Motorhead: C or D

http://www.motorhead.ru/art11damagecase.htm

I couldn't sleep last night and stumbled across the Classic Albums episode on Ace Of Spades. There's some extras which made it onto YouTube - the one to check out is the semi-reunion (Clarke is in a different studio) of Lemmy, Clarke, and Taylor who blast through "We Are The Road Crew" as an instrumental. Amazingly fantastic even with Clarke effectively pasted in.

I've been listening to the reissues today and I love how inverted the early records are compared with subsequent metal albums. Guitar solos aren't mixed up higher, bass solos are (check out the reissue version of "Stay Clean"!). Drums sound more like Keith Moon or Chuck Biscuits rather than the same Bonham mix every metal band goes for. For all the press that Jimmy Miller gets for his work with the Stones, I think Overkill and Bomber are his best production jobs.

Anyone who says "dud" should be ripped apart by famished hyaenas.

Soooo true then. Soooooo true now.

alex in nyc otm

i don't much go for metal, but i love those two records (and have the reissue versions)

lemmy is the only bass player that makes playing full voiced chords through the whole song fucking ROCK.

Anyone else heard Motörizer yet? I haven't listened to anything since 1916, which was a long, long time ago. In other words, I don't know if they were still this great the whole time, but it's amazing how much 2008 Motörhead is every bit as kickass as 1978 Motörhead.

Which of the late-period albums are worth looking for?

Inferno is as solid a Motorhead album as there's been since Orgasmatron.

I quite like Sacrifice too, and the last one Kiss of Death was good fun.

Hammered is another good one.

I hate that this is going to sound like snark, because I honestly love the shit out of Motorhead, but here goes... you can tell the difference between albums?

Heh, it's a fair point, but some of them just don't seem to grab me that much - I don't really like much of Bastards or We Are Motorhead (which I think was one of those "stunning return to form" records at the time, but I never got into it).

I have "Motorhead," "Bomber," "Overkill," "Ace of Spades," "Orgasmatron," "1916," and the "No Remorse" comp, and it's no big heresy to put 'em all on shuffle. Sez me.

>you can tell the difference between albums?

This is actually a fair question. Motörhead albums don't tend to stick in my head; individual songs do, and sometimes it's hard to remember which album a particular favorite song is on. They're a rock 'n' roll band, and they structure their albums in the old-school "hits 'n' filler" way: They open strong, plod along a bit, pick up momentum around the midpoint (where you'd switch sides in vinyl days) and rocket to the end. So I'll rarely listen to a whole album - I'll listen to the good songs off each one.

Another thing: The current lineup is the best lineup. They've been together for over 15 years now (Phil Campbell's been in the band 24 years!), and they're tight enough and comfortable enough with each other that they can experiment and make it work. The so-called "classic" lineup would never have had the guts or ability to write or record songs like "I Don't Believe A Word," "I Am The Sword," "Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me," "1916," or any of a dozen or more other "hey, that doesn't sound like Motörhead!" tracks they've put out since the early '90s.

I'm seeing them in two weeks at PNC in NJ. It's gonna be my eight-year-old nephew's first concert. Can't wait.

I wasn't actually aware Motorhead had a new album out until this thread got revived, and hey presto it appears in my blog reader a couple of hours later ;)

Thanks all. I might just do some random cherrypicking of recent albums and see what happens.

Another thing: The current lineup is the best lineup. They've been together for over 15 years now (Phil Campbell's been in the band 24 years!), and they're tight enough and comfortable enough with each other that they can experiment and make it work.

Completely agree. And they sound massive live as well.

you can tell the difference between albums?

I can definitely tell the difference between every album up to, say, 1916, that's for sure. Sonically, pretty much each of those records are actually quite distinctly different.

Surely Lemmy is allowed to smoke on stage? FFS.
Riot. Anarchy. tear the walls down etc

A couple of tours ago they only played two songs from their normal 'greatest hits' setlist, the rest was all taken from their 85-00 albums. Fucking awesome that was, all sounded like bonafide classics. Really made me reassess those albums. The fact that they can pull this off where every other 30+ year old classic rock band would be booed off if they didn't deliver the hits.

I picked this up while record shopping Friday - http://www.rock-n-roll-action-figures.com/lolekimoacfi.html - I want it to come to life and do my bidding.

I can't wait for the documentary to come out!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0501437/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg0mjnFkeqw

Lemmy is SO cool.

I wish I could find more of those reissues around here, it doesn't even seem like Amazon has them. I picked up the Ace of Spades and Another Perfect Day ones, but I'm hungry for more.

Meanwhile I've been working my way backwards through the recent albums - Motorizer, Kiss of Death, Inferno, and Hammered. And yeah, I've pretty much discovered that each of them has anywhere between 3-6 songs I absolutely love - and a lot of interchangeable filler.

I still listen to Hammered a fair bit - it's a good one, except for that poem at the end, which is totally shit but still good somehow. Highlights on that album are the two songs where he's appreciating two sexy women - Dr Love and and Mine All Mine (?). I love Lemmy when he's giving appreciative props to hot biker chicks - clearly the viagra is working.

The newer Motorhead albums are slower, fatter and warmer, to my ears. The songs are as good as ever, and there is the odd surprise - the band will experiment from time to time with multitracked vocals, pitchshifting, death metal
riffs, psychedelic guitar solos, etc.

Another band I think is worth getting back into is Venom - once again, solid, fat riffs, no huge surprises, a smattering of small surprises.

