"Space Lord" is a 1998 single by American rock band

Monster Magnet Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf (vocals and guitar), John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin (vocals and drums); they have since gone through several lineup c ...

from the album ''

Powertrip ''Powertrip'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Monster Magnet, released on June 16, 1998. The album was the band's commercial breakthrough, achieving mainstream success due largely to the hit single, "Space Lord". Other hit songs ...

''. The song is in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

. It brought them mainstream success, with its accompanying music video directed by

Joseph Kahn Joseph Kahn may refer to: *Joseph Kahn (director) (born 1972), a film and music video director *Joseph Kahn (journalist) (born 1964), American journalist * Joseph Kahn (shipping executive) (1916–1979), American businessman See also *Joseph Hahn ...

. The song peaked at number three on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart, and number twenty-nine on the ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. A remixed version of the song was also made, and was featured (along with the original) on their compilation album ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

''. The music video is notable for being the first video ever aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' on September 14, 1998. It appeared on the countdown five times climbing no higher than the No. 7 position. The line "Space lord, motherfucker" was truncated and an echo added to make the song more radio- and TV-friendly (the lyric is heard as "Space lord, mother, mother"), but the vocal rhythm is unchanged, and a band version with the original lyric has never been released. The original lyric can be heard uncensored on the "Intergalactic 7 Remix" on international releases of the aforementioned ''Greatest Hits'' album and also on the unofficial

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he estab ...

"Monster Bootnet" remix.

Background

Singer Dave Wyndorf told

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off ...

, "I'd hurt my knee, and had time off, so spent it in a dominatrix's apartment in New Orleans. Our

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

forwarded me press from Europe and in Germany they called me 'Space Lord'. She saw it and took the piss, saying 'So you think you're the space lord?' I said, 'Someday when I can walk. I'll make you pay for taunting me by writing a song.'"

Music video

The music video was an unintended spoof of the music video for the single "

Feel So Good "Feel So Good" is the debut single by American hip-hop artist Mase. It was released in October 1997 through Arista Records and Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records as the lead single from his debut album, ''Harlem World'', and it appeared on the ''Mone ...

" by rapper

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

, while the opening of the video is an homage to Metallica's "

Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist a ...

" video.

Twiggy Ramirez Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known Twiggy Ramirez or simply Twiggy, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the rock band Marilyn Manson. Previously, he was the bassist for A Perfect C ...

appeared as a guest star in the video. The basic concept for the video came from Wyndorf. He felt the only rock stars of the current era were in the rap genre. He instructed Kahn to make them a flashy rap video in Las Vegas. Kahn was eager to please and accommodated the request by tracking down locations Hype Williams had used in a recent video he had done for Mase. He even wound up recreating certain scenes shot-for-shot. When Wyndorf realized how much of the video was a direct reference he became worried Mase would be upset, however, Mase didn't mind and was even amused when he saw the video.

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 singles Monster Magnet songs Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn