Full Album Stream: Motörhead: Aftershock – new album

“In the history of music, there are few true mavericks on the level of the legendary Lemmy, a man who seems to do his own thing without any concern for what anyone else thinks about it. This level of confidence has made MOTÖRHEAD a timeless institution in the world of rock & roll, and on ‘Aftershock’, the band's 21st album, it’s clear they’re not even close to running out of gas,” [commented Gregory Heaney, AllMusic – more here]

And since Pitchfork says “the majority of the record is a classic ride-or-die MOTÖRHEAD proposition, punctuated with just the right amount of breathing room” (Hank Shteamer – more here) and since this is MOTÖRHEAD after all, and MOTÖRHEAD are not simply a band, they are a genre… I point you here (Telegraph UK) or here (Bild Magazine) for the full ride – just make sure you gear up first. ‘Aftershock’ is out now everywhere, October the 22nd, 2013, on UDR GmbH: “there’s swagger, there’s punch, there’s speed and there’s dirty filthy grooves” - and the fourteen “belting [such] statements” were recorded at NRG Studios in North Hollywood, California with producer Cameron Webb. In case your usual music store runs out of MOTÖRHEAD, get your ‘Aftershock’ here (UDR GmbH store) or on iTunes or on Amazon.

MOTÖRHEAD were around before SEX PISTOLS; their leader, Lemmy Kilmister (born Ian Fraser Kilmister), first began playing rock and roll in 1964, when he joined local Blackpool, England, R&B bands, the RAINMAKERS and the MOTOWN SECT. During the '60s he even briefly worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix! before he joined the heavy progressive rock band called HAWKWIND as their bassist. After spending a few days in a Canadian prison for drug possession in 1975, he was kicked out of HAWKWIND and once he returned to England, he set about forming a new band – MOTÖRHEAD (he first thought naming it “Bastard”). Since then, MOTÖRHEAD have released twenty-one studio albums, seven live recordings, five compilation albums and five EPs. They have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Anyhow, the band spent most of 1976 struggling, performing without a contract or manager. By 1977, the group had signed a one-record contract with Chiswick Records, releasing their eponymous debut which peaked at number 43 on the UK charts. Their first album for Bronze Records, ‘Overkill’, was released in 1979; it peaked at number 24 on the UK charts, while its title track became the band's first Top 40 hit. ‘Bomber’ followed a few months later, reaching position number 12 on the UK charts, as 1980's ‘Ace Of Spades’ bettered even that achievement, peaking at number 4 in the UK and reaching Gold status by March 1981. ‘Ace Of Spades’ became MOTÖRHEAD's first American album, yet there they still only registered as a cult act. The group's first live album, 1981's ‘No Sleep ‘till Hammersmith’, had finally conquered their home country charts, and the final album to be recorded by the Lemmy, guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor lineup followed in 1982. ‘Iron Fist’ peaked at number 6 on the UK charts. Brian David “Robbo” Robertson replaced Clarke on guitar on MOTÖRHEAD's sixth album ‘Another Perfect Day’ which was perceived a disappointment, only reaching position number 20 in the UK. While attaching and dismissing guitarists and drummers, Lemmy left Bronze Records which filed an injunction against the band that prevented MOTÖRHEAD from releasing any recordings for two years. The band, featuring Lemmy, Phil “Wizzö” Campbell and Michael “Würzel”  Burston on guitars and Pete Gill on drums, returned in 1986 with ‘Orgasmatron’, issued on GWR, which was immediately followed by ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ album (1987); although “Monty Python”s Michael Palin appeared on the recording which brought back drummer Phil Taylor, the album is still considered one of MOTÖRHEAD's worst charting releases. The band's ninth LP, ‘1916’, was issued through WTG Records in 1991, followed by ‘March ör Die’ on which Mikkey Dee, Tommy Aldridge and Phil Taylor shared the drum duties. Next, WTG dropped the band which started their own label,  Motörhead. 1993's ‘Bastards’ was succeeded by 1995's ‘Sacrifice’ and 1996's ‘Overnight Sensation’, where the band returned to the three piece lineup made up of Lemmy on bass and vocals, Campbell on guitar and Dee on drums. ‘Snake Bite Love’ came out next in 1998, the band's fifteen album, ‘We Are Motörhead’, followed in 2000 and a couple of compilations preceded 2002's ‘Hammered’ (and on it, as my son just pointed out, you will find ‘The Game’, the song MOTÖRHEAD recorded for WWE's Triple H). Their seventeenth album, ‘Inferno’, was released in 2004, and yet more reissues, compilations and “best ofs” came before 2006's ‘Kiss Of Death’ which became MOTÖRHEAD's highest charting album in Germany, peaking at position number 4. 2008's LP ‘Motörizer’ broke into Top 20 in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, into Top 40 in Canada and UK and had reached position number 82 on the Billboard Top 200. MOTÖRHEAD's twentieth longplayer, ‘The Wörld Is Yours’, was issued in 2010 on UDR GmbH which replaced the band's longtime label SPV/Steamhammer:

“The common misconception about MOTÖRHEAD 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’. … ‘The Wörld Is Yours’ may eventually be remembered as MOTÖRHEAD'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,” [commented Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic – more here]

MOTÖRHEAD features: Lemmy – bass and vocals, Phil “Wizzö” Campbell – guitar and Mikkey Dee – drums