LOVE ME LIKE A REPTILE

LOVE ME LIKE A REPTILE

Anybody buy the stupidly overpriced deluxe editions of the early albums? I looked at 'em but couldn't justify it.

no, i'm pretty much with max

get 'em used. Another Perfect Day Deluxe has a great show on the second disc.

gah! fuckin motorhead
saw the lemmy interview in that 'metal: a headbanger's journey' documentary and he talks about the name motorhead being some character from a comic or something?? google not helping here

I thought it was a slang term for someone on a speed binge. Which is what he wrote the song about. And eventually named the band after the song.

ah he mumbles something about a comic character . . .

Another thing: The current lineup is the best lineup. They've been together for over 15 years now (Phil Campbell's been in the band 24 years!), and they're tight enough and comfortable enough with each other that they can experiment and make it work. The so-called "classic" lineup would never have had the guts or ability to write or record songs like "I Don't Believe A Word," "I Am The Sword," "Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me," "1916," or any of a dozen or more other "hey, that doesn't sound like Motörhead!" tracks they've put out since the early '90s

I'd kinda like to hear a Motorhead (Not Motorhead) comp.

Reading the Hawkwind bio - their relationship with Lemmy is hilarious. 'He always had to be right about everything'. How's the new(ish) album Motorizer?

How's the new(ish) album Motorizer?

I can't compare it to recent albums, because I still haven't heard all of them, but it holds its own again the first few. I'd recommend.

It charted in the UK apparently. That must be nice for an old Lemster.

Motorizer rocks. Definitely one of the best of their recent albums.

Yeah, that album's a lot of fun. Actually their last three have been above average...the band's been on a nice little roll as of late.

Hopefully this ends up on Youtube or something.

>> news archive
motörhead news in german
03/03/2010Gimme Lemmy! SXSW Interview Wed. March 17
Celebrating the world premiere of the film LEMMY at SXSW, Motorhead's bass-playing frontman sits down for a chat. The living embodiment of rock and roll, Lemmy played with Hawkwind, spent time in Jimi Hendrix's road crew, and formed Motorhead in 1975. For decades, Motorhead has rocked audiences worldwide with maximum volume and no frills. Lemmy's take-no-prisoners approach to rock inspires countless musicians to this day.

The SXSW Interview with Lemmy takes place on Wednesday March 17 at 5:00pm in Room 18ABC of the Austin Convention Center. Share an hour with a truly influential artist. Noted writer and lifelong metalhead Phil Freeman will ask the questions. Music and Platinum Badges are invited, as well as allShowcasing Artist wristbands. Don't miss this ass-kicking event!

I'm sure it'll wind up being recorded and probably streamed on the SXSW site, or something like that. Plus, I'll have my own flip camera and record some personal footage that I'll upload myself. (I'm Phil Freeman, for anyone who doesn't know.)

I knew you posted around here from the Miles Davis threads and I figured their might be some ILM people that would want to know.

I've been on a huge Motorhead kick for the past six months or so and if I was in Austin, I would definitely check it out. Lemmy is a trip, I read his autobio a month or so ago. I'd love to read a book with just Lemmy talking about rock records. Lemmy is just one of those guys that has the long view of the whole thing.

Have fun.

"ah he mumbles something about a comic character . . ."

that's a comic character he hallucinated after a massive speed binge.

My favorite Motorhead disc is "Orgasmatron." It sounds like no other Motorhead album, has a line-up that purists don't give a lot of stock to, but the songs and sound of it all that still allow Lemmy's attitude to shine through is awesome.

RIP Würzel

Aww RIP.

They have way better songs then anyone gives them credit for

Well... in actuality, lots of people give Motorhead immense credit for having written many, many great songs.
And Lemmy is regarded by the cognoscenti as having been one of the all-time great rock bassists.

I've been contemplating that the 1981 Who track "The Quiet One" was Entwistle taking on Motorhead, the way "Rough Boys" and other Townshend tracks of the era are directed to the punks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E8as7xpR34

If I was a big music manager mogul working for Ozzy Osbourne, I would tell him to make a cover of "Till the End" off the last Motorhead record.

"The Quiet One" would have been an excellent song for Motorhead to cover.

Lots of excellent tracks on the last few albums, always underrated as a songwriter.

That fairly recent covers collection was good too: Lemmy was a fair judge of other people's songs as well.

Lemmy would have been 74 today. I'm listening to a live concert from 1983, included as a bonus disc with the deluxe edition of the very underrated Another Perfect Day. Brian Robertson was a great choice to be their guitarist; it's a shame he didn't want to fully commit to the Motörhead weltanschauung.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ju9QRonoY0

yeah was listening to Another Perfect Day for the first time a couple weeks ago

really a great album, he added a lot on guitar

Lemmy died 5 years ago today

:(

Considering the number of musicians who dies in 2016, I'm reminded of his comment on the line "I don't wanna live forever" from 'Ace Of Spades': "I'd like to die the year before forever, to avoid the rush."

Yes was just thinking of the count in 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDWJYYBkl8A ass for spayeds was cool!

WIll depend on Rollins tolerance but this long tribute podcast is really good: https://www.henryrollins.com/podcasts/2018/8/29/henry-heidi-podcast-lemmy

I still have the flyer for their scheduled Feb 2016 show (with Saxon & Girlschool!) on my refrigerator door.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy6NcxDdDWo

On Leno in 1992. I love Lemmy goes over to the house band and gives Branford something before his short interview with Jay.

I forgot that the quartet lineup lasted almost a decade.