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MOTORHEAD |
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Motorhead are : Released by CMC International
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Been around for nearly a quarter century and still no signs of quit. I mean, this is a record-making machine! Motorhead, inspirations
to thousands of rock and roll junkies and successful loud rock musicians.
Well, they’ve probably all come to grips long ago that if they didn't have this, they’d all be dead. Yes folks, it’s no exaggeration, everything here is louder than just about everything you’ve heard. But don’t take my word for it. Experience it for yourself.
If you’re not stone deaf days later after witnessing this band live,
then odds are your hearing’s already too far gone and, you poor soul,
you don’t know the difference. The two-disc set features
all of their biggest—well you can’t really say ‘hits’, they didn’t
have any, thankfully—classics from the wealth of material they’ve
accumulated over their many years of existence. The sound here is
phenomenal! Go on down the list of both
discs and everything they’ve been revered for is played. With that
said, being that there are 25 total songs, there’s bound to be a few
clunkers, and there are. I’d hate to think there was
any studio trickery after the fact but the sound they get here is
almost too true to the original to not wonder. Let’s face it, they’re
all pretty up there in years and have made ‘hard livin’ as common
an occurrence as getting out of bed in the morning. But they’re churnin’
‘em fast, gritty, ugly, however you want to perceive it and their
sound is as professional as you’ll hear. Don’t believe it? Go listen to the difference between “1916” and “March of Die” when Dee first appeared and the graciously eat your doubts! The ‘bastards’ have come at
us again harder than ever and if there’s one disc out of their recent
collection you need to grab hold of it’s this one. It’s not another
rehashed compilation put out at the bands expense in order to placate
former label involvement, this is the real deal! Catch Motorhead live
when you can but till then, give “Everything Louder…” a listen
and see where many of your rock heroes (listed on the inner cover)
got their influence from! |
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"We Are Motorhead…" Motorhead |
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"Antidisestablishmentarianism…" one of the key portions within the written introductory phrases, compliments of Motormouth extraordinaire, Lemmy, just fits. Wondering where you've heard the word before? Ask Ralph and Alice maybe. For anyone still wavering after all these years, be assured, they are still Motorhead and will still kick our asses… twenty five years and more torture than anyone should have to endure in two lifetimes-so what have we done to deserve this? It's a good thing Motorhead's been able to maintain their loyal following for so long, I mean, what the hell else are you gonna do with this stuff? And how they maintain this annually assaulting pace… The disturbance is loud and reckless in true Motorhead fashion with their new stab-a rusty sword aimed right at the heart plus a coincidental boot to the head for good measure, this one continues their on their own worn and beaten path of consistency… one they forged way back before you or I probably had the right to even look at what would soon be the model of distaste and shame for the rest to follow. Known all at once as forebearers of punk, metal, thrash, and all out scorn-flush the fashion indeed-their latest installment hocks a hefty one in the direction of their own past, low down and dirty, leaner and even meaner than before, this one's probably the rowdiest thing they've done with this lineup since the unleashing of "Bastards" back in '93. You'd think they'd run out of steam at some point, this trio that somehow merges together during crunch time to eliminate all doubts about their continuous future… and speaking of such, they do a downright nasty cover of the Pistols' "God Save the Queen" who, unlike themselves apparently, still has no future… and so it goes for the poor soul. Campbell's got the fingers moving in a raging fit for the opener "See Me Burning," a stormer of an introduction that finds Lemmy in yet another "romantic" mood. Equally frenetic is "Wake the Dead" where Dee's well-deserved "Boom Boom's" really take over and this one's easily one of Motorhead's most ambitious cuts, featuring a couple of mid breaks-cracked and split amidst an otherwise healthy vertebrae where the supporting crew dazzles like never before. What seems the almost gratuitous ballad these days, "One More Fucking Time," is well… actually all right. Now who else could come up with a maddened title like that within what is an otherwise gently swooning love song-never one of their strong points obviously, with a voice like that… but of course you know the next one's gonna be a killer. And so "Stagefright / Crash and Burn" fires a menacing shot right to the crotch of the matter, darting in and out and gone in little over two minutes, another of their fast ones. The bastard son of "Ace of Spades" or so it seems, crops up as the closing title track and so what else needs be said of it? It's loud, rowdy, bitchy, and analogous to any and all things crude, cruel and self-indulgent. Painful yet necessary, they are Motorhead so just bend over and get it over with… Released by CMC International
Records. Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |
Over the Top / The Chase is Better than the CatchMotorhead |
