Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Motörhead
Label: Silver Lining Music
Release: 2017
Duration: 41:45
Rating: 4/5
The era in which the legendary, uncompromising rock’n’roll punks Motörhead are no longer with us is, evidently, going to be defined by the marketing of their music by the labels keeping a watchful grip on this band’s copyrights. So now we’ve got a covers album. That’s Motorhead playing other artists’ originals and adding their own noble touch, their character, their true-believing and forever unsung allure of rebellious yearning, which was always the engine behind this band’s rock hooliganism and »heresy«!
Okay, let me rein it in. All these tracks were recorded while Lemmy Kilmister was of course still very much alive, and they stretch across the period from 1992 to 2015. You guessed it right away: Hellraiser is on the album too, and it’s not a pure cover, since Lemmy co-wrote it, but the song was shared around, each doing their own version, Motorhead as well as Ozzy Osbourne. It’s probably the »ugly duckling« of the compilation, sticking out instantly thanks to its polished sound, way too pretty for Motorhead, courtesy of Billy Sherwood (Yes), who handled it back then. What’s especially interesting and worthwhile here, though, is the take on Bowie’s Heroes, a »lost« cover recorded during the sessions for the last Motorhead album »Bad Magic«, and it counts as one of the band’s final official recordings!
The compilation is a blast, which is no surprise with a band like this, one that was always brimming with a uniquely magnetic character, a sense of lucid self-irony and a genuine »desperado« swagger of machismo. Lemmy is a rock icon like no other. Hardly anyone comes close to him, if anyone does at all. And the material on this compilation only confirms it. Lemmy is simply the core generator who gives the songs that unique sheen of complete »Motorheadization«, so it won’t be any surprise if a deeply immersed listener starts mistaking the original for the cover (and vice versa).
Yes. A collection of songs Motorhead always loved to play. In the studio and just for their own kicks. That’s how they colorfully sweetened the hours of being holed up together. From a love of punk (Ramones, Sex Pistols), metal (Metallica, Judas Priest) and hard rock (Rainbow – with Biff Byford (Saxon) in a nicely pulled-off vocal duet with Lemmy), on to the very essence of the adrenaline-fueled core of rock and roll (Ted Nugent, The Rolling Stones), all the way to the gem already mentioned, that wildly interesting cover of Bowie’s evergreen Heroes. For the full picture, only The Beatles are missing.
So. A nostalgic mash-up of “Motorheadized” rock and metal standards, which every true defender of rock and roll and of the Motorhead legacy will go hunting for, especially if they haven’t already snapped up most of these covers in the past!
Lineup
Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister – vocals, bass guitar
Phil Campbell – guitar
Mikkey Dee – drums
Track list
01. Breaking The Law (produced by Cameron Webb) 2008
02. God Save The Queen (produced by Bob Kulick Bruce Bouillet) 2000
03. Heroes (produced by Cameron Webb) 2015
04. Starstruck (produced by Cameron Webb) 2014
05. Cat Scratch Fever (produced by Peter Solley) 1992
06. Jumpin’ Jack Flash (produced by Bob Kulick Bruce Bouillet) 2001
07. Sympathy For The Devil (produced by Cameron Webb) 2015
08. Hellraiser (produced by Billy Sherwood) 1992
09. Rockaway Beach (mixed by Cameron Webb) 2002
10. Shoot ‘Em Down (produced by Bob Kulick & Bruce Bouillet) 2001
11. Whiplash (produced by Bruce Bouillet & Bob Kulick) 2005
