Motörhead
Aftershock
UDR
2013
Well well, one could suppose that it might have been too many Aftershocks that the Lem, downed at once, along with Whiskeys and God knows what else that almost cost him, an abrupt stop of his natural run, sometime last year when he had a health scare of sorts, with various fluids having to be pumped out of his chest.
The “Heads” return for their 21st studio album and the question is validly raised… does the world need another Motorhead album? Is it just an excuse for them to tour, playing the hits and maybe a couple new songs and since they bothered recording and putting it out anyhow, is it any good for that matter?
Well, it’s tough to give a definitive answer. The stone-deaf, dead motorheadbanger will obviously tell you yes, but even though I love Lem and his rebel rousing crew’s through the years, considering them seminal figures of the hard & heavy music, the whole Lemmy deification, I find a bit far-fetched. He’s definitely a f$#king character like NO OTHER in Rock & Roll and that alone should be acknowledged and command respect and I genuinely think there are some cool aspects to him, but sure enough... this whole shenanigans can become tiresome too.
“Aftershock”, can at times sound tired and jaded, the same old song and dance that you’ve heard a million times before, played again, but yet that “familiarity” is where the charm of all those “old” bands lies.... you want AC/DC to be themselves, Priest to have all their trademarks, Maiden to be Maiden and not really, divert too much from what’s expected of them... if they do, it has to be REAL GOOD. The point is... that even if “Aftershock” is typically “Motorhead” it just manages to be canonical – it doesn’t stand out as some amazingly well done album... there aren’t any really nifty riffs or cool ass melodies that you’ll totally embrace, meaning the whole album, manages to endear itself to the fan, but is unlikely to send shivers of excitement to the motorheadbangers everywhere...
I mean the last couple of albums of Motorhead that really managed to do that for me, must have been “Bastards” and “Sacrifice”... ever since, the band has been good, still able to write the occasional face ripping anthem, but never that good, which is rather a shame...
“Hearthbreaker” is a typical dirty rock‘n’metal tune that’s rather swift and ideal to open the album. It has all the trademarks of the band and while it comes close to reminding a couple of older tunes here or there, it’s a misdemeanor…
“Coup De Grace” doesn’t have a much too different basic riff, as it rolls around in a dirty metal semi heroic sound, but it’s pretty good fun, with sharp, teethy lyrics.
“Lost Woman Blues” is well you guessed it… a blues track, that’s reminiscent of I dunno, old Whitesnake? Hahaha, but with Lem on vox! It’s sweet and full of swagger with a fine ass solo slicing it up in the middle.
“End of Time” has a nice furious riff, going on and tries to sound big and bold and everything but it isn’t exactly Columbus discovering America. Cool, but unoriginal. (as if originality is the band’s strong card!)
“Do You Believe” is another bad/ass tune, but the whole imagery described just doesn’t stick too much with the current times and even the whole attempt to pretend that one’s a Hellraiser – nearly pushing 70, is questionable... but hey, poetic license an all, it’s a fair try to describe the rock ‘n roll lifestyle.
“Death Machine” has a cool riff, a nice chorus and a nice atmosphere and even though it’s less than 3 minutes, I guess, maybe I expected something, really a lot meaner... than what it is, or maybe I would have been OK, if it sounded twice as badass!
“Dust & Glass” is another slow… gin drinking tune. Slow poke music to cry into your glass/bottle, when you’re too drunk, some skunk has bruised your heart/eye or both, or you just feel down.
“Going to Mexico” (?) seriously? When are they going to record “Going to Greece”, “Going to Costa Rica” etc etc! Hahahaha, apart from the obvious, self-rip-off, title wise, the song ain’t bad, being one of the album’s most original and spontaneous moments, with the energy really, felt, flowing and the band sounding a tad tighter too. Badass, it is, just like “Machete”!
“Silence When You Speak to Me” has this authoritarian tone and one of those, 5-6 word titles that some of Moto’s songs tend to have... and while it’s a little tedious and even Lemmy, seems to have a hard time, convincingly timing the whole thing out during the chorus, it’s decent fun!
“Crying Shame” has honky tonk and lots of Rock & Roll attitude, paying homage to past decades but still manages to do so, within the constraints of the band’s sound, going for I suppose an “early” and lighter R&R, flavored sound...
“Queen of the Damned” begins with one of those bass rumbles, that would be so familiar and – yeah, I suppose you know what you could expect musically next... Lyrically it’s a woeful tale about some evil female… again...
“Knife” is a mid-tempo number with a really clever and very effective riff, that has some very good ideas and tries to create a nasty haunting atmosphere, making references to all the “bikers” symbols I suppose through symbolism, it’s alright...
“Keep Your Powder Dry” is a little bit of a joke I guess, as it takes the template of an older song and just, rewrites itself over it, but whatever… it’s not horrible, by any means...
Finally “Paralyzed” begins with a turbo charged drum roll and a really vigorous Lemmy taking the reigns.... Actually making me hope the entire “Aftershock” sounded like this and not “as” weathered and slightly retro/rough. Nice enough way to finish the album, although a bit unorthodox, to do so with such a fast tune.
Well, well 14 songs, are many. None really such, yet there is the feeling of overall “average” achievement, without any super-duper, over-charged – overKILLing moments! Oh well…
If Lem and co, keep pushing the cart still, who knows…. we can only hope… It’s commendable that the band doesn’t give up and yes they can still cut a decent enough album, but it’s not stellar. The guy that wrote that it’s the best album since “Overkill”, should be found and well strapped to a chair and made to listen to almost the entire “discography” really?! Again!? Ha!
