Everything Louder Than Everything Else: Your Top Ten Motörhead Albums

[Jack the Stripper]

Very solid list Kilo. Great to see you’re digging Inferno and Kiss Of Death, amazing albums for sure. And of corse you’ve earned yourself an awesome point as well for including Bastards in your 10 

[Charger]

Your top 3 is the same as mine!

Awesome!

The love for Inferno is just....

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Thanks guys it's appreciated.

All 5 of the new albums (for me) are good, and Sacrifice and Overnight Sensation might be pushing for the 10 if I was only more familiar with them. They are all from the period when I wasn't buying Motorhead albums (for which I blame March or Die!). There's 5 more from that period I still don't have, I'll get them for sure, but there's no real hurry.

So thanks guys for getting me into those lost gems.

[Charger]

Also I have to say I am happy to see how you then changed your mind about March Or Die...it's a cracking album!

[Jack the Stripper]

Back when March or Die came out I thought it was ok but kind of a disappointing follow up to 1916. I think the songwriting is good on in its own but it’s Motörhead “lite” and overly commercial for a Motörhead album. It was Lemmy‘s attempt to have a crack at the big commercial success that a lot of other metal bands were enjoying at the time and probably also a product of him working with Ozzy during this period

Personally I don’t think there’s a bad Motörhead album in the catalogue, some are just less memorable than others. In March or Die’s case it’s more watered down than anything else they did. 

[Charger]

That's kind of an interesting take on it...cause I think it's pretty damn heavy in fact....in places heavier than Bastards...or 1916 for that matter.

Never really thought of it overly commercial...BUT I Ain't No Nice Guy does fit that mark...and it is the worst song on the album for sure.

[Jack the Stripper]

The production isn’t heavy at all. The guitar tones aren’t your typical raw, mean and dirty Motörhead sound. The album has a bit of a feel of what was going on in the LA metal scene at the time. Lemmy had moved there permanently by then so that probably rubbed off on him as well. Also bringing in Ozzy and Slash for the big power ballad is another pointer that Lemmy was angling for some mainstream commercial success as well as covering Cat Scratch Fever and having it at track #2 on the album.

[Charger]

Well...yeah...I guess the guitar tone is bit cleaner than on the other two.

The Cat Scratch Fever cover is brilliant though. One of their best covers I think.

[Charger]

So as I've been going through my Motörhead cds (still missing quite a few though but just ordered couple more) been thinking we probably should rate the rest too at some point...

The best of the rest?

[Jack the Stripper]

Well...yeah...I guess the guitar tone is bit cleaner than on the other two.

The Cat Scratch Fever cover is brilliant though. One of their best covers I think.

It is a great cover. I’ve always loved “You Better Run” which also has Slash on it. That duelling guitar and bass solo is brilliant!   

[Jack the Stripper]

So as I've been going through my Motörhead cds (still missing quite a few though but just ordered couple more) been thinking we probably should rate the rest too at some point...

The best of the rest?

Yes we should.

[Jack the Stripper]

Ok I think I’ve got a good enough of a handle on Motörhead’s entire catalogue to judge them all. I own every one of their albums on vinyl or cd or both in a lot of cases and have given them enough listens over the years to rate them in some semblance of order as hard as that is because there is very little between a lot of them.

#11. Iron Fist(1982) - The final album from the classic lineup. Very solid album but just lacks the quality and highlights of the previous albums. Played it a lot back in the day but need to be in a certain mood to give it a spin these days. Side one is the stronger side and last track “Bang To Rights” is the best from Side 2.

#12. Orgasmatron(1986) - Good album, probably closest in sound & style to the classic era delivered from this and subsequent lineups. Production is muddy which hurts it a bit but it still really captures the Motörhead spirit with the mean and dirty riffage of earlier releases. Deaf Forever, Mean Machine, Built for Speed, Doctor Rock and title track are my favourites off this.

#13. Motörhead(1977) - Hard to know where to rank the s/t debut as Overkill was such a big step up from this in every way. This also has more of a punkier edge to it as well and a rawer production. Their sound and style is very much in the development stage on this and some of the songs were written by Lemmy in his former band Hawkwind and others were written before “Fast” Eddie Clarke joined. I do dig the album a lot though and appreciate it for its time but for some reason I don’t revisit it much these days. Vibrator is the only song that never did anything for me.

#14. Hammered(2000) - A really great album. Just a little bit off the consistent quality of the other non classic lineup albums I have in my top 10. Walk a Crooked Mile, Down the Line, Voices From the War, Kill the World and Red Raw are all brilliant songs. The Triple H theme song “The Game” is pretty cool as well. Recommend this one if you’re a fan of Bastards, Sacrifice and Overnight Sensation. Probably should have it higher actually but tough trying to demote any of the three ahead of it.

