Throughout most of the 1990s, Monster Magnet struggled against the prejudices imposed upon image and sound by alternative rock fashion nazis. However, thanks to that movement´s decline in recent years and the band´s dogged persistence, their fourth album, Powertrip, catapulted to gold sales status with the help of its massive hard rock hit "Space Lord." They also became one of the most successful and influential bands of the burgeoning underground ´70s-influenced metal scene, frequently called stoner rock.

New Jersey-native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late ´70s. After a few years of relative silence, Wyndorf (now playing guitar as well as singing) began assembling Monster Magnet with fellow New Jersey natives vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Calandra, and drummer John Kleiman. Fusing their punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound. After releasing a self-titled six-song EP through Germany´s Glitterhouse Records, Wyndorf assumed all vocal responsibilities while Cronin retreated to a behind-the-scenes consultant position — much like that of John Sinclair for the MC5.

Monster Magnet eventually caught the attention of independent label Caroline Records and entered the studio in 1992 to record their first full-length album — the impressive and highly original Spine of God. The sessions also yielded a number of long space rock jams which would later be issued as the Tab album in 1993. A video for first single "Diet Pill" also helped attract powerhouse A&M Records, but even as they prepared to sign with the label, Wyndorf had a serious falling-out with guitarist McBain, who was soon replaced by Ed Mundell.

1993´s Superjudge proved to be a stellar major-label debut and though the band chose to sacrifice some of their trademark feedback, it only served to accentuate their muscular metal riffs. Unfortunately, the group´s classic rock sound and attitude was highly unfashionable at the time, arriving at the height of the post-Nirvana alternative boom, and the album sold poorly. Under mounting pressure to deliver a more commercial follow-up, Monster Magnet delivered a decidedly sleeker — though no less space rock drenched — effort with 1995´s Dopes to Infinity. Still, while it yielded a Top Ten rock single in "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and was supported by extensive touring with C.O.C., among others, the album sold only slightly better than its predecessor.
Mentally and physically exhausted, Wyndorf exiled himself to Las Vegas to begin composing the tracks which would shape 1998´s breakthrough release Powertrip. By far the group´s most straightforward hard rock effort, the album channeled all the vice, greed, and hedonism of Sin City into tracks like the first single "Space Lord," which would go on to dominate rock radio and drive the album´s sales over the gold plateau. With new rhythm guitarist Phil Caivano in tow, Monster Magnet then embarked on a marathon two-year world tour, both as a headliner and supporting act to the likes of Aerosmith, Metallica, and Megadeth. In 2000, the band contributed the track "Silver Future" to the Heavy Metal II soundtrack and completed work on their fifth album, God Says No, released in Europe in October and in America in early 2001.