In retrospect: MOTÖRHEAD

Hello and welcome to a new episode in my retrospect series. I believe this is my third installment and the first of 2017. I'm not gonna waste anytime so I'ma get straight to it: I'll cover Motörhead's entire career, album-to-album, where I somewhat rank 'em and comment on them all.

Remember, it's just my personal opinion and it's not as an absolute statement for everybody. OK? Let's go!

• 1977: S/T

Comment: The start of Motörhead a very punk-fueled one at that. If memory serves me correctly, this was the first Motörhead CD I ever bought. Some leather edition about 10-ish years ago, possibly a few more years back. With that said, it never was a favorite album. Maybe even my least favorite. Their sound was still in the construction phase at this point, which means better things were to come.

Favorite track: Motorhead

• 1978: Overkill

Comment: A most classic release. This is also what I kind of tend to view as their true debut album. Their sound was really shaping up on this album, which is evident as you can listen to this and some other album from ten or twenty, even thirty years ahead, and clearly you'll hear it's the same band. One of my favorite Motörhead records although not quite the favorite one.

Favorite track: Metropolis

• 1979: Bomber

Comment: There's a high probability that this one's my favorite Motörhead record, at least out of the old/early ones. I really like the songs on here and I always felt like this album was viewed as somewhat "mediocre" by Motörhead standards. A lot of the tracks sure were missing on their compilation albums throughout the years. Whatever the case be, I totally like this album. A lot. The album cover also fascinated me as a kid. My dad used to have this CD in the car all the time. The bomber plane always looked as hell to my eyes.

Favorite track: Talking Head

• 1980: Ace of Spades

Comment: Such a classic in many ways. You know, when talking about bands' most popular (or best selling) albums as being their best works, I usually beg to differ. There are so many cases with bands where the most obvious album is not their best. In the case of Motörhead, however, if anyone says this album is their best, I would completely understand why. Although not my favorite of theirs, it's really good. Legendary.

Favorite track: The Chase Is Better Than The Catch

• 1982: Iron Fist

Comment: Classic album but for what reason? It's not bad by any means but put up against the previous albums, apart from the debut (possibly), it's not really any contest about which album is the worst. It's got a few great numbers but overall somewhat inconsistent.

Favorite track: (Don't Need) Religion

• 1983: Another Perfect Day

Comment: First album without "Fast" Eddie Clarke on guitar, and the first and only album featuring Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy. Another record in the same kind of quality-vein to that of its predecessor. As far as the line-up change went, however, the band got a lot more melodic which sounds cool and refreshing. At the same time I'm pretty happy it only lasted one album, as I don't see this melodic Motörhead sound being very interesting in the long run. This album is unfortunately also plagued with a real shitty production.

Favorite track: One Track Mind

• 1984: No Remorse (new songs)

Comment: While this is a compilation album it featured no less than four new songs (not counting an additional two single B-sides). Those four songs, including my all-time Motörhead fave (listed below), also introduced another new line-up for the band. Entered did the band's long-timer Phil Campbell as well as Würzel, who was with the band for a good 10+ year run. The songs are all great in my opinion and all-in-all this is one of the best (and few interesting) compilation albums ever made.

Favorite track: Killed By Death

• 1986: Orgasmatron

Comment: I like this album a lot. It's not perfect by any means but it's got some of the band's most killer songs. Some of the other songs, however, are kind of filler-like. The great songs do make up for that anyway. Overall one of my higher-ranking albums of their career, even if the production is uneven a lot of the time.

Favorite track: Mean Machine

• 1987: Rock 'n' Roll

Comment: The band's last 80's studio effort is argubly also their worst album up till that point. While Motörhead never did any outright bad albums, this one is really a pushing contestor for that spot. I just never got into this one very much. The songs are overall just pretty boring by Motörhead standards. A few stand-outs are to be found as usual though.

Favorite track: All For You

• 1991: 1916

Comment: At the time it was Motörhead's first album in four years and some things had noticably changed. First off, this album is really a major step up from the band's previous album, but it's also a musically more varied album than earlier efforts. The typical Motörhead sound is to be found on here, but also that typical early 90's hard rock sound in a few tracks. Some other tracks experiment with keyboards and other different sounds for Motörhead. All-in-all a good album. My understanding is that both the band and fans like(d) this one a lot. For me, however, it stands as one of their "middle" albums.

Favorite track: Love Me Forever

• 1992: March Ör Die

Comment: For the second and final time "Philthy Animal" Taylor was gone from the band. Performing on only one track on this album, the rest was done by the great Tommy Aldridge. The album, however, is something of a disaster for the band's standards. Once again a major step down. In a way, this is also reflected in the awkward album cover's depiction of Snaggletooth.

Favorite track: I Ain't No Nice Guy (feat. Ozzy Osbourne & Slash)

• 1993: Bastards

Comment: One word - finally! At the time this was the band's strongest work since 1986. Possibly even 1980! This album also saw Mikkey Dee taking on the drumkit, which he obviously maintained until the band's end. This album is very well done in most ways possible. The cover art is simple but effective. The songs are great. The production is better than in a long time. Overall just very well done. One of my favorite Motörhead records.

Favorite track: Devils

• 1995: Sacrifice

Comment: A step down from the previous album but understandable considering how good it was. This one shows the band taking on a rawer style once more, somewhat blending the sounds of the previous album and their early efforts. It's overall very riff-heavy and is something of a start to what the band would sound like in the 2000's. Ultimately one of their middle albums for me and also the last one featuring Würzel (and the band as a four-piece). It's a good album but not a masterpiece. Great album cover by the way, penis-tongue and all.

Favorite track: Sacrifice

• 1996: Overnight Sensation

Comment: The band's first album as a three-piece since 1982 showcases the band's longest and final line-up continuing down the path of the previous two albums. It's heavy, smashing, catchy and nicely produced. The album cover is not a favorite of mine (where's Snaggletooth?) and the album always struck me as somewhat overlooked. It's definitely one of the band's best 90's albums and also a top-10 of their career, at least.

Favorite track: I Don't Believe A Word

• 1998: Snake Bite Love

Comment: Widely regarded by many as the band's worst album. Even Mikkey Dee has expressed some dissatisfaction with this one. It's truly not one of the band's better albums in my opinion. Quite the opposite indeed, actually. But while it's not bad in general music standards, it certainly takes the cake for being a bottom-3 album for Motörhead. It's definitely their worst from the 90's, if not their entire career.

Favorite song: Love For Sale

• 2000: We Are Motörhead

Comment: Definitely a good step up from its predecessor but still somewhat short of quality songs compared to most the band's other catalogue. It's an alright album I suppose but not something I usually think of and/or crank when in the mood for some Motörhead rock 'n' roll.

Favorite track: We Are Motörhead

• 2002: Hammered

Comment: This album was totally fresh out of the studio when I got into the band. I remember having and wearing a pin with the album cover, which I thought was cool as hell. The album itself, however, is something of a continuation down the road of mediocrity for Motörhead. It's better than the previous two albums but not much more than that. Its production is also a sign of the times - early 2000's cheap-sounding digital recording. It just doesn't sound very good to my ears and I'm sure these songs fared a lot better live than on this record.

Favorite track: No Remorse

• 2004: Inferno

Comment: This one came out when I was a young newbie fan of Motörhead and thus it holds a really special place in my Motörhead heart. It's not only the nostalgia factor that makes this album so great for me. The music is also real good! It was the best album they had done since 1993 and one of the best albums of their entire career. I remember crankin' these songs over and over back in the day and I still find myself doing the same thing 13 years later. Badass album title. I love the album cover as well. Truly a great record.

Favorite track: Fight

• 2006: Kiss Of Death

Comment: While a step down from the previous (once again this is understandable from my p.o.v.) it's still a very good album. It definitely showed promise that Motörhead was seemingly going stronger than they'd done in the late 90's and early 2000's. This album was also the second album to be produced by Cameron Webb, who entered on the previous album and ultimately did all of their subsequent albums as well. This album definitely keeps up sonically with the previous album and also manages to differ some in sound and songs.

Favorite track: Trigger

• 2008: Motörizer

Comment: Out of the band's latter day albums (2004-2015), this one is my least favorite. Upon release it didn't fare as well with me as the previous two did. These days I have pretty much the same opinion about it. I dunno what it is, but it just doesn't quite cut it for me. I mean, this album is a beast! It's filled with fast three-ish minute tracks which makes it more intense than any Motörhead album in a long time, possibly ever. At the same time I just think most of the songs are missing something. While not a bad album by any means, it definitely is down somewhere in between the middle-to-bottom listed Motörhead albums in my book.

