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"WE ARE MOTORHEAD"

Appropriately titled "We Are Motorhead", subtitled "Born To Kick Your Ass", and kick your ass this album certainly does! Alan Burridge said about this latest Motorhead offering "A stormer indeed, blows out that deep, deep earwax far quicker that a good syringing at the Doctor's..." As soon as you put that CD in and press that PLAY button, the first song "See Me Burning" is the perfect introduction that sets the theme to this brutal masterpiece. The overall CD is what Motorhead do best - play LOUD and filthy! It reminds you o a truck careeing out of control down a steep hill, stopping at nithing as it crushes everything in its path. Other highlights include "Out To Lunch" (originally nominated as the title track), the heavy-bass "Wake The Dead" which is certainly loud enough to wake the dead as it sounds like a megatonne bomb going off next to your head, "Stay Out Of Jail" and "God Save The Queen" the cover of the Sex Pistols classic. "One More Fucking Time" provides the album's ballad break, and believe me you'll need a balad break to get your breath back after some ripping tracks!

Rather than writing all the songs in the studio in one go, a method normally enjoyed by Motorhead because they like the spontaneity, this album was recorded in segments. Lemmy says that sometimes it's good to take your time. Recording of the backing tracks was completed in August 1999 in a Hamburg studio. Lemmy then took the backing tracks to L.A. for recording of the vocals and mixing. Howard Benson again produced.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION WITH SAMPLE TRACKS FROM THE OFFICIAL MOTORHEAD WEB-SITE

Thanks to Jim Voxx (Skew Siskin), Ace Trump (Official Motorhead Web-Site) and KNAC.COM for the above information.

LIVE ALBUM

"EVERYTHING LOUDEER THAN EVERYONE ELSE"

"We're Motorhead!" Lemmy hurls his infamous introduction at the crowd, "And we're gonna kick yer ass!" What follows is a non-stop, thunderous, fast paced, out-of-control avalanche of songs - old and new - careering out of the speakers and knocking over a rock 'n' roll stricken audience. Titled "Everything Louder Than Everyone Else", as opposed to originally suggested "False Teeth For The Deaf", this is the first live album released in ten years since "No Sleep At All". The recording is from the gig at Hamburg Docks, Germany, 21st May 1998, during Motorhead's "Snake Bite Love" tour.

No stranger to Motorhead, Jim Voxx from Skew Siskin supervised the live recordings. He told me: "Lemmy asked me to be in the recording mobile during the show in case the sound engineer had any questions. The guy was not familiar with the songs and Phil Campbell wanted to make sure that his live delays are on separate channels. But I have to say that the recording guys did a really good job and I think that the final result will be a really strong live CD." In September 1998, Jim was asked by Lemmy to join in with the mixing of the recorded tracks in Los Angeles. "I'm gonna make sure this will be a killer live CD!" he promised.

And the result is the most superior live album Motorhead has produced to date, with the strongest line-up ever and the best set-list. And not forgetting LOUD - just turn up the sub-bass and this offering is guaranteed to make your house shake! Even when the band test their chords as they walk on stage at the very beginning, your stomach can feel the vibrations. The best quality live recording Motorhead has done to date, this is set to be the benchmark for future live releases by other bands. And anyone who's attended a Motorhead gig before will agree that this release really reproduces the atmosphere. "Everything Louder Than Everyone Else" is THE closest thing to being at a show with Lemmy and Co.

The recording is packaged as a double CD, totalling to nearly two hours - the duration of that particular concert was extended especially for the live release. We are presented with the concert in its entirety with no editing, overdubs nor cuts. Even Lemmy's famous banter between songs is intact.

Track list is as follows:

CMC have set up a Liquid Audio sampler of "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" on the Net. Click here to download the required player.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE AUDIO SAMPLE

 The cover artwork is by veteran Motorhead artist Joe Patagno.

Motorhead are doing a North American tour to support this release. This will be followed by some European festival dates, some of them may be with Metallica.

The album is distributed by CMC in North America and SPV in Europe.

Thanks to Jim Voxx (Skew Siskin), Ace Trump (Official Motorhead Web-Site) and Brian Pearl (CMC International) for the above information. Check out the Official Motorhead Web-Site's "Latest News" section for more information on the live album.

"SNAKE BITE LOVE"

Produced by Howard Benson and Motorhead, the new studio album "Snake Bite Love" was released in March 1998. Previous ideas of naming the album included "Assassins" and "Damage A Trois", the later rejected because not everyone seemed to get it.

So could this be Motorhead's finest effort yet? As before, it's good old rock 'n' roll sped up a notch to make it Motorhead - and this time the overall album has a darker feel to it! There are lots of multi-tracked Lemmy vocals so he harmonises with himself. Phil's guitars are right out front where they should be. There is even a song with a keyboard solo in it.

The album starts off with "Love For Sale", a happy number about pornography. This is then followed by the assertive "Dogs Of War" which is an introduction to the dark tones we can expect throughout the rest of the album. "Assassin", originally intended as the title track, is sung like the remorseless Grim Reaper with a strong thirst for blood - it's very much in the same grounds as the classic "Orgasmatron". Motorhead let their anger out on dishonest politicians in "Take The Blame" with lyrics like, "You can take the money, but can you take the blame" and referring them as "liars, thieves and dorks". It's one of the most memorable tracks of this latest collection. And just as those first few fast tracks rev your adrenaline up for something more aggressive, we are suddenly presented by the ballad "Dead And Gone". But the slow verse that starts the song is only a misleading introduction to the fast chorus that infests the rest of the track, the furious style we all know and love Motorhead for - we know those guys will never let us down! "Night Side" is another moment for Motorhead to transform into sinister mode as Lemmy sings about the various ghouls that go bump in the night. This is probably the first time that the band have ever entered this realm while other established rockers like Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden have been singing about this subject matter right from their early days. However, the best moment for me is the final three songs. "Joy Of Labour", though not a representation of the rabid pace Motorhead are capable of, has got to be my best song of the album. It also ends with one of the most heart-felt and soulful guitar solos that Phil has ever committed to tape. "Desperate For You" and "Better Off Dead" are no-nonsense traditional Motorhead style tracks, frenzied, frantic, mad - call that style what you want - but they are placed at the end to give an excellent climax to the album.

The cover artwork above is rendered by Joe Patagno who created covers for Motorhead's other albums. 

Full track list: Love For Sale; Dogs Of War; Snake Bite Love; Assassin; Take The Blame; Dead And Gone; Night Side; Don't Lie To Me; Joy Of Labour; Desperate For You; Better Off Dead.