MOTORHEAD

PAGE UPDATED IN 2021

Reviewed:
- On Parole (1975/1979)
- Motorhead (1977)
- Overkill (1979)
- Bomber (1979)
- Ace of Spades (1980)
- No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (1981, live album)
- Iron Fist (1982)
- Another Perfect Day (1983)
- No Remorse (1984, compilation)
- Orgasmatron (1986)
- Rock 'n' Roll (1987)
- No Sleep at All (1988, live album)
- Live at Brixton '87 (1990, live album)
- 1916 (1991)
- March or Die (1992)
- Bastards (1993)
- Sacrifice (1995)
- Overnight Sensation (1996)
- Snake Bite Love (1998)
- We Are Motorhead (2000)
- Hammered (2002)
- Inferno (2004)
- BBC Live & In Session (2005)
- Kiss of Death (2006)
- Motorizer (2008)
- The World is Yours (2011)
- Aftershock (2013)
- Bad Magic (2015)
- Clean Your Clock (2016)


ON PAROLE          1979 (RECORDED 1975)          (EMI)

- Standouts: 'Motorhead', 'The Watcher', 'On Parole' 

On Parole was released in 1979, by which point Motorhead already had three records out on sale - yet, it's actually their first ever recorded album. They went into the studio in 1975 to make it, but due to label issues of the time, it was never actually released then. Whatever. I'm sticking On Parole at the top of this page because it makes more sense when you hear the progression from this to their true 1977 debut. From 1971-75, Lemmy was a member of Hawkwind, but let's just say his drug habits and antics didn't quite mesh too well those guys. The rest of Hawkwind were basically hippies and all into LSD and tripping balls - Lemmy was into all that stuff as well as amphetamines, making him something of a wildman. In the end he was fired and instead formed Motorhead, which suited his lifestyle and image to a tee. In fact, On Parole is the only Motorhead album to feature the lineup of Lemmy on bass and vocals, Larry Wallis on guitar and Lucas Fox on drums (although iconic Motorhead drummer Phil 'Philphy Animal' Taylor still performs drums on the bulk of this record).

One thing I will say about this disc is that it's definitely the punkiest Motorhead album. Lemmy always considered the band to have more in common with punk than metal, despite rarely being associated with the punk scene (well, actually, at the end of the day Lemmy always considered Motorhead to be a rock n' roll band, plain and simple). A lot of this band's older records were pretty raw-sounding, but heavy and nasty - this one is raw, but it's real trebly and Larry Wallis' guitar tone is much less aggressive than that of later Motorhead guitarists' such as Eddie Clarke or Phil Campbell. To be honest, I was never a big fan of this record when I was younger for these reasons. I just found it inferior to the vast majority of later stuff.

Hearing it again today in 2021 however, I'm diggin' it for the most part. The opening self-named song 'Motorhead' is still legendary, regardless of whether or not your listening to the slower space rock original Hawkwind version, the 1977 re-recording, or this one from On Parole. It's just a great song, and almost like a trademark for the band. Naturally, when Lemmy recorded it for the newly-formed Motorhead, he upped the tempo a hell of a lot in comparison to the Hawkwind original, and that's entirely appropriate since 'motorhead' essentially means 'speedfreak'. I will say that 'Motorhead' is the best track on here, but most of the others are pretty decent too. 'City Kids' has a surprising amount of good guitar licks and leads in it. I think 'On Parole' has an almost 50's-like rock n' roll quality, mixed with early Bon Scott-era AC/DC. 'Vibrator' is stupidly punky in the traditional, first-wave punk sense. It has a kind of Damned/Buzzcocks kind of aura about it, to my ears. Kind of makes sense really - Lemmy was very good mates with the Damned and even performed with them on occasion... although obviously this album was recorded a little before the Damned's formation, so maybe everything I've just said about 'Vibrator' is completely irrelevant. What is worth noting however, is the fact Wallis actually performs lead vocals on it.

'Iron Horse/Born to Lose' is not too shabby; it's a decent, sleazy, grimy kind of blues jam. And 'The Watcher' is another rearranged Hawkwind song that mostly works as a Motorhead number. Luckily Lemmy did his fair share of songwriting with his previous band, so any reworks of Hawkwind tracks are all songs that he originally wrote anyway. 'Lost Johnny' is another one, originally from Hawkwind's Hall of the Mountain Grill. The riffing on 'Leaving Here' is about as old-school punk rock as it gets. 'Fools' kinda sucks however. I know Wallis sang on 'Vibrator', but musically that still sounded more like Motorhead than 'Fools' does - which he sings on too. 'Fools' is way too lightweight to fit in with the rest of the tracks on here, even if the rest of the album is more lightweight than the majority of the rest of the discography.  

Honestly not a bad album. It has it's issues of course - Lemmy's voice isn't quite the hoarse grunt it would be in the not-too-distant future, but given that this record is a little less gritty than the later stuff anyway, I suppose this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Never liked that tinny, trebly production though. The guitars just don't have enough bite, and while I like a lot of the tracks overall, none are particularly great as such, save for maybe the actual song 'Motorhead'. And I can't exactly call On Parole a go-to Motorhead album for me - in fact, this is the first time since my 2017 review that I've actually heard it again in full. All in all though, this is still a relatively solid start from one of the greatest rock n' roll bands of all time. Everyone's gotta start somewhere.
Adam's rating: 6.9/10

MOTORHEAD          1977         (Chiswick)

- Standouts: 'Motorhead', 'Iron Horse/Born to Lose', 'White Line Fever', 'Train Kept A-Rollin''

Better! And that's most likely because of the new lineup, which is arguably the 'classic' one. Lemmy had recruited guitarist 'Fast' Eddie Clarke to replace Larry Wallace, and obviously Philphy Animal Taylor was on drums. The result is an album that is better than On Parole from almost any angle. Of course, nobody actually got to hear On Parole until 1979, a couple of years after this self-titled record - so in reality this was the first Motorhead album that everyone heard. Anyhow, the music's gotten dirtier, grimier, Lemmy's voice even gruffer, and as for the songs... uh, well, more than half of the album's tracklisting is the same ('Motorhead', 'Vibrator', 'Lost Johnny', 'Iron Horse/Born to Lose' and 'The Watcher')! But like I said, pretty much every aspect of the music has improved that it almost gives me no reason to listen to any of the earlier On Parole recordings of the same tracks.

With that said, this album is still far from one of my personal favourites when looking at the entire discography as a whole. They may have improved the existing tracks (and added three new ones), but most of them weren't all that special anyway, even if they were good. I will say that the version of 'Motorhead' on here is the definitive one - Fast Eddie's guitar playing and tones are fare more exciting and heavy than Larry Wallis'. And 'White Line Fever' is an underrated classic in my eyes. This is a heavy, kinda bluesy romp that just screams golden-age Motorhead. It could've easily fit on Overkill or Bomber. And it also helps that Lemmy sings 'Vibrator' now - it's still the same punky tune, but now it's just far better. And 'Iron Horse/Born to Lose' is far cooler now too. Eddie's soloing is far more memorable, and the song itself is just so dirty and muddy now that I can't help but love it. 'Keep Us on the Road' is disappointingly 'clean' when compared to the rest of the album, for some reason. I mean, it's a good song, but I'm not so sure why Eddie held back on the distortion, or why Lemmy decided to add some kind of muffled effect to his voice. The rest of the track is fine musically, and Lemmy's bass tones sort of make up for the guitars I suppose. The last song is 'Train Kept A-Rollin'', which is an old R&B tune from the 50's and has been covered by a million different people. Motorhead's version is fast and upbeat, and a sign of what was to come with later records.

This is a very solid and mostly consistent album, but like On Parole, is not really a go-to Motorhead album for me. Having said that, there's a handful of songs on here that will always make a Motorhead playlist for me. I guess the way this album could have been better is if Lemmy had just written an album full of entirely new songs when Eddie Clarke joined, rather than just re-record most of the stuff he'd already done with the original lineup. Basically, the bulk of this record consists of songs that were initially fairly good, to songs that are now genuinely good (a couple of them now great) - but the overall product still falls short of being a classic. Well, that's my opinion of course - I've seen plenty of fans label this a classic, but I just feel the following four albums recorded by this same lineup (spoilers!) are far superior. I own a pretty crappy CD copy of this album. It's in one of those shitty wafer-thin cardboard sleeves that's meant to replicate the original vinyl release. I hate these things! They look terrible amongst jewel cases and even digipak albums on shelves because you can barely read the text down the side and have to look really closely to even be able to spot the damn things in a CD collection! There's been plenty of better reissues, and I've been meaning to update my copy with one of them... for about ten years now! 
Adam's rating: 7.8/10

OVERKILL          1979          (Bronze)

- Standouts: All of 'em! 

Ahh, here we go! Now they're kicking ass! This is the Motorhead you know and love, and this record is actually fairly significant in the development of heavy metal. We all know Lemmy never considered Motorhead to be a heavy metal band, opting for the rock n' roll label instead, but his music was integral to the development of the speed and thrash metal genres. No, Overkill is not a speed or thrash record, but it is speedy and thrashy rock n' roll that's for sure! Barely anyone was playing as fast as Motorhead in the late 70's, save for maybe Judas Priest. Motorhead were to be a massive influence on the upcoming speed metal genre. More importantly for me however, is the fact that Overkill is the Motorhead album I consider to be the musical blueprint for just about everything that came afterward. On Parole and Motorhead are both unmistakeably products of Lemmy's songwriting methods, sure, but they're primitive records in comparison to this one. Overkill is gritty, grimy, ugly, bombastic rock n' roll, Lemmy style!

The opening title song is one of the most kick-ass tracks ever recorded. It's a stupidly fast, double-kickin' bass drum-driven tour de force with a blues riff played at a thousand miles an hour. And it even has multiple fake endings! The song 'Overkill' obviously went on to become one of the band's staple songs and was played at pretty much every gig they ever performed, regardless of the lineup. 'Stay Clean' is another well-known, upbeat number with a riff that manages to be surprisingly catchy. '(I Won't) Pay Your Price' has a boogie rock-like quality to it that gets my head noddin'. 'I'll Be Your Sister' manages to have me singing along to it while 'Capricorn' brings the tempo down a notch, but it's simple riff structure is very memorable none-the-less. Maybe 'Capricorn' borders on filler, but I still enjoy it overall.

