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Mach 5 : Meet Mach 5
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America's Newest Hitmakers. Fast, Fun 'n' Flashy.
Genre: Rock: 70's Rock
Release Date: 2005
Meet Mach 5 Record Label: Lawless Records
  • Download Album (MP3) - $9.98
  • Buy CD - $9.98
Preview Song Name Time Format Price Select
Get It Up 3:04 $0.99
Deadly Combination 2:32 $0.99
Through to You 3:20 $0.99
Kandyland 3:05 $0.99
They Don't Know 2:14 $0.99
25 Hours a Day 3:00 $0.99
If You're Goin' to the City 2:38 $0.99
Quincy Girl 2:58 $0.99
Under My Wheels 2:28 $0.99
Kenmore Square 3:41 $0.99
preview all songs

Album Notes

100 percent undiluted, kick-you-in-the-ass, loud and fun ROCK... And unlike most supergroups, Mach 5 lives up to expectations. More so than any release of recent memory, Meet Mach 5 makes me feel like I'm 12 years old again. It's got the same energy, attitude, and appeal of the music I loved as a seventh grader, when I'd carry my AC/DC LPs around like they were sacred artifacts. Like all good rock albums, Meet Mach 5 is strong all the way through and surprisingly high on variety. "Get It Up" is a fitting title for the opening track, because it would have given me an instant hard-on if I'd heard it back in junior high.
Talk about a supergroup! Mach 5 stars Boston rock vet Mach Bell, who fronted the primo '70s glam/hard rock band Thundertrain and later sang for the Joe Perry Project. He's joined by Dee Stroy, my favorite active lead guitarist and former member of Beantown punk/rock n' roll standouts Sugabomb and The johnnies (THE most underrated band of the 1990s, period!). Backed by a killer rhythm section (Jeff Thomas on bass and Jimmy Birmingham of the Real Kids on drums), Bell and Stroy have joined forces for one reason and one reason only: to rock!!!
Lord Rutledge
Now Wave Magazine Online


I feel compelled to credit Producer Richard Marr and the Galaxy Park Studios. I take my ski mask off to them, cause the sound on this CD is nothing short of rabid!
This CD has enough hooks, harmony vocals, and three-chord nastiness to make anyone who craves some real rock injections to be utterly satisfied. Power drummer Jimmy Birmingham, twelve-string bassist Jeff Thomas, thrash guitarist Dee "Wild Man of Borneo" Stroy and beltsander-voiced Mach Bell have created a band that has more chemistry than MIT.
For anyone who thinks Mach reached his musical pinnacle with Thundertrain or Joe Perry, I've got front-page news for you. He's still climbing.
"Meet Mach 5" is a CD that grabs you by the neck, shakes you, and says "Shut off the damn radio!" Play it often, and play it loud!
Noodles Romanov
Boston Groupie News

"Mach 5 (named after Speed Racer's car), have got something for everyone. Fans of hard rock, a la Thin Lizzy or early Aerosmith, will love the big, fat sound of this four piece powerhouse... Live, Mach 5 are as powerful as a locomotive, and always seem just about to careen out of control. Good stuff."
Brian Mosher
Razorcake Magazine online

MEET MACH 5 includes:
10 tracks Recorded and produced by Richard Marr at Galaxy Park Studios in Allston Rock City Mass. during summer 2005.
Liner notes by Mach Bell continue where his
“The Thundertrain Story 1974-1979" left off.
Cover design devised by John V.
Cover versions of “They Don’t Know” and “Under My Wheels”
Plus: Kenmore Square, Quincy Girl, Deadly Combination and more!

In Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" lead guitarist Joe Perry writes "My new singer Cowboy Mach Bell was a rock 'n' roll guy who grew up in the town over from me, Holliston MA, and had a group called Thundertrain. He loved to rave and be in a band..."
The Toronto Star wrote "Mach Bell is a leather voiced singer in the Bon Scott mold who is more than willing to take the center stage spotlight."
Circus Magazine hailed "Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker", the Joe Perry Project's 1983 MCA release co-written by Joe Perry and Mach Bell as "One of this years best hard rock albums."

Previously Mach sang with Thundertrain (1974-80). They appeared on the stages of the Rat, CBGB's and Max's Kansas City. Featured in Rock Scene, Sounds, Variety, NME, Playboy and the Boston Globe. 16 Magazine frequently spotlighted Thundetrain and 18 year old Mach and the band even found themselves leading off Time Magazine's 1977 cover story introducing "Punk Rock" to the world.

