By Jason Wellwood
Orgasmatron was one of the first Motörhead records I ever owned. I distinctly remember seeing it in the rack at the record store across the street from my high school and knowing I HAD to have it. The cover art was ridiculously cool, and it was Motörhead! In my school, we all knew Motörhead of course, but own an album or a cassette? Not many of us did. Orgasmatron kicks off in high gear with ‘Deaf Forever’, something that every Motörhead fan, and indeed every metal fan, could relate to. ‘The Claw’ an ode to the sexual prowess of Mr. Kilmister than any teenage metal head, male or female, could fantasize to. Track after track of Orgasmatron delivers everything you could expect from a Motörhead record: fuzz, the distinct, violent and sexual, cigarette ravaged vocals of Lemmy, solos to air guitar along with, groove to shake your ass to, and power to pump your fist to. Interestingly, Orgasmatron is the only full length album with drummer Pete Gill (ex-Saxon). The drumming on the album is solid with a few more technical flourishes here and there than on previous albums, but definitely fitting for a Motörhead record. I’m not sure what happened with Gill, but they couldn’t fault his performance here!
The album finishes off with two bonafide classics (the original release does, anyway) in ‘Doctor Rock’ and ‘Orgasmatron’, cementing the albums place in the history of Motörhead. Realistically, the album isn’t the band’s best; they had done better previously, and have topped it since, but there isn’t a weak song here, nor will you find any cringe worthy moments. My only real complaints are that a couple of tracks are a little too repetitive (I know, it’s Motörhead) and there are a couple of songs lacking guitar solos, which is really strange considering the it’s the band’s first with two guitar players! Orgasmatron is a return to form for the band after the experimental Another Perfect Day, and a roaring success at that.
Like all Motörhead records this is a must have but, for the love of Lemmy, buy a physical copy and enjoy the music the way it was meant to be listened to!
(GWR)
