The common misconception about
Motoerhead is that they've been recording the same album over and over again for 30-plus years, but nothing could be further from the truth. Just ask the band's most discerning, long-serving fans and they'll eagerly wax poetic about the nuanced distinctions between, say, the amphetamine blues of
Overkill, the blazing Spaghetti Western slugfests of
Ace of Spades, the bruising metallic crush of
Orgasmatron, or the thrash-fueled onslaught of
Sacrifice. If anything -- and not even these die-hard fans can deny this -- one could say that the band's albums released from the late '90s onward began blending together somewhat, for lack of cohesive personalities and enough quality songs. So bucking these two trends is essentially the mission faced by
Lemmy and co.'s 20th career studio album, the cheekily named
The Woerld Is Yours (which, in a novel marketing ploy, was delivered in time for Christmas 2010 with an issue of Britain's Classic Rock Magazine, ahead of its 2011 release worldwide). And, believe it or not, its mission was accomplished, to a certain degree, on both counts! Particularly in reference to challenge that first point, since
The Woerld Is Yours may eventually be remembered as
Motoerhead's ultimate "rock & roll" album, thanks to a clutch of consistently bluesy, '50s rock-rooted, tunes like
"Get Back in Line," "Rock 'n' Roll Music," and
"Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye." Then again,
Lemmy has always stressed that his is a rock & roll band, not a heavy metal band, and he proceeds to press the point home with an unusually large number of speed-averse offerings, as well, including
"Waiting for the Snake," the nightmarish
"Orgasmatron" throwback,
"Brotherhood of Man," and
"Born to Lose" (a new song named after an old
Lemmy slogan so entrenched in band lore, even knowledgeable Motoerbangers may be surprised that it wasn't used already). As for challenge number two, it's hard to proclaim any
Motoerhead "all-timers" out of this lot with unwavering, absolute conviction, but there are several winners among the cuts cited above, plus a pair of absolute corkers in the rollicking, defiant
"I Know How to Die" and the thrill-a-second
"Outlaw," which sounds like three songs wrapped into one with its memorable chorus, searing
Phil Campbell guitar solo, and pulverizing twin-kick-drum tattoos courtesy of
Mikkey Dee. This pair of grizzled old vets, together with their seemingly indestructible, mutton-chopped leader, still constitute a formidably powerful and a well-oiled rock & roll machine, there's no doubt about that. And that's one thing that certainly has been repeated many times over on most every
Motoerhead album,
The Woerld Is Yours more successfully than others. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia
