1075. Motörhead / Kiss of Death. 2006. 3.5/5

For as long as I can remember, the general public line about a new AC/DC album has been “oh well, it will just sound like the last one, they’re all the same”. And in many ways that will be true, because the band has their style and they stick to it, because they know they’re good at it, and they know that people will buy it. And that is the main point, they know what their fans like, and so they give it to them. Which is a roundabout way of me coming to review this Motörhead album, Kiss of Death, because if you’ve heard Motörhead before you already know what is on this album. But the best part is… you know you’ll like it.

Kiss of Death utilises the same producer from their previous album Inferno, Cameron Webb, who actively looked to make a more aggressive album. That has flowed on here to their follow up, with the energy that was prevalent on that release once again coming to the fore here. Everything that you hear on this album is quintessential Motörhead and that’s what makes it a good album still. There is something for everyone but more than that there is something for every fan of the band.
You can break the album up into four sections in order to get the best representation of what is gathered here. There are the fast paced and upbeat songs that draw you in, including the scorching opening track “Sucker”, the excellent “Trigger” and “Sword of Glory”, as well as the bonus track on the CD, the re-recorded tribute to The Ramones, simply entitled “R.A.M.O.N.E.S”. These are the four songs that rip along at that pleasing pace that helps makes Motörhead songs great. Then you have the high energy songs, some of which are faster paced and others that are just pushed out there. These include the head bouncing “One Night Stand”, “Devil I Know”, “Christine”, “Be My Baby” and “Going Down”. From here you are faced with the mid-tempo songs, the ones that are paced back in the rock ‘n’ roll section but are no les enjoyable as a result. Here you will find tracks such as “Under the Gun”, “Living in the Past” and “Kingdom of the Worm”.
Mixed in with all of these tracks is the ballad “God Was Never on Your Side”, another of Lemmy’s lyrical postulations on religion and those that lead and follow within the various forms that exist. It’s an interesting song, both musically as it challenges the band and Lemmy’s vocals and takes them to a position that has been tried before by this band but never really successfully, and lyrically as it highlights conventions that certainly can be questioned. As with previous songs of this genre on other Motörhead albums, I think it tends to pull back the momentum of the album at a crucial time, though on this occasion I do quite like the song itself.

Returning to theme of the opening, there is a lot here that will be familiar to fans and the public at large. Mikkey Dee’s hard banging drums are prevalent as always and are still the driving force behind each song. Phil Campbell’s licks and riffs are as potent as the ever have been, and his punctuating solos just as effective. Riding over the crest of the wave is Lemmy’s unique bass sound and vocals that both still give as much pleasure as they did 30 years previous. So come aboard and enjoy yet another terrific release from a terrific band who fought every conceivable change in music over their career and still found their place in the music world.

Rating: “Living in a nightmare, broken dreams, love turned mean, living in the past”. 3.5/5

1074. Motörhead / Inferno. 2004. 3.5/5

For whatever reason – and there are always a multitude of them – I had never listened to this album until I decided to go through the entire Motörhead discography a couple of months ago. In fact I wasn’t even aware that it existed. I had copies of Hammered and Kiss of Death and a big gap in between them. So discovering that it existed and then tracking down a copy to listen to was a fun experience. I wasn’t sure what I expected when I got it. After all, the mid-2000’s was a tricky time for bands of other eras. What I found was, for the most part, surprising.

“Terminal Show” signals the album’s intentions immediately. This is more than just a rock album, this is hard and heavy and fast, with Phil’s guitar screaming out of the speakers with fire and gusto. “Killers” continues on what is an aggressive theme with the boundlessly hard hitting drums of Mikkey driving the guitars to a head-thumping rhythm. “In the Name of Tragedy” and “Suicide” bring back the intensity of the speed and fall back into the military medium rhythm that is the second home of Motörhead’s music. It is the style that you can easily become bored with over time a the song’s central riff and drum fill pretty much remains the same all the way through the song. In some instances it works, usually on the shorter songs. Here on “Suicide” though, at five minutes plus, it can start to get a bit beyond it by the end of the song.
“Life’s a Bitch” goes in a different direction, starting out almost like an old fashion early day’s Elvis rock song, and that beginning lingers on even once you have moved into the song itself. It’s that riff from Phil that sends through those memories. “Down on Me” is a grittier harder song with Phil’s guitar riffing along hard with Lemmy’s bass and Lemmy’s vocals hard at work as well. “In the Black” continues on in this vein, and doubles down a little with Mikkey’s drums coming in harder and more prominently here. I won’t deny I like this song, though it is a real extension of the Motörhead sound, much heavier than they usually like to play. So too “Fight” which is hard and aggressive. I enjoy this section of the album because it does show a side of the band that they haven’t always portrayed, that real heavy metal side that they have generally shied away from in always suggesting they are a rock ‘n’ roll band. This lifts the harder profile, even if it is only through this section.
“In the Year of the Wolf” and “Keys of the Kingdom” change it up again, but still in a completely enjoyable way, while “Smiling Like a Killer” is actually the most ‘normal’ Motörhead song on the album.
Once you get big enough that you don’t have to worry what anybody thinks about you, you can start to do songs that may be considered out of your normal space by critics and/or fans. This is certainly the case here with the final song on the album, as Lemmy does his best Johnny Cash impersonation with “Whorehouse Blues”, an unapologetic blues number that is the antithesis of every other song on the album. It sticks out like a sore thumb, though given it comes at the very end at least it isn’t sucking the momentum out of the album halfway through. In the end you’ll either enjoy this song or just stop the CD once you get to this point. I am more in favour of the second option.

Motörhead’s career has been littered with albums that have varied as to the amount of harder rock they have utilised. Some come out and are very much straight down the line rock ‘n’ roll with a bit more guitar thrown in, while others have ramped it up a little to move to that harder side of the line. This one has certainly had that harder edge to it, without compromising the style the band has been delivering for three decades. Apart from the obvious couple of songs that steer clear of this pigeon-holing of their sound, this album has a lot to offer for those who like me enjoy that heavier sound.

Rating: “Don't give me that runaround, you know I treat you fine”.   3.5/5

1073. Motörhead / We Are Motörhead. 2000. 4/5

Heading into their fourth decade as a band, there would be no question that many would be wondering if Motörhead still had relevance in the music world. Despite a stable lineup and the consistent release of albums every couple of years, was the style of music that Motörhead continued to release really what the kids wanted to hear? No doubt the band themselves didn’t give a rats arse. And no matter what you thought of the albums that they band had put together during the 1990’s, I can assure you that We Are Motörhead was an album to set the record straight as to whether they still had it or not.

“See Me Burning” starts the album off on the right foot and at the right pace, rushing along to its conclusion. “Slow Dance” immediately pulls back into a contemporary Motörhead tempo, setting up a head-bobbing lick and hard rocking riff from Phil Campbell’s guitar. “Stay Out of Jail” continues on with the harder edge to the album that recent efforts.
I’m not sure I understand the reasoning behind the recording of the cover versions of the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen”. Was it just to fill up the album or was it a tribute to the days when the band first formed and started gigging around. Either way, as covers go, it’s a good one. Following this the album jumps straight back into high gear with the fast paced and loud “Out to Lunch” which has just about everything that I think are the best parts of Motörhead. High tempo, high velocity, great solo licks and the drums driving the song along with plenty of bangs and crashes. Songs like this have been few and far between over recent releases and this is a joy to hear each time I play the album.
“Wake the Dead” has an unlikely double kick and tom drum rolling drum lineage which dominates the track and lower drainage vocals from Lemmy, creating an unusual atmosphere for the band’s usual intense rock sound, before breaking out through the end of the song with Campbell’s solo spot. At five minutes plus, it’s probably a tad over lengthy. “One More Fucking Time” dials back the start of the song to that uncomfortable clear slow guitar where Lemmy’s vocals go into an awkward phase where they are trying to be in a ballad tone but can never quite reach it. Yeah I know, just get over it and accept it for what it is, and I do. But I still often wonder why the band would play songs like this. Because they want to? Because they think they need to? I don’t know, but this is a ‘skip’ song if ever I’ve heard one, and that make it superfluous to an album if you are going to be thinking this from the start. It also is far too long, clocking in at almost seven minutes. It’s a lot to expect the listener to struggle through this. It’s not such a bad song once you get through it but there are only so many times I want to listen to it.
As a pay-off, the last three songs on the album bring us back to where we ought to be, as the short sharp shock that Motörhead does so well. “Stagefright / Crash & Burn” is terrific, harnessing the best of Lemmy’s vocals and lyrics as Mikkey crashes along on the drums and Phil hammers along on guitar. Great stuff. “(Wearing Your) Heart on Your Sleeve” rolls along in a different method but still each of the three members deliver the goods, while the closing title track of “We Are Motörhead” ties up the album in old fashioned way, starting off with Lemmy’s wrangling bass and leading the rest of the band almost in a tribute to the old days.

Overall I think this is a terrific album. I think that perhaps two songs, “Slow Dance” and “One More Fucking Time”, just hold it back from being a really top shelf album, and yet neither is a bad song. But the winners here outweigh the slight misdirection of those tracks. Songs like "See Me Burning", “Stay Out of Jail”, “Out to Lunch” and “We Are Motörhead” make this a real joy to throw into the CD player and give a spin. Not everything can work, but here for the start of the new millennium this album brings forth the best that Motörhead can offer and prove that they are still able to get in the ring and produce some ripping tunes.

Rating:  “Out for blood, out for blood, out to lunch and no damn good”.   4/5

1072. Motörhead / Snake Bite Love. 1998. 2.5/5

If there is one major factor that you can’t take away from this band, it’s that they never stopped producing albums on a regular basis. For the most part, no more than a couple of years ever separated albums being released. That’s a tough thing to do, to keep finding inspiration and ideas on such a scale as to be able to fill the required volume that an album must have. To keep the quality of the product high enough to convince the fans to keep buying them also takes some ability. Somewhere in that, there has to come a time when the product doesn’t quite stack up, and that either more time should have been taken in either writing or recording the album – or both – or that perhaps there needed to be a longer time between releases to ensure everything was right. Maybe, just maybe, this album is one of those points in time for Motörhead.
In several interviews and books, drummer Mikkey Dee has been vehement in his disappointment with the album as a whole, a couple of songs in particular, and the fact that it had all been done so quickly, without any thought of extending. Dee was quoted as saying an extra three weeks would have allowed the band to produce a ‘great’ album instead of a ‘shit’ album.
The previous album “Overnight Sensation” had been the first written and recorded back as a three piece, and so it was hoped that now that the band had settled on this again, that the writing would turn out as solid. Some quarters suggest that the missing piece of Wurzel’s writing may have been an influence in the changing style of the songs. No matter where opinion may lie, there is little doubt that the result is mixed.

Motörhead has always been at its best for me when the tempo is right and the songs have the right mix of heavy guitar and rock ‘n’ roll feel. For the most part there is very little of that balance here. “Love for Sale” and “Dogs of War” start the album off well enough but don’t light any fire like previous Motörhead albums have. The title track “Snake Bite Love” tries to inject a bit of old-fashioned rock ‘n roll into a heavier riff, while “Assassin” changes up the template but doesn’t really work.
“Take the Blame” that follows is probably the best song on the album. It has that fast pace, with blazing drums from Mikkey Dee in particular that dominate the track underneath Phil’s guitar and Lemmy’s bass and vocals, and the attitude that makes the best Motorhead songs.
“Dead and Gone” however is another Motörhead ballad, a style of genre that seems so alien to a band like Motörhead that it continues to be a surprise whenever I find a song like it on their albums. It just doesn’t fit with them, no matter how well written or played it might be. Certainly, Lemmy’s vocals never suit such a song which isn’t a criticism, it’s just a fact. In my opinion at least.
“Night Side” on the other hand just feels like it was thrown together in about five minutes, both musically and lyrically. In many ways it sums up how the whole album comes across, and it comes back to what has been said by the members of the band in the years since. “Don’t Lie to Me” is a typical Motorhead rock n’ roll song, combining that with a fast paced blues guitar progression that is fun enough to listen to, while “Joy of Labour” settles into that slow tempo that reveals the cracks in anything except top shelf Motörhead songs. Listening to Lemmy struggle over the vocals here makes it tough going.
Still, even these songs don’t quite prepare you for what can only be described as the boredom and sameness of the closing two tracks, “Desperate for You” and “Better Off Dead”. Neither of these songs provide even a glimmer of hope for the album. It’s a standard Motörhead progression while Lemmy’s doubled vocals can’t hide the weak lyrical content. It’s not that they are played poorly, just that they are both pulled from the same playbook that has been worn so thin that there is nothing stylish left. The tempo of the tracks is fine, which is at least a positive, but is no magic here that lifts them to a level that is worth getting excited about.

As it turns out, I had never heard this album until more than a decade after its release. Most of Motorhead tended to vanish from the perimeter for a good number of years, and I more or less stuck with the albums that I already knew rather than seeking out their new material when it was released. It wasn’t until around 2010 that I began to go back and find those albums released in that previous 15 years to see just what the band had put up as their offerings, and it is fair to say there was some gems and some wet molten mud. This one was one of the ones that I had problems with overall. The album is just a solid album. It doesn’t really have any highlights, and songs you would pick out to throw on a playlist for the car of a party. And it has a couple of songs that just make you look for the skip button. Which, of course, in the end, is how the damning aspect of an album can be judged.
The continuing changes in the music scene at the turn of the century had affected many long-term bands, with releases by bands like Metallica and Megadeth in particular dividing fans with the changes they had made. The differences here are not through experimentation of changes in taste in the band, but perhaps just through running out of ideas as to how to best bring forth the music that fans of the band loved. They were also battling it out with industrial metal and nu-metal which was the rising force of popularity at the time, which made it all the more difficult to find yourself heard. Whether this albums suffers most from that, or from rushing too much in the writing and recording to really pull out the average songs and replace them with a variant, or if it was simply just a lack of inspiration, this ends up being only an average album in the band’s discography.

1071. Motörhead / Overnight Sensation. 1996. 3/5

For the first time since the early 1980’s, Motörhead reverted back to being a three piece with the departure of Würzel following the recording of Sacrifice. Along with this the band was still faced with being unfashionable in the current music climate, and the minor changes made to their sound over the past few albums either pleased fans or put them off side. In reference point the title of the album, Overnight Sensation perhaps says as much about the time as anything else.

For me this album splits itself into three compartments. There are the usual, ‘average’, ‘everyday’ Motorhead songs, the ones you know will be a part of every album the band records. Then there are the exceptional songs, the ones that have the right energy and drive that electrify the album. And there are also a couple that stretch the boundaries of the band, and as a result the listener.
“Crazy Like a Fox” is just the perfect Motörhead template, based around a great riff throughout and the underlying rhythm at that pace that makes great hard rock songs perfect for listening to. The title track “Overnight Sensation” fits into this category as well, just a perfect Motörhead hard rock sound. There’s nothing new, but when you hear them you know what band it is. “Murder Show” is one of my favourites, because it has the upbeat, jiving riffing, soloing and singing that make it a pleasure to put on an album and let it entertain you. Short, sharp and memorable.
“I Don’t Believe a Word” is as intriguing a song as it was on its release on this album. Can you call it a ballad? I guess it really is, and though Motörhead’s past examples of such songs are ones that I have never really taken to, this one still grabs me every time I listen to it. The bass line throughout, accompanied by the stagnated riff and the solid drum beat make for an interesting song – but it’s just too damn long! At over six minutes, it does wear thin after a while and it loses a lot of what it builds up through the first half of the song. Strangely enough “Shake the World” mixes things up too, with Mikkey Dee utilising the double kick most of the way through the song which is mirrored by the guitar riff which makes for an unusual and unique sounding song for a Motörhead album.

The rest of the album is pretty much what you would expect. “Civil War” is a good solid opening song. “Eat the Gun” and “Love Can’t Buy You Money” are also good tunes that perhaps just shade the others.
Along with the return to the three piece, Motorhead managed to retain or regain, depending on your viewpoint, the sound that had brought them their fanbase. As could be said about many of their albums, there is nothing overly new or experimental here apart from the two songs mentioned, meaning if you like the band you’ll find enough here to tickle your fancy.

Rating: “Something in humanity is real keen to know, these days everybody gets to go to the murder show”  3/5

1070. Motörhead / Sacrifice. 1995. 3/5

Being an old school hard rock or metal band in the 1990’s became a hard and tough slog, what with the onset of grunge and by extension groove metal and nu-metal. Few of the well-established bands of this genre went through this decade without some sort of change to their own musical direction as a result of what was happening in this regard. Some succeeded despite it, others found it was probably a mistake to follow it. Sacrifice always felt like an attempt to experiment in this fashion, and is either a success or not depending on your own tastes to the revolution.

There seems to be a genuine attempt to move ahead with a ‘modern’ sound on this album, which I guess I can appreciate the reasoning of. The problem I have is that on Bastards they were fighting the grunge movement, and did so by moving back towards the sound that made them the band they are. It didn't sell overly well when it was released, and perhaps this also contributed to deciding to go with an updated sound. For me though a lot of it falls flat here because of that. I didn't - and don't - want to hear Motörhead doing groove metal. I want to hear Motörhead doing Motörhead, which for the most part this album isn't.
The opening salvo of “Sacrifice” and “Sex & Death” starts the album off on a reasonable setting, though even from this early stage you are aware of the changes that have crept it. It is the next three songs where big changes are afoot. “Over Your Shoulder” and “War for War” both share the same guitar distortion sound, but more than that it doesn’t change throughout the song. The grunge feel on “Over Your Shoulder” is incorporated into “War for War” which then brings a groove metal feel with it. Such then is the plight of “Order / Fade to Black” where apart from taking on the 1990’s fascination of slow and grunge-ridden guitar riffs also mixes in pieces of the song where they speed it up to a more likely Motörhead speed, but such is the constant change through the song that it is hard to like.
“Dog Faced Boy” is a better song on the album at a good speed and utilising a better effect on the guitars and song. “All Gone to Hell” also makes me feel better about what is coming out of the speakers. “Make ‘Em Blind” and “Don’t Waste Your Time” try to be more like the late 80’s band we know, especially the latter song that utilises rockabilly guitar and piano all thrown into the mix to bring the rock sound back to what Lemmy enjoys best.
“In Another Time” returns to the guitar sound of the earlier tracks, while “Out of the Sun” finishes the album in style with the Phil Campbell solos on this song the most Motörhead solos on the whole album. It actually reminds you that this IS a Motörhead album and not a 90’s knockoff. All of the tracks are short, sharp, belligerent songs, which means that you don’t dwell too much on the fallibility of much of the album which perhaps is for the best.

Apart from the noted trouble the band had with guitarist Wurzel on this album, such that this ended up being the last album he was a part of, this was a comedown for me after the repaired excellence of Bastards. Comparing that to this for me is a chalk and cheese moment. There are moment here that feel worthy of being a part of the extended legacy that the band has made for itself, but there are too many moments where I am left wondering where they saw themselves going at this part of their career. Better was to come once they had rediscovered their roots.

Rating: “And all our yesterdays are now undone, out of the sun”  3/5

1069. Motörhead / Nö Sleep at All. 1988. 4.5/5

No matter what fans of the band thought about the material that was being released on albums throughout the majority of the decade of the 1980’s, there was still little doubt that as a live band Motörhead was still the ace in the pack (slightly pun intended). With four studio having been released since the excellent No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith was released, the opportunity was there for the band to highlight some of their newer material in a live setting for everyone to experience, and thus came the release of Nö Sleep at All their second (official) live album.

This was recorded at the Giants of Rock Festival in Finland in 1988, and depending on what version of the album you have, has all twelve songs played in their set.
What was immediately noticeable to me was that the newer songs all sound immensely better live than on their studio versions, and it made me wonder that perhaps with a little less rush and a bit more time to get the songs in the right framework that perhaps those couple of albums would have been better. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, but there is no doubt that for me songs such as “Doctor Rock”, “Traitor” and “Dogs” are infinitely better on this release than their original studio vinyl release. I really enjoy them here, and the band does a great job in bringing the live interpretation to the stage. I guess I was less impressed with “Just Cos You Got the Power”, song that turned up on a B side to a single, but I think that’s just because it really does drag on for a Motörhead song and doesn’t have the usual fast packed punch that their best songs do. On that level, “Metropolis” has never been a favourite of mine but it sounds good enough here to ignore that, while “Stay Clean” and “Ace of Spades” continue to do their best work.
The second half of the album is terrific, with terrific versions of “Eat the Rich” and the powerful “Built For Speed” leading into a cracking version of “Deaf Forever”. This is the best part of a live album, showcasing not only the older well known songs but showing that the newer material still stands up great on stage. Speaking of older material, the album concludes with brilliant versions of “Killed By Death” and “Overkill”, and completing what was a pretty special set list for those got to witness it.

There had been a varying reception for the previous four Motörhead albums prior to this, and given that most of the material on this live album was from those albums you can expect that its reception would also be varied. I think it is the perfect example where a live album can introduce people who may have only gotten this album for “Ace of Spades” and “Overkill” to newer songs that they mightn’t know, and allow them to discover just how good the new material (some of it at least) is, and perhaps go back and have another listen to it. Apart from my stated hesitation for a couple of tracks I think this is a belting album and is the perfect addition to Motörhead’s discography, given it doesn’t just repeat what had come before on No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, it complements it perfectly.

Rating: “Stone Deaf Forever!”  4.5/5

1068. Motörhead / Rock 'n' Roll. 1987. 2.5/5

Ten years on form their eponymous debut album and Motörhead had seen the highs and they had seen the lows. Whereas the first five years after that debut release had been filled with big crowds and high adrenaline songs that forced their way into the public perception, the following five years had been dominated by band changes, genre changes and perhaps the feeling that the younger bands in the market were starting to go past them both musically and in popularity. Whether or not they needed to stay relevant was perhaps only a part of the question. Certainly the best way to regain any lost ground was to put out an album that recaptured the imagination of their fans and kept their music out there in amongst the growing torrents that included thrash metal and hair metal. To be honest, Rock 'n' Roll got swallowed in the stampede.

At a time when bands with as varied music selection such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi were storming the charts and airwaves, Motörhead’s new album was lost in the tidal wave. In fact, the only way I had any idea that it was out in the market was from the single “Eat the Rich”, which had its video playing on the music video shows at the time of these other band’s videos. It actually became something of amusement for myself and my mates through the lyric:

“Come on baby, eat the rich,
Put the bite on the son of a bitch
Don't mess around, don't give me no switch,
C'mon baby eat the rich
C'mon baby eat the rich”

The problem being was that this created mirth and laughter rather than fist pumping and head banging. And once I heard the album, this is what it lacked all the way through. The album is titled Rock 'n' Roll but did it contain anything that was really exciting for the punters out there wanting to listen? When I first got it, I was comparing it to Master of Puppets, Somewhere in Time, Hysteria, Slippery When Wet, Girls, Girls, Girls and Dream Evil. All very different albums of different genres of metal and hard rock, but each of them lapped this album, and left it fumbling in their wake.

