Motörhead - Motörizer (2008)

After so many albums of more or less the same style of music, there comes a time when you just ask yourself when Motörhead is just gonna run out of ideas and start putting out pure gibberish. Well, "Motörizer" might have been the start of that, especially when you take a look at the lyrics for the opening track "Runaround Man" (hey, Lemmy himself said it is "nonsense set to an infectious beat"). It got some clever lines like "We're out of cokes, clean out of smokes/It's not funny 'cos we run out of jokes", but this song is just dumb fun with no sense what so ever.

Then again, that can work in small doses as long as the humour is there, and you can be sure that Motörhead is not clogging up this album with their high jinks. The only other song that is simply silly is, coincidentally, one of the best songs in "Rock Out", a fast paced 2 minute steam roller that goes by way too fast, but gives us all an important tip to end our measly singles lives with the line "Rock out, rock out, with your cock out/Impress your lady friends". Doing the double helicopter never fails.

Jokes aside, "Motörizer" is still serious business most of the time, with "Motörizer" being more of a groovy record than its closest predecessors. Sure, we got some more stead fast songs in here that does not make you swing your head, but it is pretty obvious what songs are the stars in this album. "(Teach You How To) Sing The Blues" is probably the grooviest song in the whole Motörhead discography (and that is saying something), with its fast tempo and frantic yet smooth riffing it captures your attention and gives it Stockholm Syndrome. And yes, we get yet another great one liner here ("If you wanna get your hands on a beautiful girl, you gotta use a Mastercard"), something this album is certainly not lacking of. And the grooves keeps on coming in several other songs here and there.

This definitely makes "Motörizer" one of the funnest albums the band has made, this despite some songs that drags the mood down a notch or two. "One Short Life" and "English Rose" are just two of these songs, and while they are decent, they just does not seem to fit in all that well. I could say the same about "Heroes", but this one is more well structured and just better all around. Besides, cannot blame it all too much, because the lyrics here are really nice and emotional. So yeah, this album sure has variety, even if it is for both better and worse.

Otherwise, there is not really much more to say about "Motörizer. The performances are spot on, production is sleek, and the album art is really nice too, with each part of the shield representing a band member (including Snaggletooth). It is a very enjoyable record that has several memorable and strong songs, but maybe it would have benefited with a more clear direction in its personality. Oh well, "Motörizer" delivers a lot of goods that are really good, Motörhead is once again Motörizing your life with rock 'n' roll.

Songs worthy of recognition: (Teach You How To) Sing The Blues, Rock Out, Buried Alive, Heroes

Rating: 8/10 Runaround Men

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