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

Monster Magnet Monster Magnet is an American rock music, rock band formed in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf (vocals and guitar), John McBain (musician), John McBain (guitar), and Tim Cronin (vocals and drums). The band has since undergone severa ...

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. 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 advertis ...

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

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

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

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 creat ...

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

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'' 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 German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter and DJ known for collaborations with artists including A$AP Rocky, Tommy Cash, and Frank Ocean (for ...

"Monster Bootnet" remix.

Background

Singer Dave Wyndorf told

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

, "I'd hurt my knee, and had time off, so spent it in a

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

's apartment in New Orleans. Our

record company "Big Three" music labels 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 t ...

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 a song by American rapper Mase, released by Arista and Bad Boy Records on October 14, 1997 as both his debut single and the lead single for his debut album, ''Harlem World'' (1997). The song also acted as lead single for the s ...

" by rapper

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Mase (often stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean Combs, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 ...

, 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 ...

" video.

Twiggy Ramirez Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known as 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 ...

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 A&M Records singles Monster Magnet songs Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn