Where was last left off, we concluded part 1 of this overview with Rock ‘n’ Roll, a great album to end the 80s with despite it’s issues. The band has established themselves as titans of metal, shaping the genre in ways that are still felt to this very day. However, their legacy didn’t stop with the end of the 80s. A brand new decade is before them, after all. So let’s continue, and look at part 2 of my Motörhead overview & tribute, dedicated to their presence in the 90s. Enjoy!
1916 (1991)
In 1990, Lemmy moved from his longtime home in England, and settled in a West Hollywood apartment, which was within walking distance from his favorite watering hole (Rainbow Bar and Grill). With their manager Phil Carson behind them, Motörhead began to record what would become 1916 with producer Ed Stasium (Who was well known for producing Living Colour). Lemmy & the boys recorded 4 tracks, before Stasium left, as he cited Lemmy's drug and alcohol intake as the main reason for leaving the band. After hearing that 4 of the tracks had claves and tambourines added without their knowledge, the band hired Pete Solley to be their new producer.
Best Track? Bit of a time between the opener (The One to Sing the Blues) & the closer (1916). The opening track is a hard rock/punk hammer heading straight towards the listener’s head, and leaving a bloody wound. The closing track is a rather odd song: it marks the only time that Motörhead had ever used keyboards, barely uses instrumentation, and is shockingly slow in terms of pacing. As he said later on in his memoir, Lemmy stated that 1916 the song was about the Battle of the Somme, and had this to say about the track:
“..'Nightmare/The Dreamtime' and '1916' both relied heavily on keyboards, which was very different for Motörhead – or any heavy band in 1990. I wrote the words before the music. It's about the Battle of the Somme in World War I...Nineteen thousand Englishmen were killed before noon, a whole generation destroyed, in three hours – think about that! It was terrible – there were three or four towns in northern Lancashire and south Yorkshire where that whole generation of men were completely wiped out.”
The One to Sing the Blues
1916
Worst Track? Jack squat is the worst track! 1916 brought back those who were disenfranchised by the band’s later output in the 80s. Not only had it brought them back, but it also attracted new fans who were interested in Motörhead. As Entertainment Weekly said in their review of 1916:
“..the most cohesive and downright ferocious record to appear under the Motorhead banner since the timeless blast of 'Ace Of Spades' in 1980...Motorhead badly needed an album like this, but no one could have guessed they'd do it so convincingly..”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Next album!
March ör Die (1992)
“..he just didn't have it for some reason. It was getting bad. He couldn't play four bars without fucking up. For three years when he rejoined, we gave it our best shot, but... he couldn't see anything wrong with his drumming, which was even worse... We'd be in the studio practicing and he'd be out washing his car..”
Lemmy himself had this to say as well:
“..the biggest blow was probably firing Phil Taylor the second time, because I would never have done it if he was pulling his weight, but he wasn't, and I couldn't make him do it... That was a blow, because I knew it was going to devastate him – and it did, and that really upset me..”
With Phil gone for good, March ör Die would have 3 drummers: Phil Taylor for one song, Tommy Aldridge (Who occasionally played with Ozzy Osbourne), and the man who would eventually become their permanent drummer, Mikkey Dee. Currently playing in Dokken at the time, Dee had this to say in The Guts and the Glory documentary about following in the footsteps of Taylor:
“..i had two options: I had to either replace him or join the band. I could not replace him... I had to join the band and do my shit. I had to change the band, I had to play differently, look differently, just be different. Either I got accepted or I didn't... I can overplay these songs... I can do drums all over these songs and show how damn good I am, you know, with a million fuckin' things, but that's not Motörhead... I like to keep it really straight and heavy... Less is a lot more in a band like this..”
Even the physical environment was chaotic. During the recording for March ör Die, the infamous Rodney King Riots were occurring, and the studio was right in the path of destruction. As Lemmy later recalled in Classic Rock Revisited:
“..I was doing a vocal and I finished and came into the lounge, and there was a TV on that was showing a house burning...I looked out the window and I saw the other side of the same house... Driving out of there was like driving through a war zone, as the whole city block was on fire. Everything went dark and all you could see was entire city blocks burning. It was fucking great..”
