earth dude.

So the object of this release was to just make it a fun project for the band. The songs would be pressed on random colored vinyl, with blank labels and covers. 33 copies would then be distributed to each member of the band, for them to write all the info on the jacket. Then everything is finished off with all the guys in the band adding their signatures.

Number 59 out of 100, and initialed by the drummer, Shawn Johnson, as he was the one handled the writing duties for this copy. Job well done. I love the personal touch on this release, and it truly makes this a special collectors item.

The songs themselves came from the demo sessions from both the Nomads and Electric Mountain Majesty albums, so the Electric Nomads title is fitting.

While I'm not typically a huge fan of outtakes and demo tracks when compared to the finished album recordings, I'm really digging these for some reason. Maybe it is due to the additional insert that explains the background for each song. These stories somehow personalize the songs, and the insight makes me appreciate them more.

While I was ordering the Electric Nomads LP, I figured that it was a good time to grab the Nomads LP as well.

Released in 2012, Nomads stands as strong as the newer Electric Mountain Majesty. The songs...that guitar sound....goddamn, this is so good. I love this album, but one of the highlights for me has to be the bands cover of Judas Priest's Solar Angels. Holy fuck. It is quite possible that the cover is better than the original...or maybe I just think it is better because Point Of Entry can be a bit of a stinker. Either way, the Mos Generator version puts a huge smile on my face whenever I hear it, as it captures the love that this band has for Metal and Rock music. This love and passion for the music shines through, and is one of the reasons that I've come to appreciate everything that Tony Reed touches.

Electric Mountain Majesty

I bought that Stone Axe 10 inch, Extended Play, on a whim, but I'm still reeling from the impact of listening to those few live songs on that record. Soon after playing that record, I was consumed by all things Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Outside of a few spins of the great new Praise record, I've largely ignored listening to Hardcore recently. These phases come and go, and I'm sure that my priorities will straighten out after I catch the Chain Of Strength and Mindset show next week. Until that time comes though, I'm all about the power of the Metal riff.

Man, I do love Stone Axe, and this past month I've found myself reaching for their records four or five times a week. I can't get enough.

I'd heard the name Mos Generator thrown around over the past couple of years, but I'd never really been that interested in taking a chance on them for one reason or another. I'd known that the Stone Axe guitar player was in the band, and with this recent obsession, plus with Mos Generator releasing a new album this year, I figured that the time was time was right to finally make my move with Electric Mountain Majesty.

While Stone Axe go for more of 70's Rock/Thin Lizzy vibe, Mos Generator take more of a doomy style with their songs. The two bands complement each other nicely, and I find myself bouncing from one band to the other while at the height of this obsession.

I don't expect Electric Mountain Majesty to take my number one spot for my Best Of 2014 list, but it is going to be near the top, and not going down without a fight.

Because I wasn't going to be happy posting about just one Mos Generator record, I had to quickly grab another. This split 7 inch single, only features one Mos Generator song, Lonely One Kenobi...and then it ended up on the band's 2012 album, Nomads, which kind of makes this a throw away record...but still, that cover art was cool enough to entice me to buy it. Such a great song...and again, that motherfucking opening riff! Damn!

The flip side on this record is a song by an Australian band named Seedy Jeezus. Meh, they are okay, but Mos Generator steal the show here.