Favorite track: Heroes

• 2010: The Wörld Is Yours

Comment: After its predecessor and being somewhat into other musical styles back around 2010, I remember not being too anticipated about this release. Regardless, it's Motörhead and I obviously picked it up anyway. I remember my initial opinion being somewhat unimpressed, like it was a mediocre effort from the gang. In the years since its release, however, it's been a real grower on me. Maybe it was because I actually got more back into a lot of old school sounds again, or maybe its quality just struck upon me over time. Anyway, it's definitely a solid album even if it's not quite among their best works. Some of the band's greatest latter day songs are to be found on this one. Great production as well.

Favorite track: Devils In My Head

• 2013: Aftershock

Comment: At the time of this album's release my days of exploring new music had vaned a lot. My mind was totally back in old school mode and Motörhead was once more very interesting. I remember thinking a few things about this one. First thing was the album cover and how lightly colored it was. It definitely felt "out of character" for Motörhead in my opinion. Second was the album title which I found to be great. The last thing was the actual music. This album is a great Motörhead record, the best since 2004 and overall one of my higher ranking albums of theirs. The art work, to me, displayed a slight change which I think is present in the songs. It's very much a Motörhead record but it's still different in some way. I just like this one a lot. If this was the "aftershock", I don't think I even wanna know what the actual main shock was. I wouldn't be able to brave it.

Favorite track: Coup De Grace

• 2015: Bad Magic

Comment: And so we're down to the last album by Motörhead. This one was in several ways a quite strange album, I believe. I remember as it was being released, I was thinking about how Lemmy just keeps on going and going. As the album was released, however, we got some clarification. For the first time we got proof that the man indeed is growing old. For the first time ever we all got to hear Lemmy's voice now obviously aged. Shortly after the release, as we all now know, the man started to experience serious health issues. Then just like that - Lemmy was gone. This album, in a way, showed Lemmy being aware of his mortality. At least that's what I believe. Some songs on here are so hauntingly suggesting that was the case anyway. It's like Lemmy bid his farewells and just went out the way he wanted. It's a great album in my opinion. Definitely a worthy swansong album.

Favorite song: When The Sky Comes Looking For You

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So that was my retrospect of Motörhead and their career. While I did not include a hell of a lotta live and compilation albums, the studio releases are the most essential to bring. Motörhead had a great career, that much is sure. They had their fair share of ups and downs just like every other band out there, but they never made one truly bad album. That's more than I can say for the majority of bands I listen to.

Motörhead is one of my all-time favorite bands. They were one of the first bands I ever got into and they've had such a huge impact on my life growing up. Lemmy always was an iconic inspiration for me. Not a rolemodel by any means, but definitely a huge inspiration in life.

My father also once told me (while drunk) how I was conceived to the song "Fire Fire" from Ace Of Spades. It doesn't surprise me one bit seeing as he's a huge fan himself. During my upbringing he would listen to Motörhead a whole lot. Maybe that's why I have suge a huge love for Motörhead? I bas basically nutured on their music my entire upbringing.

Thank you Lemmy for all the great music!

In retrospect: DEATH ANGEL

Welcome to the first installment in my new series "In retrospect:". I will make a short career-spanning discography review of bands where I comment on every album they've done, or at least those albums which I know and listen to. So today I thought I was gonna start with a band that I am actually listening to a lot at the moment, and one of those bands are the old Bay Area thrash metallers Death Angel. I'm not gonna drag on any further, let's dig in!


1987 - "The Ultra-Violence"

The band's debut album is undeniably what most thrash metal listeners associate Death Angel with, and for good reason. This album is nothing but killer - it's legendary! The whole album is a non-stop thrash metal assault with simplistic but very effective riffing, and the production is just one of those perfect examples of where the production actually suits the music like a battle jacket on a headbanger. It's simply just one of the very best thrash metal albums ever made, and should be at least top-100 best metal albums of all time for any metalhead.

Favorite tracks: Thrasher, Mistress Of Pain, Final Death


1988 - "Frolic Through The Park"

A rather unintentionally controversial second album. This album has met a lot of criticism from fans, and critics as well (but who gives a fuck about what them tools think anyway), and perhaps a bit unfairly so. I mean, I personally don't like this album very much, never did, but that's also after hearing their debut album first. I mean, they really peaked with the debut and I imagine it was hard writing, recording and releasing an album (just as good) in just one year after the debut. It's not really a bad album, but it's rather too tame and not nearly as memorable as the debut.