With this random & chaotic landscape, Motörhead would create & release one of the most blatantly commercial records of their entire career. With the exception of 3 songs (More on this in a sec), everything else sounds uninspired, tame, and horribly weak. I think AllMusic’s review of the album said it best:
“..This is where everything almost went horribly wrong. Encouraged by a new distribution deal through Epic Records and his recent collaboration with old friend Ozzy Osbourne on his wildly successful No More Tears album, Motörhead's Lemmy set out to pursue commercial success like never before and, as a result, almost managed to toss their impeccable legacy in the dumpster..”
Best Track? As much as I just harped on this record, there are 3 tracks that are honestly very good. Granted, they’re all covers, but there’s still nice. There’s the asskicking Hellraiser (The track was originally sung by Ozzy Osbourne off his No More Tears album the year prior, on which Lemmy helped out with 4 songs), the sexy Cat Scratch Fever (Original sung by the conservative tool Ted Neugent), and the metal take on the iconic Bad Religion. These 3 songs are the only shining motes of light in this sea of shit, and I’d suggest you listen to these only!
Hellraiser
Cat Scratch Fever
Bad Religion
Worst Track? Pretty much everything else. Even with the soulful I Ain’t no Nice Guy, there is nothing worth listening to on this abomination of a Motörhead album, and screw you to the fans that constantly espouse the “Motörhead Has No Bad Albums” ideology, acting holier than thou in the process (I’m looking at you Rageaholic). March ör Die? More like Suck ör Die. Next!
Bastards (1993)
“..It's just so disappointing when you pull out all the stops for an album and you're really thrilled with it and nobody else cares, especially not your record company..”
Despite the record company not really doing anything about the album, Bastards is one of Motörhead’s finest! While March ör Die’s content seemed very cookie-cutter in nature, this album goes back to the band’s roots. Phil Campbell said in The Guts and the Glory:
“..we worked so fucking hard on that. The songs were there, the commitment was there, the playing was there, production was there, everything was there...I'm so proud of that album. Nothing wrong with that album at all. Some great songs..”
Here’s certainly not wrong. Bastards has some of the most diverse subjects ever touched by the band. Social criticism, war, mayhem, and even child abuse of all things (Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me) are sung about on this album. As such, I absolutely enjoy listening to Bastards, and can’t find a single bad thing about it. A great way to start a trilogy, and a fantastic record in it’s own right. Next album!
Sacrifice (1995)
“..Howard was producing us again, but he'd also just got an A&R gig with a label called Giant. So his mind was in at least two or three different places, and half the time the engineer, Ryan Dorn, was holding it all together, following the direction Howard gave him. And it was becoming clearer every day that Würzel was on his way out of the band. He wouldn't extend himself at all, and usually just sat there while we were writing songs, with his guitar across his knee. When we stopped playing, he stopped playing and when we started again, he would too..”
As you can see from the quote, Würzel himself was having issues with the band, and eventually left. Everybody in the band all felt regret that he left the band, but deep down knew it was something inevitable. As we once again turn to The Guts and the Glory, Mikkey Dee said this:
“..I remember when it happened, it was both panic and satisfaction at the same time because Würzel was also very tired of us and we were very tired of him. It was a mutual thing. I miss him tremendously as a guy, but not as a guitar player. He was no good in the end..”
Phil Campbell, who joined up with Motörhead alongside Würzel, had this to say:
“..It took him six hours to try and do a solo on this one song on Sacrifice and in the end he just fuckin' slammed the guitar down and legged it – took the guitar with him and that was basically it..”
