I wasn't a Motörhead fan at all when I went through my pubescent heavy metal phase (I sold or swapped all my Black Sabbath and Rainbow albums within 18 months, so none of the originals remain in my collection). They were too raw for me then, I guess.
It was after I'd shaken off that embarrassing phase that I realised the genius of Motörhead, the way they stand apart from all the Grand Guignol nonsense of the rest of the metal scene, and just give it to you short and straight.
Describing Motörhead is a fool's game, liable to lead to ridicule, so I'll just tell a couple of my favourite anecdotes.
Around the time the Ace of Spades album came out, someone at school asked Simon Cooper, one of the biggest fans of the band in our year, whether he'd heard it and what he thought of it. He said what he'd heard sounded like a mix of some bits from Motörhead's Overkill album and some bits from their more recent Bomber album. "So, are you not going to buy it, then?" asked our questioner, probably a prog fan who subscribed to the theory that a band had to show some conceptual and musical development with each new album. "Of course I am," replied Cooper, "What could be better than a mix of Overkill and Bomber?"
If you ever get a chance, try to see The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2 documentary about the heavy metal scene. Lemmy steals the show with his charm, as he refuses to be drawn into criticising other bands. I paraphrase from decades-old memory:
Interviewer (off camera): Quite a lot of the newer metal bands seem to have stolen a lot from you sound and your approach. Does that annoy you?
Lemmy (standing alone on a hillside, possibly above LA): No, why should it? Let them do it. Perhaps in time they'll come up with something we can steal back from them.
Interviewer: What do you think about all those metal bands that wear make-up and try to pretty themselves up?
Lemmy: Good luck to them, if that's what they want to do. Unfortunately it was never an option for me.
In truth, I reckon most of the really great Motörhead music is on the first three or four albums. They may have had occasional flashes of brilliance after that, but, on the evidence of this compilation (which is more than enough for someone with my casual interest), it was a case of diminishing returns after We Are the Road Crew.
MusicBrainz entry for this album |
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