[engl] MAGIC CITY, Idaho – Drop the needle on the opening number, “Magic City,” and for the next 35 minutes, you will be taken on a tour of an unusual lakeside resort town with a penchant for partying and no shortage of odd characters. “It’s quite a place if ya got grit, which we have in spades,” adds Marty. Metal Marty’s Greatest Hits pays tribute to the small Idaho burgh, spinning tales of common folks, blue-collar laborers, and dudes named ‘Hot Tub’ that work hard during the day and play harder at night, conjuring Steve Earle at times, evoking Iggy Pop at others. “I think it sounds like a ‘greatest hits’ record, there’s every kind of song on it, yet it still flows, “explains Marty, “and it’s a ridiculous title for a first record.” The album slips effortlessly across genres while never disrupting the overall tone or losing its deep sense of optimism. The balls-out barn-burner “Working My Ass Off” recalls the wildest rockers from the 1950s; “Idaho, Baby” is a shot of anthemic Americana with a not-so-subtle nod to Gary Glitter; and the country-tinged rocker “Goddamn Divorce” feels like a pat on the shoulder from Lebowski’s buddy Donnie, “Fuck it, dude, let’s go bowling.” “I’ve been talking about doing a solo album for years, and I think Eddie got sick of me yammering on about it, so we just started writing,” Marty explains. “We hung out in Magic City and wrote down all the funny shit that happens to him and turned them into songs,“ recalls Eddie Spaghetti, who co-wrote the album with Marty. “It’s a pretty literal interpretation of his life,” continues Eddie, “You want to know the legend of Metal Marty – this is it.” Marty got the call from the Supersuckers in 1999 to fill in for founding member Ron Heathman who was unable to tour for family reasons. “Ron wanted me to do it; he’s probably the biggest contributing factor to me being in the band. We were buds.” He later became a permanent member of the band, releasing four albums on the Los Angeles-based indie label Acetate Records. Greatest Hits also includes a rock n’ roll version of Roger Alan Wade’s “The Reckless Kind,” and while it’s not autobiographical, it might as well be. Wade, who also wrote the album’s liner notes, recalls his first encounter with Marty, “The first time I met Metal Marty was when he came leaping over the monitor speakers out of nowhere and started singing The Reckless Kind. He just blew the roof off.” “Yeah, that’s how it went down,” Marty laughs, “welcome to the roller coaster ride of chaos and bad decisions that is the life of Metal Marty! When I first heard that song, I felt it like it was written for me. I’ve always thought it would be cool to give it the ‘arena rock’ treatment. I was very proud to play it for Roger; he’s my brother for life.”