'No Class' and 'Damage Case' are among my favourite Motorhead tracks. Both are heavy, fast slabs of fist-pumpin' rock n' roll with riffs that again, have an almost boogie-like style. They're fun, and they're meant to be played loud. And if you're drunk you'll enjoy 'em even more, I guarantee it! I love the bass riff in 'Tear Ya Down', another fast song that frankly wasn't played live enough - unlike 'Metropolis', which I'm pretty sure they played each time during the four times I saw them anyway. 'Metropolis' is the slowest track on the album, but it's kind of needed to break up the record. It's a plodding, heavy blues piece that'll still rock you. The lyrics were apparently supposed to be about the 1927 film of the same name, but in reality are nonsense and make zero sense - pretty sure Lemmy himself admitted this in his autobiography White Line Fever (if my memory serves me well), but it actually makes the song more amusing in a way. To be honest, I never batted an eyelid to the lyrics on this one until I read his book. Anyhow, the album ends on another mid-tempo note, 'Limb from Limb'. I've always thought that the riffs on this one have a slight hint of Jimmy Page about them, which is cool.

Obviously I think Overkill is one of the best Motorhead albums, and I'd assume most fans would agree with me on this. The album's not perfect - some of the tracks are ever-so slightly less exciting than others nor is the production up there with their best albums either, but in general the entire thing is an ass-kicking classic that's never, ever dull. 

Adam's rating: 9.3/10

BOMBER          1979          (Bronze)

- Standouts: 'Dead Men Tell No Tales', 'Lawman', 'Sweet Revenge', 'Sharpshooter', 'Stone Dead Forever', 'Step Down', 'Bomber'

I always found Bomber to be ever-so slightly weaker than Overkill, but even so, it's mighty impressive that the band churned out two albums of this calibre in the same year. And when I say 'slightly weaker', I really do mean 'slightly'. This is still a largely excellent companion album to Overkill. In terms of the music, well, it's the classic lineup just doin' their thing. In general, I'd say there's more mid-tempo tracks on Bomber than on the previous record; that might have something to do with my preference being the predecessor - but the mid-tempo tracks on here are better than the mid-tempo songs on Overkill, so there's that. Take 'Lawman' - I can never get enough of it. It's simply one of my favourite Motorhead tracks of all time. There's something about the whole groove of this song that just fucking rules. And although opener 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' probably won't impact you quite the same way 'Overkill' did, it's still driven by a really good, memorable riff. 'Sweet Revenge', track three, is slow too - kind of odd to get this far into a Motorhead record and not hear a fast tune yet, but at least it's another good 'un. Sleazy as fuck, dirty biker blues. 

'Sharpshooter' and 'Poison' pick up the speed a little, and are both good songs. They're kind of overshadowed by 'Stone Dead Forever' though, which is another legit classic to behold. It's also pretty fast, so after sitting through three slow-burners in a row, you then move onto three more upbeat numbers in a row. Great solo too, real bluesy. That was Fast Eddie's style, and it really melded well with Lemmy's punky, bulldozer bass sound. 'All the Aces' and 'Talking Head' are a little too similar in terms of their riffage, but both still get my head banging, so who am I to complain? Interestingly, Eddie does the vocals on 'Step Down', which is the bluesiest, jammiest track on here. If I'm not mistaken, Lemmy said in his book that Eddie was kinda reluctant to sing it, but Lemmy practically forced him to because he's really not a bad vocalist at all! The title track is a bona fide Motorhead speedy classic.

Although I think I'll always prefer Overkill to Bomber, most of the tracks on this album are still as good as those on the predecessor. And I actually think the production on Bomber is an improvement, with a dirtier sound all-round.

Adam's rating: 9/10

ACE OF SPADES          1980          (Bronze)

- Standouts: The whole thing, except maybe 'Fire Fire' and 'Bite the Bullet'. 

Predictably, this is the most famous and best-selling Motorhead record. Also predictably, it was the first Motorhead record I ever bought. This was one of those 'gateway' albums for me - when I was 13 and just getting into rock, I bought albums such as Deep Purple In Rock, Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Master of Reality, Led Zeppelin II and IV, AC/DC's Back in Black, Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast and Judas Priest's British Steel in a very short space of time. Oh, and Ace of Spades of course. Although I don't consider this to be one of my favourite albums of all time (to be honest, I don't think any Motorhead record would make it into my GOAT albums list, although I do think their discography in general is consistently strong overall), like the rest of those albums mentioned, it's still pretty important and integral to where my taste in music comes from. This was the rawest, most primal thing I'd ever heard back then.

Well, I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. Ace of Spades is easily one of the best Motorhead albums. 'Course, it doesn't do anything new or innovative, but this is motherfucking LEMMY we're talkin' about, and he didn't give a shit what anyone thought of him or his music, god rest his soul! That's the thing about this band - they were always the REAL rock n' rollers to me. Lemmy lived and breathed the rock n' roll lifestyle, and the music reflects that. The song 'Ace of Spades' is the signature Motorhead song that needs no introduction, and I'll admit I've heard it way too many times in my life to really care about it anymore. But it is a great, brash, ass-kicking anthem if I ever heard one! And no concert was ever complete without it, even if I have heard it a billion times.

Rest of the album is just as kick-ass as the title track. 'Love Me Like a Reptile' is like a turbocharged blues rock piece, 'Shoot You in the Back' is like a rock n' roll Wild West movie tribute, 'Live to Win' is chock-full of those massive distorted bass riffs that Lemmy did so well. I absolutely love the repetition of the outro to 'Fast and Loose', gets me roaring! '(We Are) The Roadcrew' is Lemmy paying homage to the roadies, and the song itself is one of the heaviest, most unapologetically raw things on the album. Tons of feedback from Eddie's awesome wah-wah solo at the end. Title track aside, the second most anthemy-like track here is 'Jailbait', which has this massive, brazen chorus to singalong to. 'Dance' has that old-school boogie rhythm in it's riffs, and is one of the most fun tracks on the album. 'The Chase Is Better Than the Catch' is one of the best and most fist-pumping mid-tempo songs Lemmy ever penned while 'The Hammer' ends the album on a much faster and aggressive note.

Any negatives? 'Fire Fire' is so-so. Well, the chorus was always kinda 'meh' to me, but the rest of the song still gets my adrenaline going. And the short, snappy 'Bite the Bullet' feels more like an intro to 'The Chase Is Better Than the Catch' than anything else. The production on this album is among their best. I really appreciate the sound of the later-day Motorhead albums, but Ace of Spades is raw enough to make your ears bleed - but each instrument can still be heard quite clearly, which is very important. If I could only pick one Motorhead album to listen to for the rest of my life, I'd pick either Ace of Spades, Another Perfect Day or Overkill. It's a tough call. All are essential records.
Adam's rating: 9.3/10

NO SLEEP 'TIL HAMMERSMITH          1981          (Bronze)

Ah, now this is a live classic. No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith is a true testament to the classic line-up of Lemmy (bass, vocals), 'Fast' Eddie Clarke (guitar) and Phil 'Philphy Animal' Taylor (drums). The band were clearly in their prime, and this live album now stands as a milestone in heavy metal. Take the original studio recordings of these songs, and crank the intensity up to 100%, and this is what you are left with! I picked up the 2009 Deluxe Edition, which contains a whole load of bonus live tracks as well a second CD full of outtakes.
Adam's rating: 9.5/10

IRON FIST          1982          (Bronze)

- Standouts: 'Iron Fist', 'Heart of Stone', 'I'm the Doctor', 'Loser', 'Sex and Outrage', 'Speed Freak', '(Don't Let 'Em) Grind Ya Down', '(Don't Need) Religion'

I've read a lot of articles over the years from critics labelling Iron Fist a significant step-down from any of the last three. Even Lemmy was unhappy with it. Yet I don't think I've ever seen a negative review from a fan, and isn't that what really counts at the end of the day?! A lot of the criticism seems to stem from the fact Eddie Clarke ended up producing it - he never wanted to, but somehow wound up being the inexperienced producer anyway. Obviously this means that the album's quite rough 'round the edges, but who wants a clean-sounding Motorhead record anyway?! True, I'll take Ace of Spades any day of the week over Iron Fist in terms of the mix, but I wouldn't say this album sounds any worse than Overkill or Bomber. Maybe Lemmy's bass could do with cranking up a notch, but overall I think Eddie did an alright job. And anyway, the songs are generally pretty great!

The title track is one of the punchiest, ugliest speed metal songs on any Motorhead album, and one that was regularly played live until the band's demise. Rightly so. Same can be said for 'Heart of Stone' - well, this one never regularly made the live set, but it is another ass-kickin' slab of speedy rock n' roll. 'Sex and Outrage' is a short, swift kick in the balls. 'I'm the Doctor' is a good bit of dumb fun lyrically, but musically it's prime party-style Motorhead. 'Loser' is one of the slower songs from this record, but it's simplicity sticks with you. I like the almost harmonic riff on this one. A lot of fast tunes overall on this album though! 'Shut it Down' and 'Speedfreak' - the latter in particular is a favourite of mine. With that title, how can it not be? A couple more classics to be had with '(Don't Let 'Em) Grind Ya Down' and '(Don't Need) Religion'. I always reckoned '(Don't Need) Religion' had a similar kind of rhythm/structure to 'The Chase Is Better Than the Catch', actually. 'Bang to Rights' - not a lot to say about this one, just another rock-solid, up-tempo gritty rock n' roller.

I guess I was never overly-impressed by 'Go to Hell', which sounds somewhat uninspired next to a lot of the other tracks, but even a by-the-numbers Motorhead tune is almost always still listenable. Some of the vocal lines in 'America' never really clicked with me either, but again, it's certainly not a bad song. The solo is cool though. What isn't cool though, is the fact Eddie Clarke left not too long after this record. I'm fairly certain he stated in an interview that he hated the collaboration between Motorhead and the Plasmatics in 1982 (Lemmy and Wendy O' Williams sharing vocals on a cover of 'Stand by Your Man'!). Apparently Philphy pretty much excluded Clarke from the band however. Eddie and Pete Way of UFO teamed up to form Fastway in 1983.