Within the same documentary, Lemmy spoke about his departure, along with his former friend’s growing paranoia:
“..He only played one solo on the whole album. He was gone already before we started that album. His input was, like, very minimal. It's a shame about Würzel; he started to believe the wrong people. 'Cause I was his best friend in the band and offstage – I was his best friend – and he didn't believe that; he started accusing me of stealin' his money and shit, like I need Würzel's money. I mean, I've got all that money coming from Hawkwind before him and the Motörhead before him – I didn't need his fuckin' money, and I wouldn't have stolen it even if I did. That's not like me. But there he goes – you make your choices and suffer the consequences..”
It’s from this kind of environment that Sacrifice thrived. In the years since, Sacrifice has gained a following, and reviewers have generally game it good praise. Allmusic states:
“..Sacrifice doesn't offer anything new, nor does it display a newfound subtlety. It's just straight-ahead, breakneck fast, ear-shatteringly loud Motörhead, with buzzing guitars, near-martial rhythms, and surprisingly catchy hooks..”
Motörhead biographer Joel McIver in 2011 wrote:
“..was exactly what you expect: a decent, if unspectacular, Motörhead record with a couple classics song here and there..”
Best Track? You’ve got good stuff all over this album, so take your pick. From the blues-like sludgeiness of War for War, to the 50s rock stylings of Don’t Waste Your Time, there’s essentially something for everybody. However, my personal favorite is the title track. Sacrifice is a great opener, and easily shows to the listener what they’re in for. It’s Thrash Metal juiciness at it’s finest, and is practically dripping with thrash, even as the first few seconds begin to play. A fair warning: listen to this at a respectable volume. If it’s too high, all windows in a 5-mine radius will shatter, and the metal waves emanating from your respective listening device will be immense.
Sacrifice
Worst Track? Really Sacrifice’s biggest fault lies with the general public. When it was released, the general public essentially ignored Sacrifice, and it never really made much impact on the album charts. It’s a crying shame, as this point in their middle-period trilogy is easily one of their best. Maybe it doesn’t necessarily do anything new, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good time. Sacrifice. Just put your money on the altar, and take this offering. Next album!
Overnight Sensation (1996)
“..it went the same as a four-piece except one guy wasn't there! Or the same as the Everly Brothers plus one. It was a bit more fraught, but that was just because Phil, being the only guitarist, felt that there was a lot riding on his shoulders (which there was). So he was under added pressure, but he proved himself well. Overnight Sensation is a great album for him. Mikkey was his usual perfect self – he always finishes his drums tracks well ahead of schedule. This time around he did them in one day..”
Würzel’s departure from the band was a little more impactful than they believed. Mikkey Dee was quoted in Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead saying:
“..Würzel, I used to say, was more Motörhead than me, Phil and Lemmy put together. He was a true Motörheader, you know. He wrote super-hard songs and riffs, and I miss that sometimes. Because me and Phil, we might sometimes write a little too ... not soft, but maybe too musically correct songs, where Würzel was very simple, straight, very hard riffs. Nothing complicated with him whatsoever..”
And this was the vibe that surrounded the recording of the album. A Speed Metal monster, Overnight Sensation was generally reviewed well by critics, with Allmusic stating:
“..the band's most eclectic in years, its tracks range from pedal to the metal stompers like 'Civil War' and 'Eat the Gun' to mid-paced groovers like 'Listen to Your Heart' (featuring acoustic guitars – shock!) and the classy 'I Don't Believe a Word.' Always a great lyricist, vocalist/bassist Lemmy takes it up a notch with the highly ironic title track and what is quite possibly the band's greatest song of the decade..”
Lee Marlow of Classic Rock Magazine said back in 2013 that Overnight Sensation:
“..immediate proof that the latest three-man Motörhead line-up was more than a match for all previous incarnations..”
Best Track? Civil War immediately comes to mind when I think of this album. Thought Overnight Sensation as a whole is awesome, no other album (Except maybe Sacrifice) from Motörhead during the 90s has a opening track as appropriate as this one. It immediately puts the listener on a out-of-control freight train, heading straight towards a brick wall. Everybody in the band is furiously playing like no tomorrow, and Lemmy is singing like his life depends on it. Then it all comes to a glorious impact, spreading heavy metal scrap all over the place for anyone to pick it up.
