Motörhead Album: “Hammered”

(the title= i lost this cd and just found it about an hour ago) I am a young (born in 1992) fat english punk who lives in California. without this band, i might never have been born. My dad before dating someone always used to ask 'what is your goal in life and what is your faverite band?" when my parents met in a pub in london called 'the pheonix and firkin' my mum replied "to be happy, and motorhead." if motorhead wasn't her faverite band they may never have dated. anyway, I love this cd, although i prefer older classics like 'ace of spades' this is wonderful and brilliant. Red Raw is one of my faverite songs. Motorhead is fulfilling the musical needs of my generation and my mums, and hopefully will coninue to for many generations to come.

As I put the disc in, three things became apparent to me at first. First: it's something special. 2nd: the band is better than ever. 3rd: it needs several cases to listen through cause it's not the kind that catches me at once.

The previous CD, the also excellent 'We Are Motorhead' often roused some déja-vu feelings in me, recalling earlier M'head songs. But this record shows a new face, a new side of M'head (I felt this last with 'Overnight Sensation') - it shines from the very beginning to the last sound and shows these times just almost like a sort of 'golden years'. It's very strong melodically and the sound... the sound just simply kills in series. On the other hand it's a bit more traditional, as it doesn't have lyrical moments at all, neither such avantgarde like Wake The Dead or Joy Of Labour. It is concentrated as basalt and pulsating as a volcano.

And it contains some real classics: the classic M'head rock'n'rolls of Shut Your Mouth and Walk A Crooked Mile; the storytelling Dr. Love; Red Raw following the style of Them Not Me and See Me Burning, just even better; No Remorse that's showing absolutely no mercy but beautiful to my ears, and perhaps first of all the fast and hard hymn of Brave New World. (But it's stupidity, I could mention all the tracks.) And of course, the lyrics... Lemmy's excellent lyrics, that sometimes make you think, sometimes are full of irony, sometimes are ununderstandable to me to say the frank, or sometimes are just simply amusing and funny if not horrifying.

I just don't understand two things: why did they steal the finale of Children Of The Grave of Black Sabbbath to the ending of Mine All Mine, and why is Lemmy singing more about death as he gets older (the third: why did they ever close the Funny Farm). But listening to this ever-lasting trio roaring is an uncomparable feeling.

Ahh...a new Motorhead cd. I eagerly await each new release knowing I will once again hear true rock music! After all, that's what Motorhead is, the last true rock'n'roll band. Dirty, ugly, loud, and without remorse, they alone have remained true to the cause! With standout tracks like 'Voices From the War'and 'Red Raw', the guys prove the years have not served to slow them down. Lemmy once again weaves lyrics of war, short-term love, religion, and man's sad state into a gravely soup of hard-hitting tunes. The nearly spoken track 'Serial Killer'is Lemmy at his eerie best...it's madness I tell you! "Serial Killer' alone is worth buying the album. OK, now the down side...I can't help but notice recycled riffs and rhythms from the past three albums popping up here and there. I don't know whether to call it recycling or revisting, but I guess if it's your soup it's OK to use your own ingredients. These nuances will only be noticeable to seasoned Motorhead fans, but probably won't bother them anyway. Well, that's my two cents, warts and all...

Lemmy is now the elder statesman of metal, especially with the ever occuring misadventures of Ozzy. He's metal to the core and one of the few men of metal (along with Scott Ian of Anthrax) that have remained commited to metal and their ideals as much today as when they first started. Motorhead is what metal is all about. For over 28 years Motorhead has resisted the need to turn overtly commercial or embrace eMpTy tV (MTV). While we've seen stallwarts like Megadeth and Metallica fall to the wayside or to the temptations of commercialism, Motorhead just keeps turning out great metal in all its raw furry.

And their current album Hammered is no exception. It's just as fast and raw and heavy as their late 70's output, but with thankfully much better production quality. That classic Lemmy growl is everywhere like a refreshing guarentee that what you're about to hear is going to be quality metal. There's not a bad song in the lot, a wholy consistent album from start to finish. "Brave New World" is a biting commentary on the state of social affairs. "Voices from the War" is another great Motorhead war song, there seems to be one on every album. "Serial Killer" is a spoken word poem that shows the menacing quality Lemmy's voice can add. I'd like to hear him read a Steven King audio book sometime! "The Game" is a song that was actually written in conjuction with a pro wrestler, but don't write it off. It's a great song with a lot of power and attitude. Lemmy just adds to the bad*ss factor. And in an industry where testosterone and attitude rule, who better than Lemmy and Motorhead to bring it out. Sure beats NuMetal. Buy it today.

Motorhead-Hammered ***

Not the best. Hammered honestly let me down. I'm not saying it is a bad album because it most certainly isn't. The thing is that I expected more from it when I bought it and not only did I not get that but I got something completly different. Hammered came out in 2002, which was sort of the heighth of that NuMetal bull and this album really sounds NuMetal more so than my taste can handle. I hate NuMetal so this album is a little hard for me to stomach which is sad because Motorhead is one of my very favorite bands.

'Walk A Crooked Mile' starts off the album decent but should have been much better. The lyrics are among that of Lemmys best but the musicianship is just poor, it's like they tried to dumb down to keep up with the times of NuMetal which is full of musicians who can hardly play their instruments. 'Down The Line' continues the album but you hardly notice it, it should have been left off. Hammered really starts with 'Brave New World' it is the albums strongest track and should have been the opener. The musicianship is great, and the lyrics are even better. Lemmys lyrics are amazing here. Philip Campbell also plays some of the best guitar of the album on 'Brave New World.' Not only that but from this point on the songs are actually pretty strong. 'Voices Of War' 'Mine All Mine' and Shut Your Mouth' all go hand in hand, or hand in hand in hand I should say. 'Kill The World' is one of the strongest tracks on the album as well as one of the most angry songs that Lemmy has ever written. 'Dr. Love' is a return to Lemmy's love for sixties love songs which the band as always pulls of great. 'No Remorse' is another great song and should have ended the album. 'Red Raw' is take or leave with me. 'Serial Killer' is cool, a spoken word poem-esque thing that really is in the wrong place, it should have been an intro to a song or the start of the album not the end. Now if you buy the rerelease of the album then you also get the two bonus tracks. 'The Game' which I think is the intro music to one of the wrestlers on television, who I think also goes by the name, The Game. It is a great song even though it sounds very NuMetal. The lyrics are phenomonal, and I can see why the guy would want to use it as his intro music because it can get anyone pumped up for anything. Also a live version of 'Overnight Sensation' which is a great addition to the album.

This is not a bad album by any means, but it just isn't Motorhead. This is Lemmy trying to keep up with the times, when really the times are trying to keep up with Lemmy head and Motorhead. Hammered is worth checking out if your a real Motorhead fan.