I do find the last three albums to be marginally stronger than Iron Fist, but overall this is another rock-solid Motorhead record from the 'classic' lineup. Obviously with Fast Eddie Clarke's departure, it was to be the end of an era, but don't sweat! There's still a ton of great shit to come from Lemmy yet!

Adam's rating: 8.9/10

ANOTHER PERFECT DAY          1983          (Castle)

- Standouts: Honestly, pretty much everything!

With Eddie Clarke gone, Lemmy and Philphy somehow ended up with ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson as a replacement. It's a well-known fact that Brian's style didn't mesh well with Motorhead. For a start, his dress sense was so awful that Lemmy felt he was deliberately dressing like a prat to annoy him and the fans! What's more, he'd also refuse to play a lot of the classic songs that every Motorhead fan wants to hear live! Of course, when he was still in Thin Lizzy he never acted this way, so it's kinda clear that he was only in it for the money. Needless to say, Brian only lasted this one album and then he was gone - but what an album! The cool thing about Brian is that he's more technical and musical than Eddie, meaning there's more melody to go with the usual ferociousness of the songs, as well as arguably better solos. It may not sound like such a good recipe on paper, but for Another Perfect Day, it works. This is the kind of record that I'm glad exists - I wouldn't want every Motorhead album to sound this way, but I'm glad we got one. And it's not like Lemmy adjusted his bass-playing style, or gruff vocals to match any of the melodies in the guitar work - this is still 100% Motorhead.

A lot of the songs on this one are fucking awesome. 'Back at the Funny Farm' is a blistering opener, and kind of sets you up for what you're in for with the record. 'Shine' has is classic Motorhead mixed with a vintage rock n' roll vibe, with tons of cool little guitar licks and leads thrown in for good measure. 'Dancing on Your Grave' might be my favourite Motorhead song, well, ever. It's gotta be in my top three at least, for sure. It has some incredibly melodic, catchy guitar hooks but still has that kick-ass Motorhead mentality written all over it. The solo is amazing, the riffs are excellent - this whole track just rules. Same with 'Rock It', which is an extremely fast number featuring yet another outstanding guitar solo.

'One Track Mind' slows things down and is actually built around a fairly simple chord-structure, but again, I really dig it. Man, the title track is excellent too - some fantastic guitar work; you might even call it a borderline ballad! But no need to worry, 'cos it's cool as hell. 'Marching Off to War' and 'Tales of Glory' are decent tracks that sandwich 'I Got Mine'. 'I Got Mine' is built around an almost pop-like melody (!), but one that absolutely works. And anyway, it's fast and will still rock you. The appropriately-titled 'Die You Bastard!' is another blazing song that concludes this album.

Despite what Lemmy thought of Brian's attitude at the time, he always said that Another Perfect Day was one of the best albums he ever made - and he was right. Some of the fans and critics didn't think so at the time due to Robertson's contrasting style, but over time this has gone on to become a fan-favourite. I picked it up during my college days and even then I still thought it was one of their best. Every song is much more memorable on this album overall, more-so than any of the previous works - and it's because of the guitar work. When you're a one-dimensional band like Motorhead, it's difficult to write an album where almost every song sticks out, but this one does it for me. I'm not going to say it's better than Ace or Spades or Overkill, but I certainly find it to be on-par. It's an oddity within the discography, but in the best way possible.

Adam's rating: 9.3/10

NO REMORSE          1984           (Castle)

It was kinda obvious Brian Robertson wasn't gonna last in Motorhead. Sure enough, he left not long after touring for the Another Perfect Day record. Philphy - a huge Thin Lizzy fan - decided to follow Brian and work with him for a few years too, meaning Lemmy was all by himself. Interestingly, he formed a new lineup as a four-piece, with two new guitarists instead of just one. The new guitar players in question were Phil Campbell and Michael 'Wurzel' Burston. Filling the drum stool was former Saxon drummer Pete Gill. Strangely enough, the new lineup's debut was not a new studio album, but rather this two-CD compilation, No Remorse. Normally I write-off 99% of compilations as inessential; they're only really worth it for casual fans with no intention of collecting entire discography's, but No Remorse is different. There's new songs on here recorded by the new lineup, plus a ton of other non-LP material from various singles and tracks from releases such as the St. Valentines Massacre EP - i.e. it's got lots of stuff you likely don't already have. Granted, most of the first disc is full of classic studio tracks from their main albums (of the time), but overall this is one of those rare compilations that's basically essential.

The new studio tracks are mostly great - 'Snaggletooth' and 'Steal Your Face' are vicious, pounding tracks that'll raise your pulse. 'Locomotive' is cool too - super-fast, high energy rock n' roll that you'd expect from Motorhead. For some reason though, the production on this track always seemed kinda muddy to me, next to the other new recordings. There's also two versions of 'Under the Knife' - faster and slower versions. Naturally I prefer the faster version, but both are solid really. As it happens, these were recorded in 1984 when the new lineup formed, but weren't actually added to the tracklisting until the 1996 Castle reissue was released, which is the version I have. The most important new song on here is no-doubt 'Killed by Death', which was a live-favourite and generally one of the band's widely-known tracks. I'll admit it was never a favourite of mine for some reason, even if I do still like it. How can anyone not like a song with the title 'Killed by Death'?! I'm also a big fan of the band's 1978 cover of the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie' - it's a lot of fun, and another high-point of this compilation for me. The Motorhead-Girlschool collaboration tracks (from the St. Valentines Day Massacre EP) 'Please Don't Touch' and 'Emergency' I'm not so keen on, but they're nice to have regardless.

I'm not giving this one a rating, 'cos that's just something I don't do when it comes to compilations. But I will say that anyone getting into Motorhead should go ahead and pick up a copy of No Remorse. There's way too much stuff on here that would otherwise be difficult to get hold of, and the new studio tracks are pretty damn solid. 

ORGASMATRON          1986          (Castle)

- Standouts: ALL!

The bloke who told you "all Motorhead albums sound the same" is wrong. The guy who insisted "Ace of Spades is the only Motorhead album you need" is an idiot. This band followed a very similar formula throughout their discography, that much is true, but for every incarnation of Motorhead is an album that is subtly different from the last. In the case of Orgasmatron, the first album from the four-piece Motorhead, it's gotta be the heaviest thing the band ever laid down, surely?! This is another fucking awesome Motorhead album - those new tracks on the No Remorse compilation were something of a promising taster, but this resulting full-length LP is far better. 'Deaf Forever' is a crushing, stomping, skull-crushing opener. I guess I could argue that the bombastic fun of 'Doctor Rock' would have made a better opener to the slow, thumpin' 'Deaf Forever'... but then again, maybe not. 'Nothing Up My Sleeve' and 'Ain't My Crime' see the band rocking as fast and hard as anything the 'classic' power trio lineup were doing. 'Claw' is particularly mad, Lemmy screaming "THE CLAW! THE CLAW!" over and over again. It's gotta be good, right?! It is. Always loved the speedy riff to 'Mean Machine'. I remember writing a joke metal song on my guitar called 'Pork Pie' many years ago, and I confess that the riff I came up with was basically ripping off the 'Mean Machine' riff, save for a couple of differences in notes.

'Built for Speed' is not as fast as the title suggests, but it's cool. It's one of those heavy mid-tempo Motorhead tracks that I like to compare to 'The Chase Is Better Than the Catch' from Ace of Spades. I tend to use that track as the blueprint for these kind of songs. 'Ridin' with the Driver' cranks up the tempo once again, but the main highlight of this album has to be the closing title track. It's one of the slowest and most repetitive Motorhead songs of all time, but fuckin' hell it's heavy! Lemmy growls his way through 'Orgasmatron', while the rest of the song thunders along like the fucking Snaggletooth train on the album cover. Guitarists Phil Campbell and Wurzel were much more 'metal' on this album than Eddie Clarke was with his rough blues styles, and certainly had none of the melody that Brian Robertson was all about. But for this album, it works 100%. And Pete Gill may have been more of a temporary replacement for the few years Philphy was gone, but his drum work on this album is face-smashingly great.

This is very nearly tied with Overkill, Ace of Spades and Another Perfect Day for me as the best Motorhead album, but I don't listen to Orgasmatron quite as much as do those other records, so it just misses the mark. Not sure what it is - maybe it's the lack of any melody whatsoever! I will say that this is my second favourite album of theirs in terms of production - it's extremely bass-heavy and murky, the guitars grind and the drums pound hard. It's the most crushing Motorhead album by a country mile. 
Adam's rating: 9.2/10

ROCK 'N' ROLL          1987          (Castle)

- Standouts: 'Rock 'n' Roll', 'Eat the Rich', 'The Wolf', 'Traitor', 'Dogs', 'All for You'

This is a full-length Motorhead LP titled Rock 'n' Roll - and Philphy's back behind the kit, so surely that's a recipe for success? Well yeah, this is a cool album alright, but it's definitely not up to the same standard as any of the last six records! The good news is that even when this band start to slip, they usually still put out something decent at the very least. The title track is a punchy little cut with some simplistic, punky riffs and great drumming. 'Eat the Rich' is your typical fun mid-tempo Motorhead number with silly lyrics. Solid. 'Stone Deaf In the USA' will rock 'yer socks off, although the Brit in me was always kinda disappointed Lemmy eventually moved to LA in 1990 and lived there until his death! He was never afraid to show his affection for America in his lyrics (like this one), and I guess it suited his lifestyle better than Britain overall. 'The Wolf' is one of the album's faster moments while 'Traitor' manages to be really catchy with that big, chunky boogie-on-down riff. 'Dogs' is built around some hard-hitting bass riffs from the main man himself. 

For the first time since Another Perfect Day, 'All for You' manages to be a surprisingly melodic rocker (minus the technical prowess of Brian Robertson), and for that reason is one of the more memorable tracks on Rock 'n' Roll. And even though 'Boogeyman' almost sounds like the band were ripping themselves off (listen to 'Shine' from Another Perfect Day and tell me those riffs don't sound the same!), it's still kickass. Oh, and the band somehow managed to get Michael Palin to do a comedy spoken-word sermon half-way through this album, which is pretty neat. All the good stuff aside, what is it about this record that makes it weaker than any of the previous six? Well, 'Blackheart' certainly isn't bad, but I always thought it was kind of lacking in the energy department, surprisingly. It's decent enough, just a little tired-sounding. I will say that Phil Campbell and Wurzel pull off some cool solos however, oozing more life into this track. And I must add that the production is noticeably weaker here than it should be. Lemmy's bass isn't as prominent as you'd like it to be. And while the guitars are rough and raw, without the bass they just sound thin. Shame really, because if this album had been mixed like Orgasmatron, I think it'd really have done favours for the songs.