Mach Bell & Joe Perry toured continuously for 3 years. Headling hundreds of venues including The Hollywood Palace, NYC's Bottom Line, the New England Dragway, Pocono Downs Speedway and the Poliedro Arena in Caracas Venezuela.

Mr. Bell's career has always been full of controversy. The liner notes of "The Best of the Joe Perry Project-The Music Still Does the Talking": attest that
"If breathless reports of the day are to be believed, a roaring drunk Bell took to periodically parading around in the nude, creating havoc..."

Mach Bell has toured, shared stages and performed along with a wide range of artists and bands including: Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Guster, Dead Boys, Greg Allman, Dictators, Bleu, David Johansen Group, Alex Chilton, Leslie West & Mountain, Teenage Head, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Huey Lewis and the News, Point Blank, Nazareth,the Runaways, Duke and the Drivers, Lou Gramm, The Outlaws, Krokus, the Fleshtones, Marshall Tucker Band, the Romantics, Steppenwolf, Mink deVille, Savoy Brown, Iron Butterfly, James Montgomery, Blackfoot, Lita Ford, .38 Special, the Ramones, Gary US Bonds, Dresden Dolls, Clarence Clemons, Willie Alexander, Foghat, Til Tuesday, Andy Pratt, Hanoi Rocks, Kix, Steven Tyler, Killer Dwarfs, the Alarm, Rick Derringer, Stray Cats, the Cars and Bo Diddley.

All of Bell's recordings continue to be re-released internationally. "Black Velvet Pants" his MTV video with the Joe Perry Project continues to be seen on VH1 Classics and in various Aerosmith specials.

