HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Rising – Stuck Mojo
“Haven’t you heard cream rises to the top” boast rap rock mob STUCK MOJO on their monolithic track Rising. While the stratospheric rise they sorely deserved never quite came to fruition, the meteoric album of the same name finally gets a reissue.
Rising began life whilst STUCK MOJO were on tour promoting their genre-defining Pigwalk (1996). That rather extensive tour had the quartet supporting the likes of TYPE-O NEGATIVE, LIFE OF AGONY, and TESTAMENT, their legendary shows leading to a Best Live Band award from MTV Europe. So how were STUCK MOJO going to capitalise on their hard won success?
Swapping out the production team of Daniel Bergstrand (known for producing MESHUGGAH’s Destroy Erase Improve from 1995 and a whole host of others) and DEVIN TOWNSEND for Andy Sneap, the band began writing in this motorhome whilst trudging across the nations following bigger bands’ tour buses. “We were super jealous of other bands that while we were struggling, they were flying past us” guitarist Rich Ward (FOZZY) reflected on Good Company With Bowling; “All of that just made me work harder”. And harder he would work. On top of driving the van, booking the hotels, and generally wrangling a group of other men, Ward set his sights on the follow up to his magnum opus.
All parts of Rising would be recorded on two inch tape (the final record which Ward would record in this way) whilst Sneap handled the overdubs. What would come to be is a societal commentary on President Bill Clinton with the thunderous Crooked Figurehead, racial stereotypes tackled in Suburban Ranger, and the general tribulations of society as a whole demonstrated in the title track and Trick. There may also be a dig at the industry with Assassination Of A Popstar but we will leave that for our avid reader to learn about. Where Pigwalk leaned into heavy noise as a result of Ward’s fledgling love for STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, Rising took a slightly different direction. “I started getting into heavy blues stuff like Deep Purple” Ward commented to Scott Bowling, adding further influences such as ZZ TOP and TED NUGENT.
This would be no Southern Born Killers (2007) or The Great Revival (2008) however. STUCK MOJO were still very much an unpolished band and this was the quality which gained them their cult following. Instead the whines and bites of Bonz’s (vocal) “I’m a groupie that you can trust as I mount C-4 under the bus” houses a ferocity only STUCK MOJO had at the time. It’s this ideology of wanting to buck the trend which led to a now iconic cover.
On the back of a friendship Rich Ward formed with WCW wrestler Diamond Dallas Page at a gym in Atlanta, Georgia, a partnership was born between STUCK MOJO and the wrestling promotion. The striking image of the WCW United States Championship sees the band moving away from their comic book inspired Cyber Tribal. Possibly a move to fuel Ward’s penchant for tape trading with other wrestling fans whilst on tour… what else are you going to do with the 22 hours of your day when you’re not on stage, but we don’t judge here at Distorted Sound, many of the team are wrestling fans. So STUCK MOJO had their sound and their branding. All they needed now was a promotional angle. Enter Diamond Dallas Page and Raven. The music video for the title track would be the genesis of a long standing angle between the pair. That carnage would be aired on WCW Monday Nitro and STUCK MOJO’s trajectory changed overnight.
Rising would go on to become STUCK MOJO’s most successful album reaching number 48 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. The shows resembling bare knuckle fights moved from 600 cap venues to 1200 cap. People could not get enough. To the point that Rising would be then independent label Century Media’s highest-selling album until LACUNA COIL’s Comalies in 2004. Additionally, the reviews were just as glowing. Adrian Bromley of Chronicles Of Chaos would give the record 9.5 out of 10, branding it “loud, obnoxious and completely volatile” while Lollipop Magazine raves “Rising is good, damn good. Stuck Mojo grow more and more into a great band with every album…”
In many camps, it’s criminal that STUCK MOJO didn’t have the legs to become one of the biggest bands within the rap rock scene. Only those in the know would acknowledge the influence the band had on the likes of LIMP BIZKIT and SEVENDUST. Whether that was down to interpersonal relationships breaking down (which will be the subject of a future Heavy Music History piece) or simply not being in the right place at the right time differs on whose opinion is sought. Rising should have been one of rap rock’s flagship albums as it possesses all the elements of being a great record. Perhaps things will change with the reissue. Until that happens however those who know about the album will cherish its raw aggression for decades to come.
Rising was originally released on March 3 1998 via Century Media.
The reissue is available now via Brutal Planet Records.
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