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Having made an entire career of overstaying their welcome, a band that needs no introduction-if not for the fact that the human mind can stretch itself only so far, the mighty Motorhead is back, as if they've ever left… and two more reasons to lock up your daughters… or maybe in this case, their mothers! Now having just released a new album not so long ago and a seemingly endless supply of ageless material, revisited and reissued in one form or another-what have we done to deserve this? We suck how about that! No but really, when you've just had your greatest releases reissued and repackaged and your history basically rewritten for the benefit of your ageless devotees… and you know, the ironic thing about it is that this band wasn't worth a fuck when they first came out. They had that one big breakthrough at around the time "No Remorse" revitalized and really brought their popularity out from the gutter, basically, well whoever said life begins at forty knew what they were talking about! So after all this, what's the point in releasing yet another compilation-as if there's anything left of unused single material or rarities… ain't no such thing anymore! But wait… here we have "Over the Top" and it's a rarities collection! There's not a building in existence today that's big enough to house all of this band's unused material! Now most of this stuff has already been rehashed and released several times over before-and anything they do by way of any new collections of material, old, new, whatever, it will rightfully be critically judged against those first six or seven classics that got the full treatment earlier in the year! Absolute perfection right down to the final descriptive swearwords laid out by their inimitable leader! Well firstly, the rarities begin right off the top-or "over," if you prefer-with an al instrumental version of "Tear Ya Down" which personally, I could care less about. Interesting, but definitely passable. "Louie Louie," an old cover which as an alternate version wreaks just as badly as the original-it's just a lousy song in general and I hope they never play it live again! Now here's where the fun starts… "Over the Top" and "Please Don't Touch," back to back really get this thing rumbling-the latter I believe has appeared on one of these last few collections, but anyway a cool song! "Emergency," is another of the strong points here and then the alternate version of "Over the Top…" A couple of "For Collector's Only" cut ups appear toward the end with "Lemmy Goes Down the Pub" which in any version is worth a few pounds anyway, and a reworked version of "Remember Me I'm Gone…" I've always dug "Train Kept a Rollin'" so that's a keeper-can't make out a goddamned word he's saying but that's the beauty of it… and this is before he "goes down to the pub" so go figure! A fractional history of the band is featured within the credits along with some bad pictures and unfortunately no colorful commentary from the band members themselves. And now onto the "Singles" collection… If there's a choice to be made between the two, it's this one hands down. I still don't know what the hell is with this "Louie Louie" obsession here but it's easily ignored once the opening plucking of "Overkill" nudges its way into the picture. So "The Chase is Better than the Catch…" you loved it as the short but sweet precursor to the close of "Ace of Spades" and you'll like it even more as a full two-disc set that features all of Motorhead's "bronze" moments of glory… those being their earliest years with the ancient Bronze label. Take your pick, A's or B's, they had 'em both and in the year 2000 who'd have ever thought we'd still be hearing 'em! They were very much a punk likeness, Motorhead was, in the early going. And many of their early releases reflect that underground quality-where records came out as singles first and foremost, a sour taste of what usually was to come-and with a band like this, the bitter the better! Well back in the day we had stuff like "Louie Louie / Tear Ya Down" on the opposite sides… "No Class / Like a Nightmare," and well… the list goes on. Anyway the opening to side A runs wild with the likes of "Overkill," "No Class," "Bomber…" and so on-before we discover the "Golden Years…" that's as in their Live EP from two decades ago! Side A closes with two of their best ever in "Shine," from everyone's favorite whipping boy of a record, "Another Perfect Day" and "Killed by Death" which never actually appeared on a regular release but claimed sole rights to the "No Remorse" collection which, make no mistake, never would've met with the same accolades without it-and a song that's probably remained a live staple of the band ever since! Well now here comes the "B" sides, featuring "Tear Ya Down," "Too Late Too Late," and "Like a Nightmare" for an opening threesome! Sifting through the remains, more live music on the way with "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Too Late Too Late…" and no, it's never too late! These guys are living proof! "Over the Top" for now what looks like the third time, appears again as a live version and by this time I'm numb… my ears are numb. The human senses can take only so much of this. Sensory adaptation doesn't apply when you're dealing with a reckless band of crude and unrefined talent coming across dangerously loud even on low volume… So in a nutshell, I'm in trouble. Again, the true fan whose been there since the beginning, or the big collector will find some things… many things that are salvageable from either of these two simultaneous releases and should definitely add it to their collection. It's getting old, but hey, no true headbanger can ever really get their full fix of this low down and lecherous monstrosity that continues to prowl through the damp recesses of a willing and dirty mind… and the wonderful thing is, twenty years down the line when they're all in their eighties probably, we'll still be getting hit with all of the new "classics" that they pulled from the later releases... So kids, you may look forward to a lifetime of torture and shame as you begin to approach your own "golden years - Released by Castle Music Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |
The Best OfMotorhead |
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Born to raise Hell… Born to kick your ass… They've been likened to many things and equally repellent in a world brought wholly up on the latest fashionable dictum and socio-political awareness… Motorhead, self-professed lawn killers, deviants, leather-clad rock and roll mercenaries-wholly responsible for at least two-thirds of the world's hearing loss-have been able to do what few of the many supergroups before or after have done… survive! And commemorating their 25th anniversary in existence-proof positive that there is such a thing as a Devil and he does indeed need to employ a materialistic workforce to do his bidding-Motorhead reaches yet another milestone in their storied, but never placid career-yes, here it is, their one millionth "Greatest Hits" record! Okay that's a slight exaggeration but they have to be in the running for band most actively promoted during their periods of inactivity! Only months removed from their last great studio record "We Are Motorhead…," Lemmy and company are again commemorated on this two disc set which covers of course all their best, and some worst-can't have it both ways with a band like this-songs spanning their 1975 inception on right up to this year's latest. So in one regard, the current collection pays closer attention to some of the band's later years that whether diehards will ever want to admit it or not, featured one of their strongest lineups if not the strongest, and some of the group's more musically adventurous moments. Along the way they somehow managed to dig up some real diamonds-"Motorhead" performed by Lemmy's old band Hawkwind," "Fire Fire," "Bite the Bullet/The Chase is Better than the Catch" both featured live for first time release-and some coal-"Heart of Stone," "Bomber," as performed by Girlschool… you were expecting maybe Britny Fox? It is only fitting that the lesser known, but no less quality titles as "Rock 'N Roll," "The One to Sing the Blues," "Sacrifice," one of their best ever, and "Snake Bite Love" get grouped into a classic collection such as this. The older tunes have been remastered, rehashed and just about re-everything since their origin so the major portion of disc-two really does justice to a recent and ongoing history. Somewhat unusual however they chose to move away from the newer titles and end off the second disc with live version of "Shoot you in the Back" and "The Hammer," which somehow were previously unreleased but why stick 'em there? Anyway, this is a nice collection for fans that hadn't picked up that incredible reissue series they came out with a while back that featured all of the old classics and some awesome photo and quote archives! The "Best Of" features a condensed version of the story and briefly covers each successive phase, of which there are many, of the band and all its scattered parts, the new collection covers in about two and half hours what this bad ass band of miscreants took 25 years to do. 25 years… God Save us all! Sanctuary Records: http://www.sanctuaryrecords.com/ Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |
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"Another Perfect Day" MOTORHEAD |
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The first thing
that should be said about these re-issues is that they are done just
as they should be with bonus music and artwork for the same price
as a standard issue disc. The thought and care that went into producing
the liner notes is invaluable to the overall finished product and
the music is some of the finest in the genre, a winner from any
Robertson had
become a legend in his own right with THIN LIZZY and joining someone
else's act required that he not look like a hired hand and he did
this by grafting his own style to the established MORTORHEAD sound,
often in Robertson didn't
last past the tour for the record and did everything imaginable to
alienate himself from the fans. He refused to play the bands biggest
hits live and insisted on wearing stage cloths that were far too effeminate
for this manliest of manly bands still, the music survives as does
MOTORHEAD as a band, can't say anything of the The bonus tracks here are, "Turn You 'Round Again," "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Don't Need Religion." "ROCK AND
ROLL" was a bit of a rebirth album for MOTORHEAD. "Philthy"
Phil Taylor had returned after having sat out the "ORGASMATRON"
album and tour cycle and the band was settling in to the idea that
though they will The music took on an almost industrial feel to it and numbers like "Eat the Rich" and "Stone Deaf in the USA" became massive crowd favorites. MOTORHEAD had fronted a twin guitar lineup for some time now and as this became the norm for younger bands MOTORHEAD became the template for an entire generation of metalers and the record sales increased as a result. Still, the critics
hated this album and took the time and ink to praise the group's previous
works, something that they Bonus tracks are: "Cradle to the Grave" and "Just 'Cos You Got the Power." "NO SLEEP AT ALL" was recorded in Finland, why? who knows or "Why Not!" as Lemmy was quoted as saying at the time." The band had been on tour for years straight without returning to home or even acknowledging that they had homes and the front office saw a chance to cash in. The record is
great, especially with the bonus tracks here, "Stay Clean"
and "Metropolis," but this was no "HAMMERSMITH"
monster of a hit, that much is for certain. I guess if you want to
be nostalgic about the 1988 tour As I see it, it is another example of the power and speed of one of the worlds most unique rock groups at that point in time but they did do it better both before and after. Released by Castle
Communications (Part of the Sanctuary Records Group) Review By David
Lee
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