With a bit of a red cross aid for Lem (being more lenient than I feel) and hoping the album will “grow” more on me...
The “Heads” return for their 21st studio album and the question is validly raised… does the world need another Motorhead album? Is it just an excuse for them to tour, playing the hits and maybe a couple new songs and since they bothered recording and putting it out anyhow, is it any good for that matter?
Well, it’s tough to give a definitive answer. The stone-deaf, dead motorheadbanger will obviously tell you yes, but even though I love Lem and his rebel rousing crew’s through the years, considering them seminal figures of the hard & heavy music, the whole Lemmy deification, I find a bit far-fetched. He’s definitely a f$#king character like NO OTHER in Rock & Roll and that alone should be acknowledged and command respect and I genuinely think there are some cool aspects to him, but sure enough... this whole shenanigans can become tiresome too.
“Aftershock”, can at times sound tired and jaded, the same old song and dance that you’ve heard a million times before, played again, but yet that “familiarity” is where the charm of all those “old” bands lies.... you want AC/DC to be themselves, Priest to have all their trademarks, Maiden to be Maiden and not really, divert too much from what’s expected of them... if they do, it has to be REAL GOOD. The point is... that even if “Aftershock” is typically “Motorhead” it just manages to be canonical – it doesn’t stand out as some amazingly well done album... there aren’t any really nifty riffs or cool ass melodies that you’ll totally embrace, meaning the whole album, manages to endear itself to the fan, but is unlikely to send shivers of excitement to the motorheadbangers everywhere...
I mean the last couple of albums of Motorhead that really managed to do that for me, must have been “Bastards” and “Sacrifice”... ever since, the band has been good, still able to write the occasional face ripping anthem, but never that good, which is rather a shame...
“Hearthbreaker” is a typical dirty rock‘n’metal tune that’s rather swift and ideal to open the album. It has all the trademarks of the band and while it comes close to reminding a couple of older tunes here or there, it’s a misdemeanor…
“Coup De Grace” doesn’t have a much too different basic riff, as it rolls around in a dirty metal semi heroic sound, but it’s pretty good fun, with sharp, teethy lyrics.
“Lost Woman Blues” is well you guessed it… a blues track, that’s reminiscent of I dunno, old Whitesnake? Hahaha, but with Lem on vox! It’s sweet and full of swagger with a fine ass solo slicing it up in the middle.
“End of Time” has a nice furious riff, going on and tries to sound big and bold and everything but it isn’t exactly Columbus discovering America. Cool, but unoriginal. (as if originality is the band’s strong card!)
“Do You Believe” is another bad/ass tune, but the whole imagery described just doesn’t stick too much with the current times and even the whole attempt to pretend that one’s a Hellraiser – nearly pushing 70, is questionable... but hey, poetic license an all, it’s a fair try to describe the rock ‘n roll lifestyle.
“Death Machine” has a cool riff, a nice chorus and a nice atmosphere and even though it’s less than 3 minutes, I guess, maybe I expected something, really a lot meaner... than what it is, or maybe I would have been OK, if it sounded twice as badass!
“Dust & Glass” is another slow… gin drinking tune. Slow poke music to cry into your glass/bottle, when you’re too drunk, some skunk has bruised your heart/eye or both, or you just feel down.
“Going to Mexico” (?) seriously? When are they going to record “Going to Greece”, “Going to Costa Rica” etc etc! Hahahaha, apart from the obvious, self-rip-off, title wise, the song ain’t bad, being one of the album’s most original and spontaneous moments, with the energy really, felt, flowing and the band sounding a tad tighter too. Badass, it is, just like “Machete”!
“Silence When You Speak to Me” has this authoritarian tone and one of those, 5-6 word titles that some of Moto’s songs tend to have... and while it’s a little tedious and even Lemmy, seems to have a hard time, convincingly timing the whole thing out during the chorus, it’s decent fun!
“Crying Shame” has honky tonk and lots of Rock & Roll attitude, paying homage to past decades but still manages to do so, within the constraints of the band’s sound, going for I suppose an “early” and lighter R&R, flavored sound...
“Queen of the Damned” begins with one of those bass rumbles, that would be so familiar and – yeah, I suppose you know what you could expect musically next... Lyrically it’s a woeful tale about some evil female… again...
“Knife” is a mid-tempo number with a really clever and very effective riff, that has some very good ideas and tries to create a nasty haunting atmosphere, making references to all the “bikers” symbols I suppose through symbolism, it’s alright...
“Keep Your Powder Dry” is a little bit of a joke I guess, as it takes the template of an older song and just, rewrites itself over it, but whatever… it’s not horrible, by any means...
Finally “Paralyzed” begins with a turbo charged drum roll and a really vigorous Lemmy taking the reigns.... Actually making me hope the entire “Aftershock” sounded like this and not “as” weathered and slightly retro/rough. Nice enough way to finish the album, although a bit unorthodox, to do so with such a fast tune.
Well, well 14 songs, are many. None really such, yet there is the feeling of overall “average” achievement, without any super-duper, over-charged – overKILLing moments! Oh well…
If Lem and co, keep pushing the cart still, who knows…. we can only hope… It’s commendable that the band doesn’t give up and yes they can still cut a decent enough album, but it’s not stellar. The guy that wrote that it’s the best album since “Overkill”, should be found and well strapped to a chair and made to listen to almost the entire “discography” really?! Again!? Ha!
With a bit of a red cross aid for Lem (being more lenient than I feel) and hoping the album will “grow” more on me...