1077. Motörhead / Motörizer. 2008. 3/5

Keeping up with their regimented routine of releasing new albums on an almost clockwork regularity, Motörhead brought forth the next album in their growing discography in Motörizer toward the end of the first decade of the new millennium. It is perhaps fair to say that this is about the only thing that is ‘new’ about it. Sure, it contains eleven new songs, and for the most part they are good songs, but there isn’t a lot that could be said to be new about them. As always, and especially with this band, that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with them. It all just comes down to a matter of taste, and whether too much of something can end up being too much.

If you’ve listened to a Motörhead album sometime in the past forty years then there is a fair chance that you will recognise the way that most of these songs are set out. There is a formula that can be heard, a framework that sometimes gets stretched or moulded by rarely gets strayed from too far. As long as that is done well, and you can feel the energy flowing from the songs then there really is no problem because the music is what is important. This has been a constant throughout the band’s career, and perhaps most especially since the 1990’s when the band reverted back to the three piece it is on this album, and the line-up that has now been stable since that time. Of all of those album released since Sacrifice, there have been some really good albums, and then just some average albums. The level of intensity in the songs on those albums have been the difference, not the writing itself, as the template has rarely differed.
This is when I sit with Motörizer. That danger of doing album after album that in essence has the same formula with a couple of changes, is that there will be times when it doesn’t have enough inspiration of enough twist or turns to really attract either the new or old fans alike. And for me on this album, it has hit the point where I think I have heard better on more recent albums than this one. I make no secret of the fact that I prefer the songs that are faster and harder, whereas most of this album sits back in a more comfortable tempo that that, and as a result I think the energy doesn’t come flowing through as it does with other releases.
I’ve listened to the album more than half a dozen times over the last couple of days, the first time I have done so since its release ten years ago. I remember first getting the album and give it the mandatory number of listens that a new album gets before I can decide what level it goes to, one that will continue to get multiple spins or one that returns to the cabinet. At the time, it returned to the cabinet. Over the last few days, I can still appreciate it for what it is – a middle-of-the-road Motörhead album. “Runaround Man” and “Teach You How to Sing the Blues” open the album well enough, full of a solid drum beat and hard running guitar riff and grating vocals that always provide for enjoyment. After some average tracks “Buried Alive” brings it back to life by upping the tempo again and reinvigorating the energy levels of the album. “Rock Out” and “Heroes” are enjoyable enough songs, while “The Thousand Names of God” ends the album on a positive note.

The problem here is that there is nothing that is absolutely memorable, a song that immediately lights up the album and allows you to find a point to get into the whole tracklist. There are some good songs and there are some average songs. They are not bad, just average. And that is where this album sits with me now.

Rating:  “The war is never over”.  3/5