I was umming and ahing for a while over how to score this album. Originally I gave it a 7.3/10, but I'd actually argue that's too low nowadays. There's only one so-so track for me, 'Blackheart', and even then I still like it overall. 90% of this album is great, and while the production is a step-down, Rock 'n' Roll is an album I rarely look past when I'm on a Motorhead binge.

Adam's rating: 8/10

NO SLEEP AT ALL         1988         (Castle)

No Sleep At All was the first official live album to be released under the four-piece line-up, and Lemmy himself was pretty pissed off with the way the production turned out for this CD. Although the bass has been buried in the mix somewhat, I do like this disc actually. A lot of the songs are from the Rock N' Roll album, which many fans were also disappointed with, but I liked. Apart from the dodgy production, this isn't a particularly bad live album as such.
Adam's rating: 7/10

LIVE AT BRIXTON '87          1990        (Castle)

Apparently this was the recording intended to be used for the No Sleep At All live album, but the tapes 'went missing' for a few years. It was then, originally released without the band's permission - Lemmy had nothing to do with it until he okayed the 2005 Sanctuary reissue (which is the copy I have). Personally I like this a little more than No Sleep At All. The mixing borders on bootleg quality, yet somehow it's still more enjoyable than the former. The setlist is pretty much the same, so there isn't too much differentiate the two records. I wouldn't label either as 'essential' though.
Adam's rating: 7.5/10

1916          1990          (Epic)

- Standouts: 'The One to Sing the Blues', 'I'm so Bad (Baby I Don't Care)', 'No Voices in the Sky', 'Going to Brazil', 'Make My Day', 'R.A.M.O.N.E.S.', 'Shut You Down', '1916' 

There was a time long ago when I thought 1916 was the best Motorhead album, and I think it was because of the experimentation going on (!) throughout a handful of the songs. I guess it just made this record stick out more than usual for me. Who said Lemmy was afraid to try new things? This album proves otherwise, but thankfully the new tricks don't detract from the reason you loved Motorhead in the first place. Well, mostly.

Despite the fact 1916 (occasionally) sees the band venturing down new avenues, there's more than enough of the usual brand of rough, hard-as-nails rock n' roll to digest here. In fact, those tracks are mostly really fucking good - 'The One to Sing the Blues' is a pummelling opener. The edgy speed metal number 'I'm so Bad (Baby I Don't Care)' is amazing, and features one of the best Motorhead riffs ever in my opinion. 'Going to Brazil' is an incredibly fun 50's-influenced rock n' roller, with the band's added griminess graffitied all over it. 'Angel City' is just fine, and would be a highlight if it wasn't for the stupid saxophone in the background! Thankfully the sax doesn't kill it stone dead. 'Make My Day' and 'Shut You Down' kickass, 'nuff said. Oh, and 'R.A.M.O.N.E.S.' - this is one of the fastest, most kick-butt tracks from any incarnation of this band! Lemmy wrote it as a tribute to the Ramones (in case you couldn't tell), and like 'Going to Brazil', was rightfully a regular in the live setlist. 

So, if at one time I used to consider this to be the best Motorhead album, then surely the more unconventional numbers must be really great too, right? Well yeah, the majority of these tracks are really good actually. I just don't like some of them quite as much as used to. 'No Voices In the Sky' is punky and has a ton of melody in it, but it's still fast, and it still rocks. Great song. I used to love 'Nightmare/The Dreamtime' and 'Love Me Forever', but now I'm not so sure. 'Nightmare/The Dreamtime' is this really moody, atmospheric piece with Lemmy crooning in a ghostly voice. The bass is really cool, but this track to me, serves as more of an introduction to 'Love Me Forever' more than anything else. It's not exactly a song they'd ever play live, put it that way. 'Love Me Forever' on the other hand, is a dark heavy metal ballad, and in truth, is rather good overall. It's just that there's other ballads like this that have been done better, honestly (example - Pantera's 'This Love'). It's a good song either way, it's just not really a good Motorhead song in my eyes, if that makes any sense. 

Surprisingly enough, I find the centrepiece of this album to be the most experimental song on here - the closing title track. Come to think of it, this has gotta be the most experimental song Lemmy ever recorded. It's an incredibly poignant and moving ballad, with absolutely zero guitars/bass/drums! It's entirely keyboard and cello-driven, with lyrics from the perspective of a 16 year-old boy who lies about his age to join the army and fight in World War I. Of course, this happened all the time during the First World War, and the boy inevitably ends up being killed during a battle. The battle in question was the Somme in 1916, and the boy is supposed to represent a British soldier (the British lost 19,240 men on the first day). I really feel that '1916' is a song everybody should listen to - you don't have to be a Motorhead fan to enjoy it.

I know when Brian Robertson joined the band, he added lots of melody that wasn't there prior to his joining. But Another Perfect Day didn't really have any truly experimental tracks on it, to me at least. It just sounded like classic Motorhead with an emphasis on the guitar leads. 1916 is different - when the band do decide to experiment on it, the songs are sometimes quite considerably different to anything you heard before, but not necessarily in a bad way. And while you'll be headbanging for the majority of the runtime, the title track will have you in tears by the end! However, I'm struggling to see why I used to love this record so much about a decade ago. I mean, I still think 1916 is excellent, but there's still a handful of albums that surpass it for me these days. That said, it does contain a whopping five of my favourite tracks - 'The One to Sing the Blues', 'I'm so Bad (Baby I Don't Care)', 'Going to Brazil', 'R.A.M.O.N.E.S.' and '1916'. Heh, 1916 earned Motorhead a Grammy nomination. They lost to Metallica (how predictable), but imagine if they'd won! How UN-rock n' roll would that have been, to win the most mainstream award in music! Turns out they did actually win a Grammy in 2005, but we'll gloss over that.
Adam's rating: 9/10

MARCH OR DIE          1992          (Epic)

- Standouts: 'You Better Run', 'Name in Vain'  

I hate to say it, but if any Motorhead album borders on mediocrity, then surely it's 1992's March or Die. 1916 had it's moments of experimentation, but the band weren't necessarily experimenting in radio-friendly fashion. March or Die on the other hand, has a definite commercial sheen about it, and I'm not entirely comfortable with this! I've had this album for years and barely listened to it. I never liked it much when I was younger, and when I originally reviewed it in 2017, I gave it a 5/10 - so let's see how it pans out for me now in 2021 shall we?

'Stand' is pretty good I guess. It's a straightforward rock n' roller, but with a melodic overtone. To be fair, the big reverby production and crisper guitar tones may be the number one contributing factor to this. If this record sounded like Orgasmatron or Ace of Spades, it'd likely sound far more powerful. The Ted Nugent cover, 'Cat Scratch Fever' is actually far better than I remembered. I like the original song anyway, but surprisingly enough, Lemmy's gravelly vocals combined with Phil Campbell and Wurzel's crunchy guitars really work in the track's favour. I suppose it would've been cooler if they'd sped it up some, but as it stands, I enjoy this cover. 'Bad Religion' is listenable, but some of the riffs reek of Motley Crue and the American hair metal scene of the 80's to me, weirdly. I mean, with Lemmy singing, it still sounds like Motorhead... just not Motorhead in the way you'd like to hear them. 'Jack the Ripper' is fairly decent, but again, the weak, slick production of this album just gives it far less bite than past records.

And then there's 'I Ain't No Nice Guy'. This is just a stupid acoustic ballad, no less. Having Ozzy duet with Lemmy sounds fun on paper, but was it really necessary? Feels like a cheap publicity stunt to sell more records, to me. Oh, it also has Slash on lead guitar *groan*. I'm really not a Guns N' Roses fan these days (to be fair, I was never really a fan of Ozzy outside of Black Sabbath either...). Directly after 'I Ain't No Nice Guy' is a cover of 'Hellraiser' from Ozzy's 1991 album No More Tears - to be fair, Lemmy actually wrote this song for Ozzy and made a shit load of money from it, so that kind of explains why Ozzy guests on this album. The version of 'Hellraiser' here is not bad per say, it's just way too similar to Ozzy's rendition and other than Lemmy's vocals, sounds nothing like Motorhead. It just doesn't work like 'Cat Scratch Fever' did. 'Asylum Choir' might rock you though, at least. It'll rock you mildly, but not much more. There's another ballad in 'Too Good To Be True'. At least they plugged-in their instruments for this one, but it's hardly going to excite you. This is a cookie-cutter hard rock ballad at best. 

I do enjoy 'You Better Run', even if it is just a generic blues rocker. It reminds me of the early stuff. Also, 'Name in Vain' is somewhat underrated; this is prime Motorhead! Fast, heavy, dirty... it's rock n' roll, Lemmy-style alright! Same can't be said for the title track, which is basically just 'Nightmare/The Dreamtime' part two. It's Lemmy rambling on about some bollocks for five and a half minutes in a ghostly voice with some distorted keyboards in the background. It's... okay... but it's not really a 'proper song' either. Meh.

There's even problems here that aren't directly related to the songs! First off, why was Phil Campbell calling himself 'Wizzo' on 1916, and on March or Die he decided to go under the moniker 'Zoom'?! Was he jealous that Wurzel, Lemmy and Philphy all had nicknames?! Needless to say, he went back to using his birth name after this album (and the silly thing is, he'd already made two records using his actual name prior to 1916... three if you count No Remorse). And the album cover sucks by Motorhead standards. It looks like something quickly thrown together as a prototype for the final cover. And why does Lemmy look like he's wearing eyeliner in the photos?! 

