Nightfly Another Perfect day stands out as a bit of an oddball in the Motorhead discography. The departure of Eddie Clarke early in a USA tour after refusing to play on collaboration with the Plasmatics, a version of Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man, left them in need of a guitarist fast to avoid cancelling the rest of the tour. I believe a couple of dates did get cancelled but the quick arrival of former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson enabled them to salvage most of it. After the tour the band went into the studio to start work on the sixth studio album.

Another Perfect Day sounds different to any Motorhead album before or since. It’s their most melodic album down to Robbo’s more melodic hard rock guitar style replacing Clarke’s raw bluesy rock ‘n’roll riffing. On paper it shouldn’t have worked but although slated at the time is actually a strong collection of songs. It’s still clearly the sound of Motorhead with Lemmy’s distinctive vocals and pummelling bass and Phil Taylors driving drumming it couldn’t be otherwise but Robbo’s guitar, both lead and rhythm, with plenty of overdubs adds a melodic sophistication not previously present. Don’t be mistaken though, this album still rocks hard with some great guitar work. It’s also strong from start to finish without any weak moments which can’t be said for the previous album Iron Fist.

It wasn’t to last, mainly down to Robertson being permanently pissed on tour and his questionable dress sense on stage his services were soon dispensed with, the band coming back with Orgasmatron and a two guitar line-up with a more traditional Motorhead sound. Another Perfect Day is still a great album though and while not up there with classics like Overkill and Ace Of Spades is still stronger than many in the bands back catalogue. It would have been great to have had at least one more album with Robbo but sadly it wasn’t to be.

UMUR "Inferno" is the 18th full-length studio album by UK heavy rock/metal act Motörhead. The album was released through SPV GmbH in June 2004. It´s the successor to "Hammered" from 2002. The band tapped Cameron Webb to produce the album.

Stylistically "Inferno" is Motörhead as they´ve pretty much sounded on most albums since they became a trio again in the mid-90s. It´s small nuances which make "Inferno" different from the last many albums. The basis of the music is still hard edged heavy rock with strong blues rock/rock´n´roll ties. The band themselves always stated that they just play rock´n´roll. If we look at the differences from the last couple of albums, "We Are Motörhead (2000)" was one of the faster and most heavy metal oriented releases in the band´s discography, while "Hammered (2002)" was a predominantly less heavy and hard edged release. "Inferno" is a bit more on the heavy side again, but not as instantly catchy nor as memorable as "We Are Motörhead (2000)".

Again it´s small elements which decide if a Motörhead album stands out or if it´s one of their less remarkable releases, and to my ears the quality of the material on "Inferno" is predominantly of the less remarkable kind. The track which stands out the most is the acoustic blues rock closer "Whorehouse Blues", but there really aren´t that many other tracks that I can mention from the album which stand out as highlights. "Inferno" features a well sounding and professional production job, and the band are as well playing/singing as ever, so it´s the songwriting which doesn´t reach the sky on this release. "Inferno" is of course still a quality release by Motörhead (they don´t release bad quality albums) and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Hammered" is the 17th full-length studio album by UK heavy rock/metal act Motörhead. The album was released through SPV GmbH in April 2002. It´s the successor to "We Are Motörhead" from 2000.

"We Are Motörhead" is one of the most heavy and fast-paced albums in the band´s discography, but that style is not continued on "Hammered", which is still hard rocking and heavy, but predominantly mid-paced and a little more melodic. It´s little details though as "Hammered" sounds unmistakably like Motörhead with a hard pounding organic playing rhythm section, heavy blues based guitar riffs and solos, and Lemmy´s distinct sounding raw voice in front.

While the material on "Hammered" is generally well written, it´s not one of the band´s most memorable releases, and although tracks like "Walk a Crooked Mile", "Brave New World", "Kill the World", and the charming "Dr. Love", are minor highlights, few (if any) of them would make it unto my personal best-of Motörhead track selection. So it´s a consistent quality release featuring very few standout tracks.

"Hammered" is both well produced and (almost needless to say) very well performed, but as a consequence of the songwriting not reaching Motörhead´s highest standards, the album ultimately comes off as one of the lesser albums in the band´s discography. So it of course speaks volumes of the quality of said discography, that a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still deserved.

UMUR "We Are Motörhead" is the 16th full-length studio album by UK heavy rock/metal act Motörhead. The album was released through SPV GmbH in May 2000. It´s the successor to "Snake Bite Love" from 1998. The title of the album derives from Lemmy often opening Motörhead shows by announcing to the audience: "We are Motörhead...and we play rock and roll"...

...and it´s as true as it´s said. Motörhead have always been exponents of high amplified raw rock´n´roll, and continue to be exactly that on "We Are Motörhead". In fact "We Are Motörhead" is one of the most fast-paced and heavy metal oriented albums in the band´s discography, although there is also room for a couple of mid-paced heavy rockers ("Slow Dance" is an example of that style) and a power ballad in "One More Fucking Time". So there is good variation on the album, which also includes a cover of "God Save the Queen" by The Sex Pistols.

Highlights include some of the fast-paced heavy rockers like "See Me Burning", "Stay Out of Jail", and the title track, the latter which closes the album in great style, but "We Are Motörhead" is actually one of the few albums in the band´s discography featuring very few filler type tracks, and looking down the tracklist after finishing the album, I´m able to remember almost every track off the album. That´s not always the case with the band´s releases, although "filler" is maybe a bit too strong a word to use of the less remarkable tracks on the band´s releases.

"We Are Motörhead" features a hard edged, heavy, and raw sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and as always the trio lineup of Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Phil Campbell (lead guitar), and Mikkey Dee (drums) deliver a loud and well played sonic attack. Lemmy´s sandpaper voice and distorted rumbling bass, Campbell´s heavy riffs and blistering solo work, and Dee´s brilliant energetic drumming, work in perfect symbiosis. Upon conclusion "We Are Motörhead" is one of the better albums in Motörhead´s discography and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Snake Bite Love" is the 15th full-length studio album by UK heavy rock/metal act Motörhead. The album was released through SPV GmbH in March 1998. It´s the successor to "Overnight Sensation" from 1996. The band are often cited for calling "Snake Bite Love" a rushed recording, mostly because they didn´t have much material written for the album only few weeks before they had to enter the studio and therefore didn´t have time to develop the compositions as much as they might have liked.

To my ears that´s not particularly audible, as the material on the 11 track, 44:52 minutes long album are generally of high quality, and unmistakably the sound of Motörhead. It´s true that there are only a few standout tracks on the album (the opener "Love for Sale" is one of them), but that´s no different from most other releases by the band. The quality is always high but truly standout tracks are almost always in the minority. On this album I could mention "Dogs of War", "Take the Blame", and "Don´t Lie to Me" as some of the highlights (along with the above mentioned opening track).

The musical performances are as always on a high level. Lemmy sounds as gruff and raw as ever (although always with a melodic sensibility to his singing), his bass rumbles, Phil Campbell churns out one heavy blues based rock´n´roll riff and solo after another, and drummer Mikkey Dee is a skillfully playing powerhouse. His drumming always puts a smile on my face and at times makes my jaw drop. Damn he is good...

"Snake Bite Love" features a fat, warm, and powerful sounding production, which suits the material perfectly, so upon conclusion it´s another quality release by Motörhead. It´s not an album featuring any different sounding tracks or experiments, and it´s certainly not the band´s most memorable release either, but it´s enjoyable while it plays, and I remember the highlights off the album, so a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.