30 years later, and though I can now listen to it without having to compare it to the other albums I was listening to at the same time, it still hasn’t grown on me any more since. The up-tempo vibe is a positive, but there is very little in the way of a hook or a grab to drag you into the album and give you a counterpoint to use to find real enjoyment. “Eat the Rich” is the only song I can really say stands out for me on the album, and that is only because of that video and that lyric from all those years ago. Thankfully it wasn’t the end for the band, because there are still very worthwhile albums that followed this down the track, but this one has never been one of them for me.

Rating: “Crossed the ocean in a silver bird, flying into another world”. 2.5/5

1067. Motörhead / Orgasmatron. 1986. 3/5

It was a turbulent time for Motörhead through the middle part of the 1980’s. The band had lost guitarist Eddie Clarke, who had been replaced by Brian Robertson and who had then been dismissed himself after the tour following the previous album. This led to long term drummer Phil Taylor also handing in his resignation, and along with now no longer having a record contract they were tough times for a band that was being nominated as a major influence on every new heavy band coming into the market. By the time the smoke had cleared Motörhead had not one but two new guitarists along with a new drummer, and the album that came to fruition from all of this was Orgasmatron.

Given the differences in style that seemed to cruel the last album to the ears of fans and critics, you can probably understand the direction that this album went in. The addition of two guitarists increased the wall of noise coming out of the stereo speakers, and while it isn’t necessarily a fuller sound it most certainly is a different guitar sound again. In some songs it comes across as similar to many Motörhead classics, but in other places the phasing and distortion and pedal effects make themselves present right in the front of the mix. The title track and closing song “Orgasmatron” is one of the best examples of this. Not only is the tempo dropped to a slow crawl, the guitars are distorted and twisted and creating what is a unique sound for a Motörhead song, while Lemmy intones about his thoughts on the hypocrisy of religion, politics and war. It is unusual when you first hear it, and it does take some time to get used to it, but once you do it is enjoyable. “Doctor Rock” is a more straight forward rock song that the band likes to play, though is another where I find the unusual format hinders my liking of the song. Add to this “Claw”, which not only integrates the same sort of song arrangement but then has Lemmy screaming the title throughout the final third of the song. I still feel that on Another Perfect Day Lemmy’s vocals never sounded better. Here though, and especially on these two songs, it feels that he’s deliberately trying to steer clear of that, and to me it is an overreach.
There are some great classic tracks here though, even if most of them have been forgotten over the years by some fans. The opening track “Deaf Forever” is a beauty, cranking along in old school Motörhead style that is a pleasure to listen to. “Nothing Up My Sleeve” and “Ain’t My Crime” also get the album off to a great start. “Mean Machine” is one of the better songs and yet I have always felt that it could have been better, that it just lack a spark that could have lifted it even more. The opening to side two of the album is excellent, with the opening riff of “Built For Speed” reeling back in the doubters and producing a headbanging action with immediate effect. This is followed by “Ridin’ With the Driver” which is also at the right tempo and energy to keep the album moving, and then finished off with the aforementioned “Doctor Rock” and “Orgasmatron”.

This album is a grower, and like most of the albums Motörhead released in the 80’s and 90’s sometimes you have to be in the right mood to appreciate them. Another Perfect Day sounded great from all aspects but the songs didn’t quite resonate. On Orgasmatron the sound is perhaps closer to the base Motörhead sound but is still different enough to stand apart. I am still about 50/50 as to where this stands with me overall. As a first outing for the second coming of Motörhead the band it does promise more than it probably delivers in the end.

Rating: “March or croak, flame and smoke, burn forever in eternal pain”. 3/5

1066. Motörhead / On Parole. 1979. 2.5/5

As all fans will know, this album was the originally recorded, going-to-be-debut-album from Motörhead, that was shelved by the record company because they feared it was not going to sell. It was from this that, a year later, most of this material was re-recorded on another label and released as the eponymously titled debut album. Following the success of this and the follow up album, there was an obvious cash-grab available for this and so it was released to the public without the band’s endorsement. I guess that is the music business for you. Still, in a day and age where it is regular business to release demo versions of songs from albums for the public to listen to, this becomes an interesting exercise in comparing two close eras of the band.