All in all, this album is marginally better than I remembered, but that don't mean shit. There isn't a track on here that is outright horrible by any means - in fact, 'Stand' and 'Asylum Choir' would likely be genuinely good songs if the production had more balls. 'Name in Vain' and 'You Better Run' are cool for sure, but at the end of the day there's a lot of issues here. It's by far the most commercial-sounding Motorhead album, and I'm almost never a fan of when a band brings in multiple guests to essentially cameo on their songs. It's actually kind of baffling why this album sounds the way it does. In a way, it feels more like a Lemmy solo album than it does a fully-blown Motorhead LP. March or Die ended up being Philphy's last album with the band - he only played drums on 'I Ain't No Nice Guy'. Mikkey Dee stepped in and became the band's drummer right up until the split after Lemmy's death, but even he only plays on 'Hellraiser'. Tommy Aldridge handles the majority of the drum-work here, but was never a full-fledged band member. So yeah... I think this album is kind of a jumbled mess - it's still the worst Motorhead record, but it's not completely useless. It has it's moments.

Adam's rating: 5.6/10

BASTARDS          1993          (ZYX)

- Standouts: 'On Your Feet or on Your Knees', 'Burner', 'Death or Glory', 'I Am the Sword', 'Born to Raise Hell', 'Bad Woman', 'Liar', 'I'm Your Man'

After the mediocre March or Die, the band dropped this banger of a record. The title 'Bastards' kind of suggests a return to form to me. Apparently it didn't get much attention from the press due to poor promotion, and the fact it was released under some random obscure German label - ZYX. No matter! It's not particularly difficult to find a fairly-priced copy of this CD.

'On Your Feet or on Your Knees' is a short and sweet, heavy bombastic opener. And 'Burner' might just be the fastest fucking song Lemmy's ever written. This grinding track borders on thrash metal and just slays. 'Death or Glory' is a World War II-inspired number and sits firmly in line with the punkiest of Motorhead songs. 'I Am the Sword' is a nice and straightforward, fast rock n' roll piece with a slight hint of melody. 'Born to Raise Hell' and 'Bad Woman' aren't quite as speedy, and are both pretty much feel-good party rockers - a welcome change of pace given the ferocity of the last four tracks. 'Liar' stomps along in an a rather angry fashion, and 'I'm Your Man' starts off with a little bluesy, melodic intro. But the rest of the track is built around a really cool, heavy groove and is a little different musically for the band, but in a good way. The mid-tempo 'We Bring the Shake' borders on filler and is definitely less inspired than the majority of the other tracks, but I can still sit through it and get some enjoyment out of it. The final song, 'Devils' is the longest at near-enough six minutes. It's another solid mid-tempo track, but why it needed to last six minutes I'm not so sure.

The majority of Bastards is all about kicking your ass, but there is a very dark ballad in 'Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me', which is all about child abuse. I never liked this acoustic-led track like I did '1916', but at least Lemmy usually makes a serious point with many of his ballads, and doesn't just go down the predictable 'heartbreak this' and 'relationships that' soppy route like most bands do. 'Lost in the Ozone' is something of a ballad too, but it still has it's heavier moments. The production on this album is very good. It's crisper, more modern and less grimy than a lot of the older stuff, but in general the guitars sound much sharper and arguably heavier than they did previously. Maybe Lemmy's bass tone could have been brought forward into the mix more, but in general I think this is a great-sounding record.

One thing I will say is that I find this one to be a tad too long, personally. It's nearly fifty minutes in total; this may not be a particularly long length for albums in general, but in general I don't really need a one-dimensional Motorhead album to last any longer than forty minutes. A minor complaint, because the songs are more-or-less all great, but even so, I don't always want to sit through nearly fifty minutes of raw abrasiveness. All in all though, this is a damn good album. The first half is noticeably stronger than the second, but the album's still consistently good regardless. If the entire album was as good as the first half then I'd have easily given this album a 9/10, but obviously this ain't the case. Bastards is one you should be picking up for sure, regardless. 

Adam's rating: 8.4/10

SACRIFICE         1995         (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Sacrifice', 'Sex & Death', 'Over Your Shoulder', 'War for War', 'Order/Fade to Black', 'Dog-Face Boy', 'Make 'Em Blind', 'Don't Waste Your Time', 'Out of the Sun'

The band had essentially reverted to a trio again by 1995, even if the sleeve notes of this album suggest otherwise. Wurzel may be credited and feature in the photos (apparently the US release crops him out of the photos however), but in reality he only performed one solo and barely contributed anything to the writing. According to Lemmy's book, Wurzel's wife basically convinced him that the band were stealing his money, which was complete bullshit. So really, Sacrifice is the first album of the Lemmy - Phil Campbell - Mikkey Dee lineup which existed right up until the band dissolved in 2015. And to be quite honest, this was probably a good thing for Motorhead overall. They were one of the most consistently good bands in history, and this final three-piece lineup worked and toured together like a well-oiled machine for fucking years.

As for Sacrifice, this is another awesome record. The opening title track is a fiery, hard-hitting track that is an instant classic. It sounds as if Phil stuck his guitars in a lower tuning for the majority of this album, and you can instantly hear it from the opening riff of 'Sacrifice'. 'Sex & Death' is a fun and gritty rock n' roller with a stupidly catchy riff to boot. 'Over Your Shoulder' is a more metallic headbanger, while 'War for War' stomps along like an angry, uh, elephant? Sorry for that crappy analogy! It's kick-butt material anyhow. Same can be said for 'Order/Fade to Black', which transitions between being a stupidly heavy chugger and a face-ripping speed metal number. FYI, the 'Fade to Black' portion bears no relation or resemblance to the Metallica ballad of the same name.

'Dog-Face Boy' and 'All Gone to Hell are again both fast, heavy ditties. 'Make 'Em Blind' is structured around this cool, tribal-like drum beat from Mikkey. The band also go old-school rock n' roll on 'Don't Waste Your Time', which reminds me a lot of 'Going to Brazil', only heavier thanks to the guitar tones and production. 'In Another Time' is more modern-sounding by comparison, and is far more in line with speed metal once again. The final track, 'Out of the Sun' has a ton of punk rock riffage on it, and the chorus is great. 

The production really is spot-on this time around. The album has a grindingly raw, chunky sound that also manages to have a vintage quality about it. But with the detuned guitars, the production really emphasises the heaviness. This is definitely one of the heaviest Motorhead records if I say so myself, probably the heaviest since Orgasmatron. And I don't think Lemmy's ever sounded as gutteral as he does here! Oh, the album cover is killer as well! Overall there's absolutely zero reason for you to avoid Sacrifice, it's fully deserving of a place in your collection. A 9/10 seemed a little too generous - I don't think the music here is quite up to the same standard of, say, Bomber, but it sure is a gem and a classic within the discography.

Adam's rating: 8.9/10

OVERNIGHT SENSATION          1996          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Civil War', 'Crazy Like a Fox', 'I Don't Believe a Word', 'Eat the Gun', 'Overnight Sensation', 'Love Can't Buy You Money', 'Them Not Me', 'Murder Show', 'Shake the World'

The thing that always bugged me about this CD has nothing to do with the music, or the silly album title - nah, it's the fact Lemmy, for whatever reason, decided to shave off his signature mutton chops around this time! And this is the first Motorhead album since Ace of Spades to feature the band on the cover! Unless you're actually a fan of this band, chances are you probably wouldn't even recognise him here without a second glance. Despite Lemmy selling out by shaving his facial hair, thankfully he didn't sell out when it comes to the actual songs on this record. Put simply, this is yet another great album in the discography.

The album begins with a couple of fast, in-your-face 'bangers: 'Civil War' is a swift kick in the balls while 'Crazy Like a Fox' is one more great, retro 50's-influenced rocker to add to the list - it even has a little harmonica solo in the middle of the song, and surprisingly, it works rather well. Just adds to the fun. 'I Don't Believe a Word' is a muddy, bass-heavy, plodding slab of gritty heaviness. Surprisingly catchy, too. 'Eat the Gun' is a super-fast, speedy little number - kinda like 'R.A.M.O.N.E.S.', only heavier. The title track is real good too - a cool mid-tempo track that stands as classic Motorhead. A hidden gem would be 'Love Can't Buy You Money' - Phil Campell's riffs on it are groovy, modern and heavy, yet still work really well for a Motorhead song. The guitar-bass melody transition in the middle is really nice as well.

'Broken' is maybe a bit generic in the riffs-department overall, but the chorus works just fine for me. 'Them Not Me' however, is totally kickass. Motorhead in speed metal mode, it reminds me of 'Burner' from Bastards. There's a vintage Motorhead boogie rock n' roller in 'Murder Show', but with the more modern production values it also sounds like a product of the later-day incarnation of this band. What I mean is, it sounds old-school, but it still sounds like the Lemmy-Campbell-Dee version of the band. 'Shake the World' is slow and dirty, but the main riff is really cool and unorthodox! Not quite sure why, but that riff gives me Iron Maiden vibes, minus all the melody, with added dirt! 'Listen to Your Heart' ends this album with a lighter sound. It's just a feel-good rocker, no more no less.

In terms of the actual songs, Overnight Sensation is every bit as good as the excellent Sacrifice - so why the 0.1 difference in scores? I just prefer the production on the predecessor, that's all. Sacrifice was really raw in the best way possible, Overnight Sensation is cleaner and more modern by comparison, sounding closer to Bastards if anything. The production is still very good however, and I can't really fault it either way.

