The Class of 82 - Motorhead- "Ironfist"

 

>This year is the 40th anniversary for Motorhead's 8th album, which would be the end of the three amigos line up as Eddie Clarke left during the tour that followed it. The title track whicThey maintain a similar guitar attack on "Heart of Stone" but I do not think the song measures up to the bar set by the opener. The band has a few songs about playing Dr. "I'm the Doctor" is one of their more effective stabs at the topic with more of a straight-ahead rock n roll vibe to the song.  

When you really listen to what they are doing Motorhead is more of a rock band than a metal band, though this song is one of the exceptions and "Go to Hell" a song that is actually metal. These guys are always very straight forwards rock, which they sell pretty well, "Loser" is just a song that doesn't connect with me as much. "Sex and Outrage" is another one that is more punk paced. This is more punk than it is metal, but it is a fun song. The groove of "America" makes it another one of the album's best songs. Lemmy also comes pretty close to really singing. The up-tempo " Shut it Down" is pretty much color by numbers Motorhead.   

"Speed Freak" has a catchy riff wedged into the chorus and great guitar playing all around but as a song, kind of runs together with all their up-tempo rockers. The drumming has always been top notch, but I really like what Taylor does on "Don't Let Them Grind Ya Down". This is another song that is more metal than rock n roll. The best bass tone opens up "Don't Need Religion" which is also a pretty solid song, as it is more deliberate in its stomp.  "Bang to Rights" closes the album with a straight up rock beat that moves at more of a punk pace with its reckless abandon.  I will give this one a 9, it's a solid outing, and great by anyone's standards, but this is Motorhead we are talking about so the bar is high, making this not perfect but fun. 

Looking Back In Anger : Motorhead's "Ace of Spades"

It' was  Motorhead day, so it only made sense to look back and see how one of their most popular albums holds up over time. The 1980 album many pedestrian Motorhead fans own is actually their fourth . It broke them to bigger audiences with the title track that opens the album, but what about the other songs on the album. Have you even listened past the first song? We are going to see how this album is as a whole. Lyrically "Love Me Like a Reptile" muses similar themes they would return to on "Killed By Death" in 84. I think "Killed By Death " is the better song. They are like a more meth driven version of AC/DC on "Shoot You in the Back" even more rough around the edges and raw. The fuzzy rumble has more groove than the previous song so works for me.  It does make sense why Motorhead is the one "Metal" punks seem to latch onto. Though this album is more just pumped up rock n roll than metal. "Live to Win" works off this energy with it's street wise charm.

" Fast and Loose" has a great deal of swagger. Lemmy does what he does. The guitar carries more of the song than his snarling bass. Next to the title track "We are the Road  Crew" might be the most iconic on this album. The song writing just clicks here as they are not doing anything dynamically different , but allowing the vocals to sit on the bounce of the guitar marginally better. There is a touch of Jimi Hendrix influence on the guitar going into "Fire Fire Fire".  Fast Eddie Clark is an under rated guitarist. Animal Taylor also shines on this one.  Gang vocals on the chorus lend more of a punk touch. "Jailbait" is the most metal song on the album. Can you imagine if this came out in 2020? The Me Too crowd would lose their shit. I wonder how many of them own this album, you know like the Instagram punk chicks? They probably have not listened past "Ace of Spades" to look cool at parties.

"Dance" is a reckless rock n roll that numbers itself self along with the previous song as one of the albums best cuts. While "Bite the Bullet" is pretty much run of the mill rock n roll, "the Chase is Bette than the Catch" is the albums best song. It has more of a metal chug to it while lending itself to be one of the album's most melodic songs. "the Hammer" is pretty much more of the same from these guys, what you expect from typical Motorhead, so almost filler. I will give this album a 9, so not the masterpiece it is painted to be, but pretty fun album none the less. They have better album both before and after this one came out. Popularity does not account for quality if we are talking about what is truly the band's best album.



 

The Top 50 Metal Guitarists - 50 to 41

It's not a good year to have played guitar with me. The loss of my bud Shaun Dunn, marks the second guitarist I have lost in the past year. This turned my thoughts to what makes a good guitarist great. Metal finds the stakes for guitarists high. Shredding can come before playing a fucking song. While all of these guitarists can play a solo, I was also looking for tone, impact on the genre as a whole and how their personalities came through in their playing. So this list of the top 50 Metal Guitarists, is dedicated to Chris and Shaun, you two both talked about a few of these guys with each other and your favorites both made the list.


 50- Richard Z Kruspe

 He adds inspired texture and melody to the machine like grind of his employers.




49-Jason Weirbach

 One of the darkest heaviest and most interesting tones in the game. Much more muscle behind it than your typical tremolo picked black metal playing yet it still possess the hypnotic throb.





48-Steven Russell


 His two projects greatly differ one is atmospheric sludge the other is blackened thrash so this speaks to how he is versatile enough to shift his playing.





 47-Jon Schaffer

 His band has gone through various "lead Players" so he might be the only so called rhythm player on this list, but his tone and command of this instrument serve the song and power his band's sound no matter who is behind the mic or playing the solos. Though I prefer Matt Barlow handling the mic

.



 46-Oystein Garnes Brun

His band juggles so many vocal part and shifts in dynamics, he proves himself in one song being able master both epic almost power metal riffing and then dig into fast tremolo picked black metal. One of the most under rated prog metal guitarists out there.