These original recordings had Larry Wallis on guitar, and a fairly different recording and mastering from what occurred on the debut album. Whereas the sound on Motörhead utilises a heavier sound and with more influences steeped in the punk evolution, here on On Parole the sound of the songs is actually quite clean, and much more in the style of rock than any harder variations of the genre. The lyrics certainly may not be of a similar softer standard and they probably still keep this apart from the usual rock song anthem quality, but the difference in the music in there for everyone to hear. In the end it doesn’t change things dramatically, as the good songs are still good here, though it does perhaps leave the lesser songs with a higher mountain to climb. The other major factor apart from the cleaner sound is the guitar. While Wallis is serviceable here, he is not in the same class as Eddie Clarke and his ability to own the song. If nothing else, the change of guitarists following the non-release of this album initially improved the band no end.
Five of the songs here made the final cut when the debut was re-recorded, and they are the best songs on show. They were the three songs that Lemmy was involved in writing – the legendary “Motörhead”, as well as “The Watcher” and “Lost Johnny” – the song co-written by drummer Phil Taylor, “Iron Horse/Born to Lose”, and the Wallis penned song “Vibrator”. Some of the others featured on B-sides and other small releases while some would have vanished from the face of the planet if this hadn’t been released in the long run.

Whether or not you believe this should be considered as a part of the full Motörhead discography – personally I don’t include it – it does provide a glimpse of what may have been, and just what a difference a bit of tweaking can do with a band’s sound. As a moment in history it is probably worth more than as an individual release.

Rating: “On iron horse he flies, on iron horse he gladly dies”. 2.5/5

1065. Motörhead / No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith. 1981. 4.5/5

It tends to follow in a band’s career that once you have released three or four studio albums the band is comfortable enough in itself and in its craft that it decides the time has arrived to release a live album. Why? Well a live album shows the real talent of the band, the ability to relate to their audience, and the ability to showcase the songs they have spent time on in a studio and examine just how they sound in the live environment, which is where a band spends most of its life. And so it was with Motörhead when they brought out this album No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith.

No doubt Motörhead was always a live band. I say this not having had the pleasure to see them live, but they built their reputation on loud raucous shows which is what enabled them to get a record deal in the first place. So the usual problems with recording a live show now come to pass. Firstly, to try and transfer the energy and sheer belligerence of a live show onto vinyl and not lose the impact, and to have a great set list that will showcase the very best that the band has to offer.
So how does No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith stack up? On the first point it is difficult for me to judge not having seen them live to compare, but to my ears this sounds great. The band sounds great, the mix is right, and the crowd noise is at the right level, not overbearing the songs not in the background. It is noticeable the lack of banter from the band between songs, but perhaps that just got taken out in the editing process.
In regards to the set list, that’s another matter. The band had the best songs from four albums to choose from, not only for their touring list but for what they wanted to put on this album. And many of them are their very best. The opening blazing of “Ace of Spades” into the rocking “Stay Clean”. The speed of “The Hammer”, the spitting of “No Class” and the excellence of “Overkill”. The tribute of “(We Are) The Road Crew” and the great finish of “Bomber” and “Motörhead”. All of these songs are terrific. But then the middle gets a little dreary with “Iron Horse” and “Capricorn” and “Metropolis”. Surely “Damage Case” had to be in there? Still, those three songs do sound better live than I would say they do on the studio versions, but for me they just pull this back a little from greatness.

As a live moment in time, capturing the band at one of their theoretical peaks, this is a great listen, and it doesn’t muck around either, 40 minutes from start to finish. It perhaps cannot fully reflect the greatness of Motörhead as a live band, but it comes as close as you are going to get.

Rating: “Another beer is what I need, another gig my ears bleed”. 4.5/5

1064. Wolfsbane / Live Fast, Die Fast. 1989. 3/5

Back in my youth, I became aware of a band called Wolfsbane through metal magazines such as Hot Metal and Kerrang! and Metal Hammer, comparing their early music to other bands I was favourable to at the time. Certainly the lead singer looked very similar to Bruce Dickinson did at the same time with the same long straight hair. Still, with so many other bands taking my fancy I didn’t feel an urge to check them out. Then in 1994 Bruce had left Maiden, and they actually hired that same lead singer, Blaze Bayley to take his place! Wow! But despite how much I enjoyed most of the material that came from those two albums I still didn’t feel any need to check out Wolfsbane. On his departure from Maiden I was pleasantly surprised by Blaze’s first two solo albums with his new band, as they had a great edge to them. Still, no Wolfsbane. Then he released his double live album As Live As It Gets, and one of the songs he does here is “Steel” which I enjoyed thoroughly. Blaze announces that it is an old Wolfsbane song (albeit from their EP All Hell's Breaking Loose Down at Little Kathy Wilson's Place!). Okay, maybe I need to check them out after all.