This frankly underrated album bears some significance for me personally. You see, throughout the majority of secondary school, I had the four records from the 'classic' lineup (Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, Iron Fist). As much as I really liked them, I wasn't in any rush to start collecting any more of the Motorhead discography mainly because I assumed you couldn't get any better than those albums when it came to this band. But I remember going shopping in Birmingham with my friends during my last year of school in 2008, after my exams, and purchasing Overnight Sensation and Snake Bite Love in a twin-pack rather cheaply. Needless to say, I was really impressed with Overnight Sensation, and I suppose I do credit it as the album that made me collect the rest of the discography. By 2011 I had every Motorhead studio album released at the time, and they've been one of my favourite bands since. I also saw them live for the first time in 2010. Ahh, I remember that one vividly! It was at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, and it was the loudest fucking gig I've ever been to. I remember seeing them again at the same venue in 2012, and somehow it wasn't quite as loud - then again, that's probably because since the 2010 gig, my hearing has never been quite the same...
Adam's rating: 8.8/10

SNAKE BITE LOVE          1998          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Love for Sale', 'Dogs of War', 'Snake Bite Love', 'Dead and Gone', 'Joy of Labour', 'Desperate for You'

As I said in the Overnight Sensation review, I bought that CD and this one - Snake Bite Love - in a twin package many years ago. While I was immediately rockin' out to Overnight Sensation, this 1998 follow-up didn't quite impress me in the same way. This one just isn't as good as it's predecessor, plain and simple. But here's the thing - even when Motorhead aren't on top form, they generally still put out something good overall. Sure, March or Die was an exception, but the fact is there's still some songs on Snake Bite Love that I think are great. Take opener 'Love for Sale' for starters - it's an excellent, upbeat party rock n' roller. The last bunch of albums all started off with the band tearing your face off, which is fine, but I don't want every Motorhead record to start this way. The fist-pumping 'Dogs of War' I also like a lot. Hell, the title track is awesome too. The lyrics are dumber than a 90's Adam Sandler film, but this track is damn fun if you ask me, and the idiotic lyrics add to it's charm! Motorhead are not a thinking man's band. 'Take the Blame' is a worthy speed metaller, while 'Dead and Gone' is a moody ballad that sounds good to me. Seriously, no one thinks of Lemmy when they think of ballads, but he was actually rather good at writing them! I can't say I'm the biggest fan of 'Night Side' however. Sounds a little uninspired to me, but at the same time, it's inoffensive. Motorhead on autopilot, but that still means that it's listenable and somewhat okay at the very least. The rock n' roll of 'Don't Lie to Me' is better, good drinking music. 'Joy of Labour' is slower and a little different by comparison, but I like it's heavy blues riffs as well as that melodic pre-chorus. And to be fair, 'Better Off Dead' is a solid, fast and heavy way to end this album. It does the job finely.

The thing that bugs me about this disc is the fact that a few of the tracks seem to almost recycle riffs - all of them from the Sacrifice album, bizarrely. The main riff in the crushing 'Assassin' sounds like the one from the song 'Sacrifice', only slowed down. 'Desperate for You' sounds dangerously similar to 'Sex and Death'! And I can't help but notice the similarities between 'Dogs of War' and 'Over Your Shoulder', regardless of how much I enjoy both these songs. Each of these songs are all decent - 'Desperate for You' in particular, is very fun - but it's really hard to not notice the similarities when Sacrifice was only two albums ago.

The band themselves aren't all that keen on this one either. Well, Lemmy digs it, but Mikkey says it's average at best. Apparently Lemmy was ill for some of the rehearsals, meaning the album was rushed, and much of the music was written by Phil and Mikkey. So apparently this lead to some odd vocal arrangements, but to be honest, I hardly noticed. I mean, if this is Motorhead doing a half-arsed job, it still sounds like Motorhead doing a half-decent job to me. Basically, this album is still enjoyable from start to finish, and even contains a handful of gems here and there. I will admit that it's noticeably weaker than any of the last three, but even so, it's still well worth checking out.
Adam's rating: 7.9/10

WE ARE MOTORHEAD          2000          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'See Me Burning', 'One More Fucking Time', 'Stagefright/Crash & Burn', 'We Are Motorhead'

Gotta be honest, I wasn't looking forward to redoing this page. Not because I didn't want to sit and listen to every Motorhead studio album again, but because I thought I'd just be repeating myself over and over with each release (okay, maybe that is partially true) , given the fairly repetitive nature of this band. I assumed I'd run out of things to say after the first five or so records. But after I re-did the AC/DC page in January, which went far better than expected, I was far more hopeful. Granted, it's taking me a lot longer to get through each of the Motorhead studio albums (twenty-two in total!) - we were in lockdown when I reworked the AC/DC page, and I had way more free time on my hands. But even so, I'd say this one is going pretty well so far! Just seven more albums to go after this one!

So, here we are with yet another studio album from the Lemmy/Campbell/Dee lineup. 'See Me Burning' - a crazy fast speed metal wreckfest. It slays. 'Slow Dance' - this one is mid-tempo Motorhead with a slight modern sheen in terms of the chorus structure and melodies. It's solid, and very typical of this lineup. Same goes for 'Stay Out of Jail', although this one's a bit faster and has some atonal riffs in it, but they work. I do think the Sex Pistols cover, 'God Save the Queen' was kind of unnecessary however. I mean, it's not bad, I just feel it should have been a bonus track or something instead. Why is everyone obsessed with covering the Sex Pistols?! I never liked that version of 'Anarchy in the UK' that Megadeth did either, although thankfully Motorhead seem to do a better job of covering punk bands than Megadeth. Whatever, 'Out to Lunch' is Motorhead rockin' and rollin' in their most traditional, old-school sense. This is one of their more 'party' style tracks, so it's fun! 'Wake the Dead' on the other hand, is Motorhead in heavy metal mode, although it does have this mellow, almost lounge-like break in the middle of the song. There's some interesting transitions in terms of Phil's riffs, and I like it. It's just not quite a standout for me. 

'One More Fucking Time' is stronger - as I said in the Snake Bite Love review, Lemmy was a seriously underrated writer when it came to ballads. His take on these kind of songs almost always swayed away from the usual topics covered and tended to have balls. 'One More Fucking Time' is an excellent, almost stadium rock-type ballady anthem (minus the lyrics) and to me is probably the only genuine classic on this record. 'Stagefright/Crash & Burn' is pretty damn cool as well though. Fast, heavy, hard-hitting. 'Nuff said. I do like '(Wearing Your) Heart on Your Sleeve' too, although the riffs on this one remind me more of the stuff Saxon have been doing for the past twenty years, more-so than Motorhead. This isn't really a complaint as such, a) because I love Saxon and b) because when Lemmy sings on almost anything, you're gonna hear Motorhead in it to some extent. But if you took Lemmy out of this track, I wouldn't have guessed this was Motorhead. The title track however, is 100% Motorhead. I'm surprised they didn't start the record with this song, although I guess they wanted to get the 'We Are Motorhead' message across at the end of the album instead.

There's not really a whole lot of downsides to this one, yet it's also one that I rarely feel the urge to listen to in full. Can't quite put my finger on it. Guess the songs just weren't as memorable this time around, save for 'One More Fucking Time' and possibly 'See Me Burning' and the title track. Production is ever-so-slightly weaker and dryer than any of the last bunch (though not at all bad), although I will say that Mikkey's drumming is tighter than ever, especially on the faster tracks. 

Adam's rating: 7.5/10

HAMMERED          2002          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Walk a Crooked Mile', 'Down the Line', 'Brave New World', 'Voices from the War', 'Mine All Mine', 'Red Raw'

Apparently I never used to think much of this album. I gave it a 6/10 in my first review, which is still above average - but clearly Hammered wasn't doing it for me like most Motorhead albums do. I think my main criticism was the fact that a lot of the tracks on here are mostly mid-tempo. Meh. This isn't necessarily a bad thing so long as the songs in question are decent. Bomber isn't the fastest Motorhead record, and I still consider it to be one of their best. Sitting down and hearing Hammered again for the first time in ages, I can safely say that I was immediately jammin' to 'Walk a Crooked Mile' and 'Down the Line', the first couple of songs. 'Walk a Crooked Mile' is a slow song to kickstart this record - and surprisingly lengthy too - but it's a really good one. It's heavy, but it has moments of melody too. Lemmy sounds kind of tired on it, but not in a bad way, oddly. It's actually quite a mature song for him. 'Down the Line' too, is really heavy. The little guitar lick that Phil plays over the main riff is super catchy, and the phaser effects of the solo works really well. 'Brave New World' is definitely one of the faster tracks on here. It'll mostly be kicking your ass, but the pre-chorus is surprisingly melodic and makes this track more memorable because of it. 'Voices from the War' is awesome - really heavy, not all that fast, but fast enough to give you a kick up the backside.

'Mine All Mine' has some almost pop-like guitar melodies that reminds me a little of 'All for You' from the Rock 'n' Roll album - it even has some keyboard work to back it courtesy of Dizzy Reed. This is a catchy little gem among the discography. And 'Shut Your Mouth' actually manages to resemble 'Metropolis' from Overkill, although it isn't directly ripping it off. 'Kill the World' and 'Dr. Love' are old-school sounding rock n' roll pieces, but the detuned guitars on the CD give them a modern Motorhead flair. The individual parts to 'No Remorse' are great, but I'm not so sure the rest of the song flows well together. Too many transitions from heavy chugging to big, arena-type choruses. Not a bad song, but not really that good either. 'Red Raw', thankfully is a lot better, and is by far the fastest, most vicious song on the record. Not sure what the point of 'Serial Killer' was though. It's just a spoken-word outro, Lemmy trying to sound as evil as possible - not an actual song. I can take it or leave it.

If I can be arsed, I might see if I can track down a used copy that actually had the bonus tracks on it. Not because I love this album enough to buy it twice, but because there's versions of this CD that had Triple H's theme on it, 'The Game'. You don't even have to be a wrestling fan to know that's a prime Motorhead cut! So yeah, I'd like to have a recording of that theme, although buying this album for a second time isn't exactly on my priority list either. Anyhow, I ended up enjoying Hammered more than We Are Motorhead, and actually prefer it these days if we're comparing the two. Production is better too. I don't think it's quite worthy of an 8/10 however, because even though this album is mostly very good, it's not quite great. Lemmy apparently had mixed feelings towards it. I loved how he was always honest with his records and would just staight-up admit if he there was stuff on there that he thought was under par. Well, I'd say this album is certainly above par.