#15. We Are Motörhead(2000) - Another really good solid release from the Lemmy, Phil, Mikkey lineup and a definite improvement on the previous release to this but again just a bit off the consistent quality of other albums from this lineup. See Me Burning, Stay Out of Jail, One More Fucking Time, Stagefreight/Crash & Burn and the title track are up there with the best of anything this lineup ever did though. Another one that could be higher on the list.


#16. Motorizer(2008) - Inferno and then Kiss of Death were always gonna be tough albums to follow but they did a more than admirable job with Motorizer. Still very much in the same vein as those albums only Kiss of Death is more varied and it’s best songs are just better than the best of Motorizer. Favourite tracks Runaround Man, Teach You How To Sing The Blues, Rock Out, Buried Alive and “The Thousand Names of God“.

#17. Bad Magic(2015) - Probably my favourite of their last 3 studio releases. Lemmy was ill during the recording and his voice is decidedly weaker. It seems they all lifted their game knowing it was more than likely gonna be the final studio album from Motörhead. Some really strong and memorable riffs from Phil on this one. Highlights include: Victory or Die, Thunder & Lightning, Shoot Out All of Your Love, Till the End, & Choking On Your Screams. “Electricity” is good also but the riff is a carbon copy of “Smiling Like A Killer” from Inferno. Production sounds strangely a bit murky too but I dig this album quite a lot and can see it creeping up the list in years to come.

#18. March Or Die(1992) - I do like this album overall even though It’s quite watered down and commercial sounding for a Motörhead album. The songwriting is still good though and I appreciate the point of difference to other albums and another side to Lemmy. He and the band proved they could write a popier more commercial sounding rock album with the best of them. Favourite  tracks: Stand, Bad Religion, I Ain’t No Nice Guy, Asylum Choir and You Better Run. No real bad or mediocre tracks on this one though.

#19. Aftershock(2013) - A good solid release and improvement over “The World Is Yours”  but just suffers from being a little samey with tempos and lacking variety which was a bit of a constant in their later years. I do think this one will improve a bit more over time as I possibly get burnt out on others. Lost Women Blues, End of Time, Dust and Glass, Queen of the Damned and Knife are my standouts from this album.

#20. Rock ‘n’ Roll(1987) - A tough one to rate. I honestly don’t think it’s bad or any worse than some other albums I rank just ahead of it, it’s probably just less memorable. The production sounds lifeless as hell and lacks punch which doesn’t help. If it was a little more in your face I’d rate it higher. Best tracks are the self titled track , Eat The Rich, Stone Deaf in the USA, “The Wolf“ and “Boogeyman”. The b-side to Eat The Rich “Just Cos You Got The Power” really should’ve been included on the album proper.


#21. The World Is Yours(2010) - A little uninspired and a by the numbers release is probably the best way to describe this album which is a rare thing in their discography. Still a decent listen but just lacks consistent good memorable songs and the variation of previous releases from this great lineup. Best songs for me are the two bookends along with I Know How To Die, Brotherhood of Man and Outlaw.

#22. Snake Bite Love(1998)  - Another one that suffers from just not being memorable enough and is a little uninspired and misguided in what it’s trying to achieve. Doesn’t seem like they really put a lot of thought and effort into this album. Phil’s riffs are ok but nothing really stands out. Still not a bad album by any stretch but just not enough highlights to rank it above anything else. Quite like “Dead and Gone” for a different vibe and Dogs of War and Better Off Dead are solid Motörhead songs also, while Assassin would be quite likeable if not for the repetitive chorus.
Overall, Snake Bite Love is quite an oddball release sandwiched among some very strong albums.



Phew! That was even tougher than I thought...Subject to change of course.

Good luck to the rest of you’s.

[Charger]

Hmmm...My list would look quite a bit different I think.

But the truth is I am still missing few albums...Snake Bite Love is on it's way, Hammered I don't have, Overnight Sensation neither, nor the debut...So I am going to have to listen to them on youtube to find a placing for them.

I think We Are Motörhead and Bad Magic might rank around the same place where you did...The Wörld Is Yours Might get bit higher but that depends a lot on the one's I haven't listened to actively yet.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I don't have the debut on CD

I also don't have from the earlier releases Orgasmatron and Rock n Roll.

From the period I wasn't buying their albums I don't have Snake Bite Love, We Are Motorhead, Hammered, Motorizer and The World is Yours....

Therefore I only really have 4 more albums that I could include as I'm presuming On Parole doesn't really count.

[Charger]

Today I've been listening to We Are Motörhead again after some while and I have to say the album's better than I remembered... I was thinking about putting it on the middle the list but now I think it might actually go to the top side.