Monster – STEPPENWOLF***

Monster-Suicide-America/Draft Resister/Power Play/Move Over/Fag/What Would You Do(If I Did That To You)/ From Here To There Eventually

Monster was an overtly political album from Steppenwolf with some bitter comments on American foreign policy. The group's output at this time tended to focus more on quantity than quality. (US:17 UK:43)

“Another very typical example of the sound that made them famous, though put to rather biting socially conscious lyrics this time.”

“Even though Monster is perhaps the most socially and politically minded effort from Steppenwolf, it is an album worth checking out although it is not on a par with their first two LPs. The lyrics appear to be the most venomous in the band's career whilst the three-part title track is very applicable today.”

“Monster is non too inspired and comes from the time when Steppenwolf were releasing two studio albums per year. The Dylan-esque protest-rock, and the political lyrics never did the trick for me, so I consider this is to be minor and quite boring work. From here on the band started putting out sub par stuff, waving their freshest years goodbye too soon.”

“Most of the songs on this album are full of bitterness and sarcasm and bear strong commentary on the American political system, and of course its involvement in the Vietnam War. Kay, as most rockers at the time, was a representative of the rebellious young generation, which looked upon politicians with disgust. As to the music, this is classic rock, well written and well performed.”

“I was rather disappointed by the songwriting on this album. I'm all for social comment and political content in lyrics, but would expect a little more subtlety from Steppenwolf and certainly far better melodies. Move Over is a great track, but otherwise this record is much less to my liking.”

“Lyrically promising but musically the bar is set pretty low, a rushed, unambitious affair by a group that spread itself far too thin, releasing too many albums in too short a time. The album was clearly the most political they released, especially obvious on the long title track. The group seemed to be running out of ideas musically.”