Adam's rating: 7.9/10

INFERNO          2004          (SPV) 

- Standouts: 'Terminal Show', 'Killers', 'In the Name of Tragedy', 'Suicide', 'Life's a Bitch', 'Fight', 'Smiling Like a Killer', 'Whorehouse Blues'

From what I can tell, many fans tend to regard 2004's Inferno as the best later-day Motorhead record - and that's fair enough, because it's fucking excellent. The album kicks off with 'Terminal Show', a frantic opener with the trio firing on all cylinders. 'Killers' is turbo-charged rock n' roll. The punky 'In the Name of Tragedy' is a mighty tour de force while 'Suicide' slows down the tempo and plods along. 'Suicide' is incredibly repetitive, but it grabs me effective immediately, and the chorus has some accessibility about it. 'Life's a Bitch' returns to the familiar boogie-rock n' roll sound, pretty much every Motorhead album needs at least one of these tracks. 'Down On Me' fits in with the rest of the tracks just fine while 'In the Black' is a little hookier in the chorus department. There's a modern heavy metal aura about the chorus' vocal structure, but it melds quite well with the traditional Motorhead style. 'Fight' is one of the speediest tracks on this album, 'In the Year of the Wolf' has some groove in it's riffs, and I find them to be pretty catchy, actually. The bluesiest song on here - aside from the last track that is - is 'Keys to the Kingdom'. This is a slow, jammy kind of number that I think hearkens back to the band's roots. The solo is surprisingly melodic too. 'Smiling Like a Killer' is incredibly punkish and simplistic, and it's jolly good fun.

The last track, 'Whorehouse Blues' really is a traditional-style blues song - acoustic guitars, harmonica... the works. Lemmy crooning in his old age about life on the road as a musician, from what I can tell. The song contrasts the rest of the album, but it works really well as a conclusion if you ask me. Speaking of conclusions, I'm gonna go ahead and conclude that I do consider this to be one of the best Motorhead albums from the final lineup of the band, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than Overnight Sensation either. These two records are tied as the best of the post-four piece lineup for me. The production is certainly top-notch - grinding, heavy, dirty, but also clean enough to sound fresh - however, while the songs are consistently great, I find Inferno to be slightly less memorable than Overnight Sensation overall. That said, most of my niggles are just that - niggles. Very minor complaints that shouldn't deter you from picking this one up. 

Uhh, you know how in the We Are Motorhead review I said that I was surprised at how well this page update was going? Well I kind of hit a brick wall on this review of Inferno. I listened to this album three times in three days and was struggling to write just about anything to do with the songs. I'm hoping my motivation picks up again with the next one...

Adam's rating: 8.8/10

BBC LIVE & IN SESSION          2005          (Sanctuary)

A collector's album for sure, this 2-disc set features tons of raw, sessions from John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, a gig recorded at the Paris Theater in London, sessions from the David Jensen show and the Friday Rock Show - the whole thing spans from '78 to '86. These are some enjoyable performances, yes, and definitely worth checking out for the fanatics, but I wouldn't recommend these kind of collections to casual listeners as they are definitely there to please collectors more than anybody else.
Adam's rating: 8/10

KISS OF DEATH           2006          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Sucker', 'One Night Stand', 'Trigger', 'Under the Gun', 'God Was Never on Your Side', 'Sword of Glory'

This is the second album with Cameron Webb producing - the first being Inferno of course - and the band would stick with this guy right up until the last record, 2015's Bad Magic. While I do think that each of the Webb-produced albums have enough small, subtle touches that differentiate them sonically, I always considered the era from Inferno right up until the end to be the most samey musically. The reason for this is most likely a combination of the fact the Lemmy/Phil/Mikkey lineup was by the far the longest-running incarnation of Motorhead and they got comfortable with their songwriting process, and the fact they kept the same producer for a large proportion of albums. And no, this is not a bad thing at all, I just felt I had to get these points out of the way sooner rather than later. 

Well, 'Sucker' kicks things off in speed metal fashion. Fast, manic, raw... great stuff! 'One Night Stand' surely features one of Phil Cambell's most rollicking boogie-rock riffs ever, no?! This is probably my favourite song on Kiss of Death, one that I simply must play at full volume! 'Devil I Know' is very much the typical Motorhead rock n' roll sound you know and love. 'Trigger' has more melody and guitar licks in it than any of the first three tracks, and is ultimately one of the more memorable songs on here. It's nice that Lemmy didn't just abandon trying to write melodic rockers after Another Perfect Day! 'Under the Gun' gets back to the heaviness however, and focuses more on kicking your ass at a mid-tempo pace. One of the songs on here that tends to get more attention than the rest is probably 'God Was Never on Your Side'. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Lemmy was fuckin' great at writing ballads! Motorhead ballads almost always had a pair of bollocks on them (erm, we'll gloss over the fact C.C. DeVille of quite possibly the lamest hair/glam band, Poison, plays the guitar solo on this track!). Compare them to something like Extreme's 'More Than Words' and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, 'God Was Never on Your Side' is a powerful track and easily one of the highlights of Kiss of Death.

Rather predictably, the band focus purely on heaviness with 'Living in the Past' - which is fair enough since it comes straight after a ballad. 'Christine' is straight-up, feel good rock n' roll. 'Sword of Glory' speeds things up again, and is a punchy, clearly punk-influenced tune. 'Be My Baby' has a fun and memorable chorus, but without it I feel this track would border on filler. And to be honest, 'Kingdom of the Worm' doesn't do a lot for me either. The way Lemmy 'sings' the verses are almost spoken-word, and there isn't much in the way of riffs either. Not terrible, just 'meh'. Luckily, the bombastic 'Going Down' corrects this and finishes the album on a higher note.

On the whole, Kiss of Death is another very good album that just falls short of being great!

Adam's rating: 7.9/10

BETTER MOTORHEAD THAN DEAD: LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH          2007          (SPV)

Lemmy (sort of) has a moment of deja vu with this live album, recorded in 2005 and is a celebration of the band's 30th anniversary and recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, the same venue as the No Sleep Till Hammersmith live classic of '81. The setlist is completely awesome, with the whole show being split over two CD's. Along with the usual favourites, 'Dancing On Your Grave' and 'I Got Mine' from the criminally underrated Another Perfect Day are here, and there's also a few songs from the Inferno album (which was the most recent at the time of the show). Even 'Love For Sale', from Snake Bite Love, is played.

I certainly can't fault the setlist, and I'm definitely jealous of anybody who actually attended this show. However, the mixing of this release could've been better. I'm all for untouched live recordings, and if you were actually THERE, the sound was probably spot-on anyway, but sometimes I think live discs need a bit of tampering with. In this case, Phil Campbell's guitars aren't prominent enough in the overall sound, often being buried under Lemmy's bass and making some of the performances sound a little thin. Maybe it's just more noticeable on the guitar-heavy numbers from Another Perfect Day...ahh, who knows. Despite the guitars being a little too quiet for my liking, this is essential stuff any Motorhead fan, and like I said, you really can't go wrong with the setlist on this one. Plus, the energy is totally there, making for a heck of a fun live album. 
Adam's rating: 8/10

MOTORIZER         2008           (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Runaround Man', 'Teach You How to Sing the Blues', 'When the Eagle Screams', 'Rock Out', 'One Short Life' 'English Rose', 'The Thousand Names of God'

This is a great album and in my opinion, does things better overall than Kiss of Death. If I remember correctly, it was the first Motorhead album I bought as a new release on launch, not that this has anything to do with anything. Motorizer is a heavy album; the guitars sound like they're in a lower tuning again, like they were on Sacrifice. And the production is really strong. It sounds far meatier and crunchier than the previous, possibly even stronger than Inferno (although musically I still think Inferno is the superior album overall). And the songs? Pretty damn solid. 'Runaround Man' is a sledgehammer to the face. The chugging riffy part in the middle sounds a little too modern and out-of-character for Motorhead on paper, but in reality I think it gives this track more punch. 'Teach You How to Sing the Blues' is slower, but it's heavy, and the lyrics are about as rock n' roll as it gets for this band. Definitely one of the more memorable tracks and quite catchy too. 'When the Eagle Screams', despite the modern production, sounds like golden-age Motorhead to me. The main riff sounds like it's been taken directly from Bomber, and for that reason I can only give it praise. 'Rock Out' is one of those speedy, short cuts like 'R.A.M.O.N.E.S.' that the band pull off so well. 'One Short Life' is a sleazy, slightly bluesy number, and again, the excellent production makes it sound heavy as hell. If this album had been produced like March or Die for example, this song would be far less powerful. 

I must admit I can't help but chuckle every time I hear Lemmy's intro to 'English Rose'. It's the fact he says the words in his 'singing' voice, but given the fact there's no music to accompany his intro, it just sounds funny to me! Rest of the track is pretty cool though. A feel-good, party-type Motorhead cut. That much is kind of true with 'Back on the Chain' as well. This is a stompin', boogie rock song, comparable to that of something like '(I Won't) Pay Your Price' from Overkill. 'Time is Right' is a nice little rock n' roller, and 'The Thousand Names of God', despite the simplicity of the chugging riffs, is a damn fine way to close this album. 

Downsides? Well, 'Buried Alive', although relatively fast and heavy, doesn't really feature any memorable riffs, solos or hooks etc., but I'm not going to say it sucks or anything like that. It's just okay, I guess. Same thing with 'Heroes'. Not bad at all, just generic by this band's standards, and I can't tell if it's trying to be a ballad or not. Also, even though I enjoy this album more than I do Kiss or Death or Hammered, I still don't think it qualifies as one of the best Lemmy/Phil/Mikkey Motorhead discs. Sacrifice, Inferno, Overnight Sensation... these are all superior records. Still... I've given Motorizer a fucking 8.2/10, so whatever complaints I do have, they're minor overall. This is yet another Motorhead record that is absolutely worth your time.
Adam's rating: 8.2/10

THE WORLD IS YOURS         2010        (UDR)

- Standouts: 'Born to Lose', 'I Know How to Die', 'I Know What You Need', 'Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye'

The first time I saw Motorhead live was in 2010 when they were in support for this album. Except I actually saw them a few weeks before The World Is Yours (cue the Scarface quotes) was released, but they were still touring for it anyway, and using the album artwork as a backdrop on stage. From what I can recall, they played 'I Know How to Die', 'Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye' and maybe 'Get Back in Line' - all technically unreleased tracks at the time - but I don't remember exactly. Either way, this is another typically solid latter-period, no-frills Motorhead album. What else were you expecting?