Civil War
And while it isn’t music related, another good (But odd) thing that Overnight Sensation does right is it’s album cover. Since Ace of Spades back in 1980, this offering marks the first time in ages that you see the band members on the front. Phil, Lemmy, and Mikkey are all front & center, looking badass as ever! The one strange thing would be the absent presence of Lemmy’s mutton chops. He regrew then in 2001, and they would stay on his face (Along with his Mole) until the day he died.
Another cool thing about this record was the writing & recording. It took only about 4 weeks to write the songs, and just 4 weeks to record the material. It’s not the biggest thing about the record, but I thought it was cool regardless.
Worst Track? Ultimately it’s the restraint that can be the only problem with Overnight Sensation. In the album’s defense, I don’t feel that it holds itself back as much as other metal albums from the 90s (I’m looking at you Better Off Dead). That said, it’s unusual to hear Motörhead hold back even a little, as you can definitely tell that something’s off. The energy, intensity, and heaviness is definitely on this record, but as I’m listening to it, I felt that maybe an ingredient wasn’t fully added to the recipe. Regardless, it doesn’t stop Overnight Sensation from being a great record, and acts as a appropriate launching pad for what would become the final & permanent lineup for Motörhead. Next album!
Snake Bite Love (1998)
“..we were stressed out of our minds when we did that album. It turned out OK, but no more than OK. We all know it; we should've had three more weeks on that and it would've been a great album. I blame it completely on the time we had. For instance, we put on the worst song we ever had, which is "Night Side," it's the worst shit we've ever done, and we thought it was shit when we did it. We had no time to write another tune, we had nothing left...So we all feel the same about that album. I've heard people say, "That's the best album you've got" and I'm like "What planet are you from?..”
Lemmy, ironically, was a bit kinder to Snake Bite Love. In his autobiography (White Line Fever), he had this to say:
“..six weeks before we recorded it, we didn't even have one song. But when it came time, we put it together very quickly. Unfortunately, I was sick for some of the rehearsals, and when you leave two guys together who aren't singers, you end up with some weird arrangements..”
And this is Snake Bite Love in a nutshell: not a horrific release by any stretch, but definitely problematic. The album didn’t have much of a buzz among fans, and would continue the ambivalence the general public had towards the band in the late 90s. Reviewers had similar sentiments, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic saying:
“..an undisguised album...There isn't necessarily anything wrong with the record, as it offers a solid set of blistering, heavy rockers that race by at breakneck speed, but it doesn't add any new twists to the formula or have particularly memorable songs..”
Best Track? That honor goes to Assassin, a highly experimental piece of music. While Lemmy & Phil are giving it their all, the song is ultimately the domain of Mickey Dee. He’s going to town on his drum set, and if fact the whole track seems to be focused exclusively on the drumming, all the while the vocals & guitar take more of a supplementary role. It’s almost tribal in a way, as it seems to bring about a kind of metal-infused trance. Definitely one of their more interesting songs in their library.
Assassin
Worst Track? Snake Bite Love’s biggest offense is it’s consistency. Quality wise the record is top notch, as is the norm among almost all of their releases. That being said, the album can’t seem to pick a theme, and as such it doesn’t really have a solid identity. You’ll laugh, but as I was listening to the album, I was reminded, of all things, Devin Townsend’s Infinity. A fantastic album in it’s own right, it’s only hitch is having a chaotic & jumbled nature. And that’s Snake Bit Love in a nutshell: great album, but no solid identity. As I said back in part 1 of this overview you could expand Motörhead scant few bad albums to 4 or 5, and Snake Bite Love is one of these records.
So this was my look at 90s Motörhead. Definitely a random & more chaotic time for the band, but a time in which they cranked out some of the best material of their career. If you like your Motörhead more up in the air, the 90s are for you! Taking a break from this guys next week, as we’ll look at the last time we’d ever hear Freddy Mercury’s voice. It’s gonna be a tearjerker to be sure. See you then.
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