Wolfsbane’s first album Live Fast, Die Fast is a mixture of fast and slow, of heavy and mild, of good and bad. I don’t think I ever got around how much in places that this band sounds like Van Halen, and certainly Blaze’s vocals at this time have much in common with David Lee Roth’s. Whether or not they were looking for such similarities I don’t know, but they are obvious to most. It was also an interesting time to release an album like this, which feels like it is a hair metal album about five years too late in the whole scheme of the music world. Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer were dominating with their sound, while the Seattle grunge sound was right around the corner. More than anything else, this always sounds like a fun album, that the band itself is enjoying itself, which is half the battle won.
For me the biggest problem with this album is the differing styles and mood of the songs contained on it. This is what stops me enjoying it more. Both “Man Hunt” and “Killing Machine” are the best of the upbeat songs and the best examples of the heavier side of the album. The single “I Like it Hot” that produced a video that showed the band prancing and partying around in hijinks is one of the fun songs on the album, the ones that you’ll either enjoy because they don’t take themselves seriously or dislike because they don’t take themselves seriously. Much of the rest of the album is stuff that was probably enjoyable back in the day for about six minutes, before being cast aside or ignored in favour of anything else that was being released at the time. It really is full of the sexual innuendos that much of the hair metal movement candied up their songs with during the mid-1980’s, and while that works on some levels with those major bands it leaves me a little flat on this album. No doubt this is a result of not having listened to the album when it was released, for the reasons listed above, but moving back in time it is not these songs that hold up the best. It is the more powerful band tracks such as “Man Hunt” and “Killing Machine” that best express the talents of the band.

The musical reasons why Wolfsbane never really took off in a big way are hear for you to hear on their first album. Despite the promise of a great guitar sound and a solid rhythm section and a front man with some good pipes, the writing itself leaves a bit to be desired. It’s a better than average entrance to the album release stage but without any real hooks to drag you in time and again.

Rating: “Burning through the peace and the quiet. I don't want soft music!” 3/5

1063. Motörhead / Motörhead. 1977. 3.5/5

I wonder how many people there are out there whose first ever experience with the band Motörhead is their actual debut album, also entitled Motörhead? I know it wasn’t mine. That was the privilege of the Ace of Spades album like I’m sure it was for many. Indeed it wasn’t for many years that I finally got around to getting a copy of the album and actually listening to it and discovering just what kind of a start the band had made back in the day. And while many people seem to have differing opinion in regards to its quality, I’m not sure I agree.

There’s little left to the imagination by the lyrics of most of the songs. Lemmy’s concordance with drugs is right there for everyone to see in songs such as the title track “Motörhead” and “White Line Fever” and “Keep Us on the Road”. So too in the classic “Iron Horse/Born to Lose”. It is a cavalcade of lyrical exposition, and no doubt would have given a lot of parents at the time some concerns (I guess in the long run it probably would now too). The Larry Wallis penned “Vibrator” is also straight forward in what is being sung about. They mightn’t be writing poetry here but then the Beatles did the same thing, just about girls. Didn’t they?
Motörhead has a uniqueness about it, which is played out perfectly on this first album. The three piece, consisting of Lemmy on bass and vocals, Fast Eddie on guitar and Philthy Taylor on drums, are the epitome of a three piece band. They are loud, raucous and constantly in action. No time to simply strum while your partner solos away in a three piece band, each one of the members has to be contributing at all times to keep the songs moving, and they do that perfectly here. And the uniqueness of each individuals sound is so prevalent here that it sets up the following albums to exploit that. Clarke’s ringing guitar sound, Lemmy’s ‘nang-a-nang’ bass lines and Taylor’s perpetual drumming are classically highlighted here. Sure, the mix and sound mightn’t be A1 in quality, but isn’t the rawness of the material what helps make this album – and indeed the band – what it is? To be fair I think the opinions of those that pass this off because of production issues are overrated. This is part of what makes Motörhead the band they are, a grungy gravelly musical exposition. “Keep Us on the Road” is the perfect example of how I see the band in those days. Whenever I hear the song I can almost see them in that pub environment, crowd squeezed in and loving the band as it sounds.

Given that the album was recorded mostly over a 24 hour period, before a few days were added to help expand the material, this still sounds great today, despite what some experts may tell you. I love the fact that it sounds like a band firing on all cylinders in an effort to get as many songs recorded in as short a time as possible. Certainly the band must have sounded different in a live environment than they do on this album, but that’s what makes this so enjoyable, because it’s laid down in a couple of takes and that’s what you get. Better was to come there’s no doubt about that, but as an opening performance this still has plenty to enjoy.

Rating: “We began at the beginning, moving high and moving fast”. 3.5/5