The Hard Stuff is the solo debut album by American musician Wayne Kramer, best known as a guitarist with the 1960s group MC5. It was released on January 10, 1995, by Epitaph Records. Kramer is supported by a range of younger musicians including the band Claw Hammer and members of Bad Religion, the Melvins, and Suicidal Tendencies.[1]
New York wrote that "...the Hard Stuff shows [Kramer] to be in full command of his jam-kicking facilities," while praising the album's "vital rawness".[6] David Sprague and Ira Robbins wrote in Trouser Press that the album "careens from free-jazz-backed spoken word to bug-eyed metal in a manner every bit as fierce and feral as Kramer's golden age."[7]Entertainment Weekly's Mike Flaherty was less favorable, describing the album as "a bombastic album dominated by tales of ’90s-style sociopolitical decay" and giving it a C+.[3]The Washington Post's Mark Jenkins was also critical of the album, writing that on it, Kramer "is still tough and eclectic, but he fails to reconjure the sheer abandon of his former band's best work."[8] Alan Crandall wrote in Perfect Sound Forever that the album "had something, that undefinable "oomph" that keeps you throwing on a particular album because you just really like it for no easily articulated reason."[9]
Track listing
All tracks composed by Wayne Kramer; except where indicated.
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