146. Motörhead / Bomber. 1979. 3.5/5.

Following the band’s establishment through their first two albums, the arrival of Bomber was met by a rousing reception back in the day. For those of us who came in a few years later due to age and unable to drive to a record shop (at nine years of age), listening to it beyond further releases perhaps sheds a new light upon the album.

This album follows Overkill which is one of my favourite Motörhead albums, and precedes Ace of Spades which ranks alongside it also. So, with hindsight and a touch of the obvious, I find that Bomber pales in comparison to these two albums and any direction I could make between the three makes for a poor result.
In trying to find a reason for this, in the long run I can only offer that there is no big two or three songs that dominate this album, that then allow the rest of the tracks on the album to play good support to them and build a well of greatness about it. Overkill has the title track and “Damage Case”. Ace of Spades has the title track and “(We Are the) Road Crew”. Bomber has plenty of songs that are good average rockers and a couple that are better than average, but none that stand out significantly and are true great songs in the band’s discography. That, to me at least, means that listening to the album is still an enjoyable experience but there is nothing there that lifts you out of your seat, or has you looking up with a smile on your face when it begins. I can’t give a good reason for why this is the case, apart from the fact that this was released only seven months after Overkill which seems a ridiculously short time between albums. As such, all of the material written for Bomber was done off the road and barely tried out before going into the studio to put them down, which gave the band no time in which to really get their heads around it. To me it just means that none of the songs has a real standout quality that not only grabs the listener but lifts the album.
That being said, there are good songs here. The title track “Bomber” leads us out of the hanger, and along with “Dead Men Tell No Tales”, “Lawman”, “Sharpshooter” and perhaps the best on the album “Stone Dead Forever” are my favourite tracks from the album. It’s also great just to hear Fast Eddie on lead vocals, as he does on “Step Down”, which is a real change from Lemmy’s usual gruff tidings.

Perhaps it doesn’t have that stand out magic that some other Motörhead albums have, but it has those three original rockers in Lemmy, Philthy and Fast Eddie cranking away at full throttle in their prime and you can’t ask for much more than that. It might be in the shade compared to those other albums but it still has more than enough to satisfy fans of the band.

Rating: “You think you see me, in the glass, you think you hear me, you better listen fast”. 3.5/5