Built For Speed: Motörhead Revisited, Volume Two
Part two of Adrien Begrand’s comprehensive wrap up of Sanctuary’s deluxe Motörhead reissues, from 1983’s diamond in the rough Another Perfect Day to 1987’s not-so-great Rock N Roll.
Reviews
Eastern Front – Blood on Snow
While it’s not clear how educational their first full-length record might be, musically it’s entertaining enough. Blood on Snow is mostly black metal with some death metal influences thrown in, just enough to distinguish themselves from the pack of BM artists that are circulating right now.
Stratovarius – Elysium
Unfortunately Elysium (the album) fails to meet the expectations that Polaris set out. I really wanted to love this album and gave it more listens than normal but I came out loving parts and feeling very ambiguous about others. The band has managed to create an awesome half record, while the rest is ‘okay’. That said it’s a damn sight better than the Elements albums!
Motörhead – Overkill
Overkill is the album that spawned all your favorite bands. Overkill is the album that gave way to the ‘Trick Question, Lemmy IS god!’ punch line. Overkill is the album that earned Motörhead their rightful, center-throne seat as one-third of the Holy Triumvirate of Rock’n’Roll. It goes without saying, but Overkill should be mandatory listening for any child who displays even the slightest notion of interest in rock and roll, perhaps even at as early a stage as the womb. Only calling Overkill ‘essential’ is half-hearted and weak, because Overkill is the be-all, end-all of Motörhead.
Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal by Jeff Wagner
Mean Deviation is an amazing compendium of everything weird in the world of metal—a book as grand and unlikely as the music it documents.
Motörhead – Rock ‘n’ Roll
Rock ‘n’ Roll suffers from being pushed out too fast, but still has a handful of solid tracks on it. This is one of the few albums I’d advise getting as a CD reissue though, the two b-sides really push the quality way up.
Iron Man – The Passage
After reissuing their debut album Black Night, Shadow Kingdom now brings us a new pressing of The Passage, the stellar sophomore album from Maryland doomsters Iron Man. Album number two was a huge step forward for the trad doom outfit, as it saw the welcoming of new singer Dan Michalak into the fold, along with future Spirit Caravan/Pentagram drummer Gary Isom.
Motörhead – Another Perfect Day
Literally, a “dark horse” is an unexpected or unknown victor, a competitor that defies the odds, mocks the prognosticators, and pulls off a win that nobody saw coming. While its short game may have fizzled and its medium game may have been relegated to disowned curiosity, Another Perfect Day’s long game has proven durable and significant to an extent that nobody could have anticipated.
70000 TONS OF METAL Cruise Recap Part 4
This marks the final part of our coverage of the 70000 TONS OF CRUISE festival, recapping the activities of day four on the boat. This was a full day at sea with music from early morning until the late hours of the evening.
In our fourth installment, Adrien, Kevin and Sean review live sets by SANCTUARY, VOIVOD, RAVEN, DEATH ANGEL, TESTAMENT and more. Live photos by Albert Mansour.
Live to Win: Motörhead Revisited
Part 1 of a 2 part series in which Adrien Begrand reviews the 2005 Sanctuary deluxe reissues of the first four MOTORHEAD studio albums after s/t.