The riffs on 'Born to Lose' sort of remind me of 'The One to Sing the Blues' from 1916, which is cool. 'I Know How to Die' is a speedy, bluesy kind of speed metal track. 'Get Back in Line' is honestly about as generic as a mid-tempo Motorhead rock n' roll song can be - normally I'd have a problem with this, but every so often even the most uninspired of Motorhead tracks can still thrill me. And this one does, even if I have very little else to say about it! 'Devil's in My Head' is another solid, heavy, mid-tempo(ish) number. And hey, there's a track on here called 'Rock 'n' Roll Music' - that has to be a standout, surely?! Well yeah, it's pretty cool. Probably not as cool or memorable as 'Rock 'n' Roll' from the, uh, Rock 'n' Roll album, but again, it's yet another fun mid-tempo party rocker. 'Waiting for the Snake' almost sounds indistinguishable from 'Devil's in My Head' - it's not of course, but the tempo is very similar. It's another good song overall, don't get me wrong, but it should've been spaced out on the record's tracklisting a little more. 'Brotherhood of Man' is probably the heaviest track on here - it's another mid-tempo song, and has Lemmy doing that 'Orgasmatron'-style growling vocal style. 'Outlaw'... not a lot to say about this one. It's, erm... yeah - it's mid-tempo... again! Thankfully 'I Know What You Need' and 'Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye' finally pick up the pace! 'Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye' in particular has some excellent soling from Phil Campbell.

I think this is a good album, but in comparison to Motorizer it is something of a misstep. The production is a tad clearer and less grimy by comparison - though I don't really have a problem with it per say. The songs aren't as heavy overall though, and there's also far too many mid-tempo (how many times can I use the term 'mid-tempo' in one review?) tracks on here in my opinion. After 'Born to Lose', you're literally sitting through six mid-paced songs in a row! Granted, they're all decent, but they're not really among their best either. That said, The World Is Yours comes nowhere near the levels of mediocrity that March or Die touched upon and is still a good record all in all. It is however, the most unexciting album from the Cameron Webb-produced, late-stage Motorhead era. 

I must say, after reviewing Kiss of Death I was completely burned out with redoing these Motorhead reviews. I didn't touch this blog for about a month before I came back. Just two more studio albums left after this one! It's not that I haven't enjoyed listening to the Motorhead catalogue in full once again - I really have - it's just really tiring thinking of stuff to say over and over again with a band such as this. Seriously! I listen to a ton of stuff these days, and I'm still fucking working on this fucking page!
Adam's rating: 7/10

AFTERSHOCK          2013          (UDR)

- Standouts: 'Heartbreaker', 'Coup de Grace', 'Lost Woman Blues', 'End of Time', 'Do You Believe', 'Dust and Glass', 'Going to Mexico', 'Queen of the Damned', 'Keep Your Powder Dry'

Aftershock features an unusually long tracklisting: fourteen songs in total, although the album's around forty-six minutes in total, so it's not completely overblown I guess. Let's just jump straight in to this one. Aftershock begins with the relatively simplistic, but strong 'Heartbreaker'. This is just a no-bullshit, heavy way to kick things off, and I love it. 'Coup de Grace' is awesome too, and follows on in a similar, intense manner. The band go old-school on 'Lost Woman Blues' - this track is reminiscent of the bluesy, sleazy jams of early Motorhead numbers such as 'Iron Horse/Born to Lose', and it's a great way to detour away from the heaviness of the first couple of songs. 'End of Time' is a fine speed metaller while 'Do You Believe' is a fun rock n' roll tune that ticks the boxes. Same can be said for 'Death Machine'.

'Dust and Glass', like 'Lost Woman Blues', is another welcome change of pace.  It's another very solid blues rock piece that I consider to be one the main highlights of this record. The fun factor picks up again on 'Going to Mexico' (a sequel to 'Going to Brazil'?), which is built around an extremely straightforward, but memorable riff. 'Crying Shame' has a whiff of that 50's rock n' roll style that we all love. 'Queen of the Damned' is the punkiest Motorhead tune in a while, while Phil's riffs in 'Keep Your Powder Dry' are totally AC/DC! And that's no bad thing, by the way. The final track, 'Paralyzed', is another speed metal song that nicely wraps thing up.

In terms of the bad stuff, well, there ain't a lot to say really. 'Silence When You Speak to Me' is a little uninspired I suppose, but I still quite like it overall - and it's heavy. 'Knife' is slightly forgettable too, but nowhere near bad enough to really harm the record. I will admit that I think fourteen songs is too long for any Motorhead album, regardless of songwriting quality. But these are still just a minor complaints overall. I think Aftershock is quite a lot stronger than The World Is Yours, and is roughly in the same realm as albums like Sacrifice, Overnight Sensation and Inferno for me. The production is better than the last one too, and the music here just goes to show that a band doesn't have to get worse with age.
Adam's rating: 8.7/10

BAD MAGIC          2015        (UDR)

- Standouts: 'Victory or Die', 'Thunder & Lightning', 'Shoot Out All of Your Lights', 'The Devil', 'Teach Them How to Bleed', 'Till the End', 'Choking On Your Screams', 'When the Sky Comes Looking for You'

It had to happen - the inevitable final Motorhead studio album. Bad Magic was released in August 2015, and Lemmy passed away in December of the same year (RIP) - so a mere four months later. What's especially crazy is that the band were touring literally weeks before Lemmy's death, and it was clear that he wasn't in good health throughout 2015. I actually saw Motorhead for the last time in September 2015 - I was on holiday travelling in America with my friend, and in Chicago for a festival called Riot Fest at the time. Even I could tell the band weren't performing to their usual standard. Songs like 'Overkill' and 'Damage Case' were drastically slowed down so Lemmy could keep up. It was surreal - everyone always thought Lemmy was this immortal, God-like figurehead in rock n' roll, but I guess his hardcore lifestyle eventually caught up with him, even if it did take seventy fucking years!

Anyhow, the band didn't do anything notably different or surprising with Bad Magic, the final studio album. But really, what were you expecting? A pop rock record?! Just about the only moderately surprising thing about this album is the cover of the Rolling Stones' classic 'Sympathy for the Devil', which I'll get to later. The first couple of tracks are fire. 'Victory or Die' is about as bombastic an opening track can be for the band in 2015. And 'Thunder & Lightning' is one more fine speed metal number to add to the long list. 'Fire Storm Hotel' slows things down a touch; it has a blues rock kind of vibe going for it, but with that classic Motorhead flair. Phil Campbell's guitar playing on the speedy 'Shoot Out All of Your Lights' is some of his best amongst the last few records. Brian May even does a guitar solo on the heavy, pummelling 'The Devil', which sounds surprising at first - like, what is the guy from Queen doing on a Motorhead album? But then you look at Brian's guest and session discography credits, and it seems as if he's friends with just about everyone in rock music, so it's not really all that weird to see him on here after all. Hell, I'll never forget his awesome solo contribution to Black Sabbath's epic 'When Death Calls' from 1988.

'Electricity' is a short, straightforward rock n' roller, while 'Evil Eye' is also a brief, snappy, but fun number. 'Teach Them How to Bleed' - another solid Motorhead rocker! And it's nice to be able to say we got one more decent ballad out of the band with 'Till the End'. In true Lemmy fashion, it's a rock ballad minus the slushy bollocks that other bands love to do. 'Tell Me Who to Kill' is maybe weaker than the rest of the previous songs, but still has some memorable riffage going for it. 'Choking On Your Screams' is one of the heaviest tracks on the album, and has that guttural vocal style that Lemmy occasionally turned to.  The main riffs and overall vibe of 'When the Sky Comes Looking for You' remind me a lot of 'Doctor Rock' from Orgasmatron, which is fine by me. The album's closer is the Stones cover, 'Sympathy for the Devil'. And it's... okay. It's a predictable song to do if your are gonna cover the Stones, and I do love the original. I really do. But in general I'm not fussed by cover songs, particularly if they're really famous songs that a lot of artists like to cover. I like what Mikkey did with his drums when compared to the percussion of the original, but other than that, I can take or leave this one.

This is another album that I predictably really like. I was so happy that this album sounded as good as it did when it first came out - in fact, aside from the cover which I'm on the fence with, there's only really one other noticeable problem with Bad Magic - Lemmy's vocal performance. It's understandably weaker than any previous record, but only probably 10-15% worse, if that. I can only assume he was already in poor health when this thing was recorded, but seeing as he's always had that ridiculously gravelly, hoarse voice, even if he was ill when he laid down this record, it's not a big deal really. In fact, I actually like most of the songs on this one more than I do Motorizer - the reason for my score being the same is simply because of the vocals and the cover song at the end. I never considered any Motorhead album to be a 'masterpiece', but I do consider them to be one of the most consistently awesome bands of all time. Twenty-two studio albums, and only one of them scored below a 7/10 for me (March or Die and On Parole)!

And come on, can you honestly name a more rock n' roll band or artist than motherfucking Motorhead! How many fucking musicians made this many records and toured as consistently as Motorhead, well after making a decent fortune?! 

Long live Lemmy. Long live Motorhead.
Adam's rating: 8.2/10

CLEAN YOUR CLOCK           2016         (UDR)

I don't really know what to make of this live recording. Personally, I think the best way to honor Lemmy was with the superb Bad Magic record. Lemmy was very ill during these performances, both of which were recorded at the Zenith in Munich, Germany during the 20 and 21st November 2015. What the band didn't realise was that these were to be their last ever shows. Due to Lemmy's illness, he really sounds like he's struggling in general. Like I said in the Bad Magic review, I saw 'em just two months earlier in Chicago at Riot Fest (I was on holiday - I live in the UK in case you forgot) and while I did very much enjoy the performance overall (they were still LOUD as fuck!), Lemmy was noticeably...stiff? It sounded as if many of the songs, eg. 'Damage Case', were being played much slower than usual, probably for Lemmy to be able to comfortably keep up with Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee. The last time I had seen them prior to that show was at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, in November 2012, and the energy was the complete opposite - they were still one of the best live bands in the world as far as I was concerned. Clean Your Clock instantly reminded me of that performance I saw in September 2015 though. It was enjoyable, but depressing all the same. I could tell things weren't right, and I knew it was because of Lemmy's health.Well, I love the fact that they played right up until Lemmy's death - that's what he would have wanted anyhow, but if you are going to buy Clean Your Clock, you have to realise that comparing it to classic live albums such as No Sleep Till Hammersmith or even the more recent offerings such as Better Motorhead than Dead is just daft and unfair, really. The energy isn't there, but it is still worth owning for die hard fans purely for the fact that it contains their last ever recordings.
Adam's rating: 6.5/10