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REVIEWS

This CD is a fun flashback of pure rock power.
author: Robert Barry Francos
MACH 5 are named as much for Speed Racer’s car as for lead singer Mach Bell, who fronted the seminal Boston first-wave punk-era band, Thundertrain. And he’s lost none of the power, growl or grit. This new combo has all the earmarks of hook-laden bar rock that would fit in well on the shelf with the NY Dolls and their ilk. Right from the start on "Meet Mach 5" they pound you into the floor with “Get It Up”. Bell and the ridiculously monikered (but good songsmith) Dee Stroy wrote this and many of the others. “Deadly Combination” is almost an updated version of Wayne County’s “Max’s Kansas City”, looking at the wasted deaths of the likes of Thunders, Vicious, and Spungen. There are also some interesting covers, including Kirsty McaColl’s “They Don’t Know” (also previously covered by Tracy Ullman, and which seems a bit out of place here), Mose Allison’s total I-IV-V rave-up “If You’re Goin’ to the City”, and Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels” also make an appearance. But they’re local Boston boys, and they make it clear with shout outs to “Quincy Girl” and “Kenmore Square”. This CD is a fun flashback of pure rock power. Welcome back, Mach. – RBF/FFanzeen
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This album became a favorite from the moment I heard it!
author: Ball Buster Hard Music
Mach 5 are, in my opinion, a combination of 70's rock, modern bar rock, punk, classic rock with a bit of sleaze and maybe even some garage rock thrown in as well. It's kind of funny that I got this album because, well, let me try to paint a picture here for you so you know what I'm talking about. Just the other day, I was listening to the Def Leppard album "On Through The Night," as well as early releases from bands like Kix, AC/DC, Venom, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi. With every artist I mentioned, it was pretty much their debut release that I was talkin' about. Anyway, I made a comment about how they don't make albums like this anymore. Every band I just mentioned, of course, went on to bigger and better things, which is cool. But, those early releases had a raw, aggressive feel and, in most cases, they're no the albums that people usually point to when they're talkin' about the bands "greatest" record and I never understood why. These releases were pure and, like I said, they had a raw, aggressive feel. You don't hear that kind of music anymore. But, as I sat here listening to "Meet Mach 5," that's exactly what I heard and, let me tell you something, this album became a favorite from the moment I heard it because of that. I know what I heard and I didn't need anything to back up my opinion. However, after reading the liner notes on this album, vocalist Mach Bell said it best...he wrote, and I quote, "We recorded the set just like we play it in the clubs every weekend. Mach 5 was designed to be enjoyed undiluted. We have all been heavily influenced by the hardest rocking songs of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. I am not too sure what happened to rock in the 90's...but...I am hoping you guys can all get behind what Mach 5 is dishing out today. I gotta rock!" There's only one other thing I'd like to add. When it comes time to record another album, I seriously hope Mach 5 holds on to the magic that can be heard on this release because this is what rock 'n' roll should sound like and "Meet Mach 5" is a perfect example of how a band can sound today while still remaining true to what rock 'n' roll should be. Gotta love it! (Paul Autry)
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“Quincy Girl” is a gem...
author: Northeast Performer Magazine
Quincy Girl is a gem of resentment with straightforward but effective lyrics, with lines like “Shut your pie hole Quincy girl.” The honk of the sparingly used harmonica on “Deadly Combination” adds a nice contrast to the distorted rhythm guitar while Mach Bell delivers a brief history lesson that encompasses Elvis, the New York Dolls, and Sid and Nancy. Mach 5 does a surprisingly good job on the Tracey Ullman cover “They Don’t Know,” and manages to squeeze out a respectable version of Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels.” Meet Mach 5 has everything you would want to hear in an album that summarizes the garage rock sound, but don’t expect it to deal with complex issues of the day. Meet Mach 5 is a lighthearted, great sounding album — nothing more, nothing less. (Lawless Records) -Paul Price (5/06)
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Attitudine! Buy it or Die!
author: Slam Rocks Party Zine (Italy)
Torna alla carica uno dei migliori frontman che il Rock’n’Roll abbia mai avuto, nonché uno dei miei preferiti in assoluto, Mr. “Cowboy” Mach Bell, e lo fa alla grande chiamando a se tre dei migliori elementi della scena di Boston (l’ex Real Kids Jimmy Birmingham, batteria – l’ex Sugabomb e The Johnnies Dee Stroy, chitarra – Jeff Thomas, basso) per dar vita ai Mach 5, sorta di “All-Star band” che, senza tanti fronzoli, prende allegramente a calci in culo gran parte delle bands in circolazione da un po’ di tempo a questa parte. La cosa non sorprenderà di certo chi conosce le gesta dei Thundertrain, attivi per un’estemporanea reunion fino all’anno scorso ed apparentemente archiviati, così come non sorprenderà chi ha avuto il piacere di ascoltare i The Johnnies del chitarrista Dee Stroy, axeman veramente dotato e capace di sfornare riffs “assassini” in ogni brano. La parola chiave per definire i 4 ragazzacci è sempre e solo una: Attitudine! Ne hanno da vendere ed hanno scelto il mio modo preferito per farlo capire chiaramente: non è Metal pur avendone la potenza ed a tratti (perché no) la perizia tecnica, non è Punk ma ha la carica oltraggiosa, la veemenza e l’urgenza elementare di quei tre benedetti accordi, non è Garage ma ne possiede genuinità e spirito (la cover del Cd la dice lunga)… si signori, è ancora e “solo” grande, abrasivo, fottuto Rock’n’Roll! Dieci pezzi per altrettanti “sganassoni” dritti dritti sui vostri brutti ceffi, uno dietro l’altro senza darvi respiro, ma - e qui si sentono qualità, capacità ed esperienza – senza perdere di vista melodia e refrain, che in alcuni brani è assolutamente vincente. Caldo e roccioso Hard’n’Roll nell’opener “Get It Up” ed in “Kandyland”; torbido Blues impreziosito da una lancinante e sofferta armonica in “Deadly Combination”, “Through To You” è selvaggia quanto basta ma con un refrain che non se ne va più dalla zucca, “Quincy Girl” è puro e sboccato N.Y. Sound, tra Dictators e Ramones, gran pezzo ed altro refrain azzeccato. Tre le cover in scaletta: il bel power pop “They Don’t Know” (Kirsty McColl), il graffiante Blues urbano “If You’re Goin’ To The City” (Mose Allison) ed una versione “da paura” di “Under My Wheels” (A. Cooper), infine è grande boogie/glam in “25 Hours A Day”, sospeso fra Slade e N.Y.Dolls, ed hard-punk di classe nella conclusiva ed anthemica “Kenmore Square”. “Siamo stati tutti pesantemente influenzati dalle canzoni più dure e rockeggianti dei fifties, sixties, seventies ed eighties. Non sono certo di cosa sia successo al Rock nei nineties…” Parole sante, Cowboy, e meno male che all’alba del 2006 esiste ancora gente col fuoco dentro come te… Hell Tonite! Buy it or Die! (Gaetano Fezza)
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