Published on Mar 23, 1999
Motorhead might just be the metal act that has the most live
albums out. Starting with 1978’s
What’s Words Worth (I don’t even know if it’s still
available) to 1981’s landmark
No Sleep Till Hammersmith, from their “comeback” show
documented on
The Birthday Party to a “stopgap” effort with
No Sleep At All, the one thing that has been missing all
along is a feeling of natural progression as the songs unfold.
Lemmy Kilmister and crew’s fifth (at least that I have counted)
live album (and their first two-disc effort),
Everything Louder Than Everyone Else, does make you feel
like you’re listening to the show from note one to the ending
fedback. If only the performances were up to par.
Recorded in Hamburg, Germany last year, Kilmister, guitarist
Phil Campbell and drummer Mickey Dee do a good job in selecting
songs from both the band’s classic period (when “Fast” Eddie Clarke
and Phil “The Animal” Taylor were in the band) to recent efforts
like
Snake Bite Love and
Overnight Sensation. In one sense, you could say that
Everything Louder Than Everyone Else is the live equivalent
to the 1984 best-of
No Remorse.
But what I’m struck by is that the influence of former guitarist
Wurzel is sorely missed in concert. Nothing against Campbell’s
guitar work, but without the anchor of a second guitar in the
lineup, it sometimes seems like Campbell and Kilmister sound
crowded when it comes time to plunk out some fancy work. While I
admit this is a bit hypocritical on my part (after all, Motorhead
was a trio for the longest time), the performances here
occasionally sound sloppy – something I think could have been fixed
with another instrument to keep things in check.
There are some powerful moments on
Everything Louder Than Everyone Else, such as Kilmister’s
tribute to the late Wendy O. Williams (who had committed suicide a
few weeks before this concert was recorded) before “No Class,” the
all-guns blazing attitude heard on tracks like “Sacrifice” and “Ace
Of Spades”, and the interplay between the audience, Kilmister and
Campbell.
But some of the versions may leave a rather weird taste in your
mouth. I, for one, have always loved the controlled evil of
“Orgasmatron,” but the song just doesn’t have the same kind of
antipated terror live. Likewise, “On Your Feet Or On Your Knees”
and “Metropolis” (which I have yet to hear translated well on the
stage) fall a bit flat.
In fact, it almost seems that Motorhead has gotten to the point
where the live performances are rote exercises, and whether they
play the songs sloppily or not doesn’t matter as long as the energy
level is up there. As much as I love Motorhead and have since
discovering them in 1985 (Gimme a friggin’ break, I lived in the
suburbs), it hurts me to have to say: guys, that’s not how it
works.
Everything Louder Than Everyone Else is not a terrible album
– and it is a far cry better than
No Sleep At All – but for my dollar, Motorhead has yet to
capture the excitement of
The Birthday Party.