The new Motorhead CD,
The World is Yours, will be released January 25 via EMI Imports. As with the
Slash CD before it,
Classic Rock magazine has done a special edition that comes with a magazine and other goodies (a poster and a pin, for those interested). There's two other editions in the UK, with a patch, or some picks, I believe. I am a sucker for such things, so I paid a premium to get the magazine sent to me from the UK. The pin is now proudly in my collection, the magazine has been read, the poster ready to be laminated and put up, and the CD is in and ready for my review. The only difference to the standard CD is the digipack format which, regrettably, is bigger than a normal CD, meaning I'll have trouble fitting it in my CD rack. The booklet is OK, but no lyrics, so I doubt it's extended in any way from the normal one and there are no bonus tracks.
"Born to Lose" is a classic Motorhead song title, hard to believe they've not used it before. The song is vintage Motorhead, all pounding drums, stop/starts and open guitars. I do notice that when I listen and think about it, Motorhead do a lot of stop/starting guitars, it's one way they break things up from being a wall of noise.
"I Know How to Die" is Lemmy's take on living so you can die without shame. It sounds to me like it could have been on
Bastards. The guitar work is excellent as always. Phil Campbell is definitely wildly underrated as a guitar player.
"Get Back in Line" is the first song on the album to feature the classic Chuck Berry riff that often appears in Motorhead songs, giving weight to the claim that they are a rock n' roll band, and not heavy metal. The solo still sounds pretty heavy metal to me.
"Devil's in My Head" starts off with a classic riff before settling down to the familiar Motorhead chug. I have to say, I read the magazine that came with this edition, and Lemmy talks about how the CD's don't all sound the same. I don't disagree, but they are certainly all in the same vein. Like Black Label Society, you know exactly what you're getting when you buy a Motorhead CD.
"Rock n' Roll Music" heavily features those Chuck Berry and AC/DC riffs again. Think High Voltagewith more interesting chord changes and Lemmy singing, and that's about what this is.
"Waiting for the Snake," according to Lemmy, is a song with no real meaning. I thought it was obvious what it meant.
"Brotherhood of Man" is, from the first few notes, clearly a stand out track. The magazine compares it to "Orgasmatron," and I have to say, I can hear it, it's got a very similar riff, and a similar feel with Lemmy half whispering the words of war and death. It's a bit of a shame that even this deluxe edition does not come with lyrics. I can hear them well enough, but it would be nice to be able to follow along or just read them, Motorhead are known for better lyrics than most. If AC/DC feel the need to print words like "One mad shuffle, two women is trouble, sweat out a duel, humming right at you," why couldn't Motorhead print words like "We live and scrape in misery; we die by our own hand, And still we murder our own children, brotherhood of man?"
The next track is called "Outlaw," and features a stop/start riff and lots more double bass drums before kicking in to the familiar Motorhead groove. "I Know What You Need" is similarly built on the sort of riff that you would expect from Motorhead.
The final track is called "Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye" and is, again, built on a classic rock n' roll riff. I suspect the title is the main reason it's the last song. It certainly delivers.
As I look back through this, I realize I've written over and over "This one sounds like Motorhead." Truth is, despite what Lemmy says, I don't think if you took the last few albums and mixed them up, that the sound from one album to the next is different enough to tell which song belongs on which album. They have their sound, and they operate well within it. That's not to say there's no musical growth or that it sounds stagnant, just that, while Lemmy explores other avenues through the Head Cats; within Motorhead, he knows what his band does well, and they do it. They are certainly a great live band, I've seen them several times. I'm certainly very glad I was able to buy this special edition, and in general would recommend this CD to anyone who likes Motorhead. And, how can anyone who likes heavy metal, NOT like Motorhead ?
Friday, January 14, 2011 at 12:01AM 
