Artist: Motörhead
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2008
Another year in our little paradise garden and another Motorhead album! With a similarly benevolent warmth of biblical rhetoric, I could describe the latest incarnation of ear-splitting drone that dropped on us like a kamikaze out of a cloud, on the bloodied wings of Motorizer. A squadron of death, pounding away mercilessly and without a breather at carefully pre-selected targets, still breathes under the baton of the indestructible Lemmy Kilmister, a man who decades ago, in recognition of his heroic defiance of modern music trends, also pinned on the badge of the prestigious title of rule-breaker against the norms of medical science. Unlike Janša, Lemmy really is indestructible, and despite his enviable age he still lights up the world with a unique racket of the old rocker school. With Motorizer, his shock therapy for the modern rock scene has at least partly worked, since this is surely yet another one in the catalog of deadly Motorhead landings that will once again try to test the reliability of your immune system, in the most extreme circumstances, of course.
But it’s not all roses, as it might seem at first glance. Even after repeated listens, Motorizer leaves me relatively cold, which is hard for me to admit as a longtime Motorhead consumer. How is that even possible, especially if we go by the general opinion of the folks on Motorhead’s artistic legacy, which rests on the premise that merely knowing Ace Of Spades roughly amounts to filigree mastery of practically the entire discography of the motor heads. So what’s wrong with Motorizer? This time Lemmy’s problem isn’t in emitting distorted seismic waves, but in how he handles them. On top of that, it’s surprising that in his already traditionally juicy poetic meandering Lemmy again deftly steers clear of sexual themes, hospitably nodding along to the common Motorhead denominator all the way since Bastards! Despite his enviable shape, Lemmy is apparently struggling with serious erection problems after all, and so the reasons for Rock Out slowly but surely come to light, including, of course, the famous line “With Your Cock Out”. Sex apparently doesn’t inspire Lemmy anymore, or at least not enough to decently take on the stampede of military marches that is When The Eagle Screams, Heroes and Buried Alive, noisy and sadly completely faceless thrashers that have been robbing Motorhead of authenticity for years. In the eyes of traditionalists, Motorhead are thus increasingly becoming a predictable bone-crushing machine, whose music offers most good-hearted people, under the guise of worshipping a legend, just an excuse to let off steam by adrenaline-fueled bashing of their own noggins.
The years when Lemmy was still an active supporter of the right hand and you could catch him in action in the choir loft daily finally pay off in English Rose, where the elder statesman of rock & roll manages to produce even a few truly interesting melodic flourishes. Or to sum up what I’ve written: Lemmy is making an effort with the singing, and the whole thing doesn’t even come off badly!! The otherwise impoverished category of Motorizer highlights is magnificently joined by The Thousand Names Of God and Teach You How To Sing The Blues. Nothing more to add on that front! Mikkey Dee remains consistently masterful, which is to say far too precise for Motorhead standards, while Campbell’s presence, apart from the ever-present aggressive riffing, is barely noticeable. But never mind. Motorizer is surely an album tailor-made for the skin (or rather the forehead) of those hard-headed folks who, after decades of merciless Rickenbacker rumble in the elite decibel range of a squadron of Junkers 88s and similar props for the systematic destruction of brain cells, still have just enough of the latter left for the optimal functioning of the simplest and, by character, utterly undemanding stick insect.
Lineup
Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister: vocals, bass
Phil Campbell: guitar
Mikkey Dee: drums
Production
Cameron Webb
Tracklist
1.Runaround Man
2.Teach You How To Sing The Blues
3.When The Eagle Screams
4.Rock Out
5.One Short Life
6.Buried Alive
7.English Rose
8.Back On The Chain
9.Heroes
10.Time Is Right
11.The Thousand Names Of God
