287. Motorhead / Everything Louder Than Everyone Else. 1999. 5/5

There have been a plethora of live albums released involving recordings by the band Motörhead. Some of them are less than official with some record companies dealing out the material as a parting shot as the band moved on, or just as a cheap knock off of a previous release in order to gain some cash away from the band itself. Everyone will have their own opinions, but for me Everything Louder Than Everyone Else is the third true live Motörhead album, following No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith and Nö Sleep at All. Each of the previous live albums marked a certain era of the band, and that is also true of this album, and as such it holds its place in history well.

This was recorded in Germany in 1998 and is the whole show, the first time band had been able to release it in this way. Recorded during the tour to promote Snake Bite Love It again has a great mix of the newest songs from the band and the old classics that they have to play every night. Lemmy is in great form between songs, and the band itself sounds fantastic. Having just reverted back to a three piece following the moving on of Wurzel, you can still feel the energy being created by them on stage. Lemmy’s bass sound is iconic and unique and distinguishable quickly and easily. Phil Campbell’s guitar becomes guttural at times before truly breaking out on his solo passages to light up the crowd. Mikkey Dee’s drumming is a delight, loud and crashing and driving home the songs in his usual powerful style. The three of them are excellent here, and they do in fact create an atmosphere where it changes the way that you listen to these songs when you go back to the album versions.
As for the set list and track listing, it has everything you could possibly want from a Motörhead live album. Half of the tracks are from albums since the last live album released Nö Sleep at All, and each of those albums is represented. Mixed in with these are the songs that you couldn’t possibly leave out, including the four songs that conclude the album, being “Killed by Death”, “Bomber”, “Ace of Spades” and “Overkill”, which all charge like the Light Brigade to the finish line and encourage you to go back to the start and do it all again.

As live albums go, this is pretty hard to critique, because there is little weak material here to dish upon. Even the songs that come from the weaker albums are the best songs from those albums, and they all translate to the live setting with great aplomb. No doubt No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith has always been appraised as the best Motörhead live album, given the time it was recorded and the material that was available to play on it. For me, I think this goes just that bit further, not only because this has the whole concert from go to whoa, but because there are so many songs here and they are all worthy of inclusion. I can play this at work, in the car, at a party or in the metal cavern and I never get sick of it. One of the greats.

Rating: “We are Motörhead; and we’re gonna kick your ass.”  5/5