Motorhead--Hammered
Metal-Is 2002
There are good bands and there are great bands. If a band is fortunate enough to be consistently great, they become legends. Motorhead is at the very top of that elite group. They are the rockingest, coolest, most badass band of all time and have never made a studio album that was anything less than great. Every Motorhead album is essential, regardless of what some people might tell you. With Hammered, Motorhead has written the next chapter in their legacy of excellence.
As anyone who is vaguely familiar with Motorhead would guess, Hammered has the same base sound as every other Motorhead album--it's a straightforward, no bullshit, rock and roll powerhouse. As always, it's the group effort that makes Motorhead so great--from Lemmy's trademark treble-edged bass runs and inimitable vocal attitude, to Phil Campbell's powerful and beautiful guitar work, right through to Mikkey Dee's pounding double-bass drum mastery. This being said, with Motorhead you can't get lost in that base part of the sound and fully appreciate the band. Every album is different and unique with the true personality to be found in the respective subtleties. With Hammered, Motorhead have taken key elements from past albums, melded them with some new ideas, and forged another dimension to their sound. This album has the brilliant melodic leanings of Another Perfect Day (a great album people only dis because Brian Robertson flunked the dress code), a bit of the production gloss evident on the 1916 album, and the sheer heaviness found on the Sacrifice CD. Add all of this to some amazing new elements and you've got another winner from Motorhead.
Again, this isn't such a departure that you won't know who you're listening to. Lyrically, the topics remain the same--sex, war, raising a middle finger to the faces who corrupt and oppress, etc. Songs like "Kill The World" and "No Remorse" are bludgeoning classics which stand amongst Motorhead's heaviest, while tracks like "Mine All Mine" recall the twisting melodic cool of past songs like "Going To Brazil." However, it is when Motorhead stretches out that things become truly magical on Hammered. No other song exemplifies this more than the lead-off track, "Walk A Crooked Mile." This song is at once heavy and melodic but also, when combined with harmonies both in the chorus section vocals and bridge portion of the riff, epic. It is one of the best songs Motorhead has ever written and is worth the price of admission, alone.
Once again, Motorhead has delivered, just like they always do. In doing so, they've reminded us all that a true badass doesn't have to silkscreen it onto a Hanes Beefy-T for it to be so--it just is. Motorhead always lets the music do the talking and Hammered says everything that needs to be said--Motorhead are still the kings. Enough said, indeed.
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