Saturday, September 12, 2015

Album Review- Motorhead: Bad Magic

Bad Magic is the 22nd studio album by British Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal band Motorhead and was released on August 28th, 2015. Now I am no stranger to Motorhead and in fact, they are one of my favorite bands of all time. Lemmy is the main reason I play bass guitar today and ive always looked at him as one of the most badass musical figures ever. Unfortunately lately his health has been showing some negative signs and it has made fans like me worried that this might be his last outing. However, does this album lack the power of every other album? Let’s find out!

Opening with “Victory Or Die” This album has a better and more balls out opening than “Aftershock” did and the production feels more balanced either. This track and “Thunder And Lightning” show that Motorhead has literally lost none of its lethal speed and easily could fit around on the Inferno album. Lemmys voice overall has very little change to it. It has more of a groggy feel but its still great and projects greatly. Songs like “Fire Storm Hotel” and “The Devil” have feels from the Orgasmatron record as well. “Shoot Out All Of Your Lights” has some fantastic drum work from Mikkey Dee as well and shows that he as well has lost none of his chops. Phil Campbell still plays as good as when he joined in ’84. Lemmys lyrics I think really shine on this record as they do on every other one. Tracks like “Electricity” shows this as being simple but still pretty catchy. "Till The End" really is the most calm track here and it kicks ass and has a really atmospheric feel to it especially in Lemmys voice. Perhaps the most interesting piece from this record is the cover of “Sympathy For The Devil”. I really really like this cover and like all the covers Motorhead have done, they really make it their own. Lemmys voice really fits these lyrics more than Mic Jagger ever did as well (when I hear Lemmy snarl “Please to meet you, hope you guess my name” It still gets me.).


Overall, I give this record a solid 8.5 out of 10. It’s Motorhead doing what they do best and I even think this record focuses more on more punk and speed elements than blues even though their blues roots still show. So many good tracks that try some new rhythm styles and leaves you satisfied. Overall, if you know Motorhead, you’ll like this record.

1 comment:

  1. While I think this was an ok record, I kinda hope this is the last album by them. Same thing with The Book of Souls. They both have a very final album feeling to me. Like if they were to never make another after this, for whatever the reason may be, I'd be ok with these being their last. You know what I'm talking about?

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