Favorite tracks: Bored, 3rd Floor, Guilty Of Innocence


1990 - "Act III"

The bands third and last album for a long while before their reunion. Now this album partially picks up where the last left off, but it's also a natural progression for the band. Here we get to hear that Death Angel obviously is a constantly evolving band and that is something I can totally respect. However, just like the previous album, this one tends to fall a bit short in quality and interest compared to the debut.

Now, to be fair, this album is a lot more diverse and experimental than the debut, fusing together funk riffing with the thrash, and even having an acoustic ballad. It's a complete different album, but still I always felt this album left much to be desired. Some songs are just too boring, but I am a big fan of Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mordred, so the funk elements are a welcome refreshment to my ears.

Favorite tracks: Seemingly Endless Time, Stagnant, Discontinued


1994 - "The Organization" (BONUS)

After Death Angel split up around 1991 or so, all the guys except for lead vocalist Mark Osegueda went on to form The Organization, an alternative/funky metal band named after a song on DA's last album. Since it still basically is Death Angel without Mark's voice (the other guys sang regularly as well), it's kind of what I imagine the band would do after Act III. It feels like a natural progression and I actually like this one more than Death Angel's last two albums (up till that point). They did a second album before splitting this project up as well, but I've never managed to track down and/or hear that one.

Favorite tracks: Free Burning, Policy, Bringer, The Past


2004 - "The Art Of Dying"

The band's comeback album. This is the album I know the least so I can't perhaps give a completely justifying opinion on it, but from what I can say this is basically a thrashier continuation of where the last album left off. The reason why I don't know this album that well is simply because it doesn't appeal that much to me, to be honest. The few times I listened to it it felt a bit run-of-the-mill.

Favorite tracks: The Devil Incarnate, Spirit


2008 - "Killing Season"

This album and the previous one kind of remind of that Frolic to Act III scenario all over again, where non of the two are really anything that special, but at least the latter is an improvement from the former one. This album did raise my hopes for the future a bit, and I think this is an overall better album and where the band is starting to find itself again.

Favorite tracks: Dethroned, Soulless, Buried Alive


2010 - "Relentless Retribution"

Before this album, some members left the "family business" that used to be Death Angel (everybody was cousins), and in came some fresh and unrelated blood. I don't know what went down in the band or why some of the guys left, but musically I find it to be a good thing. With this album I think that Death Angel really returned, and this is finally the closest album quality-wise to The Ultra-Violence. With that said, this is by no means TUV pt. II, it has a different and more modern thrash sound going on, but it's fucking kick ass!

Favorite tracks: Claws In So Deep, Truce, This Hate, Opponents At Side


2013 - "The Dream Calls For Blood"

The band's follow-up to Relentless Retribution had left me torn between high hopes and fear that the band would once again come to a "Frolic scenario", but no, the band did not let me down. For the first time in the band's career, I think they actually managed to follow up a great album with an even slightly better one. This album is kind of similar to the previous one, but a bit heavier and better I believe. I don't know if this tops TUV, but if I would ever play it to death, then I'll always have this one to call my favorite instead. They also did a kick-ass cover of Black Sab's "Heaven And Hell" where Mark really gets to shine with his great stronger-than-ever vocals.

Favorite tracks: Left For Dead, The Dream Calls For Blood, Execution / Don't Save Me, Succubus


2016 - "The Evil Divide"

The band's new album released merely two weeks ago (of this date today, obviously) and the third album with the "new" line-up. While probably being sliiightly less to my taste than the previous album, this one is still really good and a solidification that Death Angel is in grate shape and one of the best old school thrash acts still left in the game. This album also once again slightly differs from the previous efforts, embracing a bit more of the modern metal sounds. Actually, this in a bit of hardcore influences here and there and is at times reminiscent of (the awesome) Chimaira's Resurrection album, which was also produced by Death Angel's now long-time producer Jason Suecof, so perhaps that is not too far fetched. I have very high hopes for Death Angel's future!

Favorite tracks: The Moth, Father Of Lies, It Can't Be This, Wasteland (The Mission cover)