45-Michael Keene


He has the worst tone of anyone on this list, but is fleet enough of finger to compensate for it , though live the sound was rather thin.



44- Justin Hartwig

On his band's last album he really stepped up to the plate and delivered stellar playing that should elevate this reputation beyond just playing in a funeral doom band.





43-Eddie Clarke

He is more of a rock n roll player who did just enough rough living to give his music a burly enough edge to be embraced as metal, He doesn't compete with the snarl of Lemmy's bass and occupies the right jagged mid range to cut through the blitzkrieg of bass and drums.




  42-Nergal

He has a dark dense tone, but I find his more melodic touches and more tender bits of musicality more impressive. Not the biggest fan of "the Satanist" , but trying to get over that and return to their earlier work that I did enjoy.




41-Hasjarl

His odd angular playing might barrow from Emperor, but I think his band is impressive in how chilling and dissonant they keep things, which lies in his ability to not over play despite playing very technical odd timed black metal.

 

Vader : "Iron Times"

The new ep buy Vader this finds the band back at the place where death metal and thrash met, with the first song reminding more of Sodom. The throaty vocals are a gurgled growl . There is a serious thrashing gallop to " Pray to the God of War". The vocals are spit out here in a more rapid Slayer like manner. There is a more powerful mid-paced chug on "Piesc I Stal"  winks in the direction of classic metal. This might be the best of the three original songs on the ep. The solos seem to serve more of a purpose on this song and while it's a fairly simples and straight forward song the chug is very effective here. It takes me back to a time when things were simpler as the world was not over saturated with metal bands, a good album used to come out every month in 80s. The Polish band spits this one out in their native tongue.

The lyrics are more easily discerned in the manner they are spit out on this ep, which judging from the cover I assumed would be more of a tribute to Motorhead. They pick the proto-thrash of Motorhead's " Overkill" to tackle. Earlier in the album it sounded like the lead growler was making more of an attempt t sing in places. Here it is not as obvious. The do capture the rock n roll riffs well, their drummer is a relentless beast. I'll give this album an 8.5 as these guys are old pros who are clearly good at what they do. If you are not already a fan of this band, I would suggest going with one of their full lengths to get a better picture of what it is they do. It sounds like they are having fun here and it's not surprise like many band's these days it's more economic for these guys to record and ep rather than chase the dying art of the album. If you are are fan of classic metal like Sodom, Motorhead and to a lesser extent here Kreator, then this is worth your time.

Motorhead : " Bad Magic'

I know Motorhead is the sacred cow of metal. People blindly accept Lemmy as god. He does get credit for being in Hawkwind. He is an easy guy to like, but does that make him really a metal icon musically? Is Motorhead even metal? And the million dollar question is has Motorhead put out anything worthwhile in the past 20 years? Why does that matter ? Well for someone to truly be a great artist everything they touch shows it. But Lemmy is old enough to be my grand dad you say, you have to cut him some slack...why when David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp, David Gilmore and a host of others who are older or his peers still do so should Lemmy or he is more myth than legend Can they still make good music? Well the first song is pretty dialed in color by numbers punching the clock. The second song improves as His bass tone is dialed in on "Thunder & Lightning".


I am not expecting Lemmy to be able to sing , but I am expecting more than a second rate "Cat Scratch Fever" on "Fire Storm Hotel". Former King Diamond drummer Mikkey Dee, shows he still has it on the intro to "Shoot Out Your Lights" at this point he has been in the band almost as long as Philthy and truth be told Lemmy is the only original member though the guitarist joined in the mid eighties. The would be a really heavy Motley Crue song. The songs are like punk, three minutes in and out. "The Devil" sounds like bad solo Ozzy, but it's better than the previous song. It's funny that the same people who make fun of cock rock are the same ones who will champion Motorhead, but "Electricity" sounds not different from Faster Pussycat to me except for the fact its' Lemmy rather than Taime Downe on the mic.  I would really like this album to just be half as good as "Orgasmatron" is that too much to ask?

"Evil Eye" has more of his rumbling bass, which along with the drumming are the best parts of this album. It's actually a pretty decent song. This album flys by... some of this is because the songs are pretty brisk . By the time we are at "Teach Them How to Bleed" I notice that Lemmy is not trying in the lyrical department and this sounds like as song I have already heard them play and not just on this album. The do cheese the right way when they pull out the power ballad " Till the End" . Lemmy comes close to singing and guitar solos wail out of every corner, thats how you rock. Feeling a little self conscious after that one they come back doing what they do with "Tell Me Who To Kill" . His bass playing is great on this one and I'm always drawn to it, but the song itself is nothing special, just rehashed rock chords.

"Choking on Your Screams" gets a little closer to classic Motorhead. The hit you with more groove. The lyrics improve, they are a "Orgasmatron' like narrative. The more straight up rock of "When the Sky Comes Looking For You" is a mixed bag. At it's core it's nothing new. They close the album with a cover of "Sympathy for the Devil" . Not sure if this is needed as they play it pretty straight and don't metal it out like these supposed metal gods should . It's not terrible and the classic Motorhead moments balance out the more  color by numbers clock punching, but it's a close margin. I'll give it a 6.5 and doubt I'll need to listen to it again.