Motorhead: More Punk Than Metal or More Metal Than Punk?

[Zzzptm]

I'm listening to some punk rock right now, with an emphasis on the rock. Sounds a lot like Motorhead to me. Whereas, stuff like early Metallica/Megadeth doesn't sound as close to Motorhead as does the punk stuff. I guess I take Lemmy seriously when he emphasizes the punk aspects of Motorhead over the metal ones.

Your thoughts?

[Vyn]

"We are Motörhead...and we play rock 'n' roll!"

I think they were way closer to the punk aesthetic than metal - their tone just happened to be heavy and their tempo frenetic.

[Charger]

There's always been a punk vibe to Motörhead but it's never been so over powering that it would have put me off....I do consider them more Metal than punk.

Additude wise I think they were always somewhere in between...they were never in your face like punk was and they were never so abnoxious as some punk bands.

Also I think it would be wrong to not credit Motörhead as one of the originators of heavy metal...or especially Thrash metal...fast drums, fast furious riffs...short songs...all of which ofcourse were also a part of the punk genre...I think if possible Motörhead kind of got the best of both worlds.

[Zzzptm]

They certainly weren't like a hardcore band that just makes as much noise as possible, or a band where they took a lack of musicality as a badge of honor. Think The Damned and The New York Dolls, not The Sex Pistols or Sham 69.

I think on their first three albums for sure, there's a strong punk power in there. Looking at who they did splits or helped out onstage, I see Girlschool and The Damned - punk bands. Larry Wallis, the original guitarist was definitely a punk rocker from The Pink Fairies, but that band also played it heavy and fast. It does seem like their drummers outside of Philthy Animal were all metal drummers, so there's that.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

There is definitely a punky-ness to their attitude, and musically - in the early days anyway - it straddles that "No Man's Land" between punk and hard rock where they jammed and smoked stuff with The Ramones.

They can't be compared with all forms of punk, some could play, some couldn't, some just wanted to vent their anger at society... and especially Prog Rock; no they have to be compared with punk bands with a strong rhythm section and a fast tempo (I would include the Sex Pistols in this category when Matlock was on bass).

Anyway The Damned got mentioned, so here's their cover of the Sweet's Ballroom Blitz with Lemmy on bass and backing vocals (from around '78 or '79 I think).

From the same session this time with Lemmy on vocals and Algy Ward on bass we have Over the Top which is great. Apparently Philthy and Fast Eddie were at the studios but were too drunk to contribute... doesn't seem like them!!

[Zzzptm]

Lemmy singing makes a song more metal just because that's how his voice works.

I have heard the Ballroom Blitz cover, this is the first I've heard the Motordamn track. It's definitely a punk rocker in the style of The Hollywood Brats, with the volume cranked up a bit more. Get some other vocalist in there and you've got an unmistakable punk tune. Lemmy's raspy voice is what muddies the waters.

[Jack the Stripper]

Their musical style made them sound punk but their tone is definitely metal and not traditional punk sounding along with Lemmy’s voice. Lemmy always said they had more in common with Punk than metal however I think they definitely became more metal as time went on and were embraced as such.

Either way, they had a sound & style that was totally unique.

[Zzzptm]

So when did they cross over to being mostly metal? This is an interesting exploration.

From the first album, very punk stuff:

From 1993's Bastards:

Still pretty dang punk, in my opinion. The next track is much more closer to thrash metal than it is to punk rock, for sure.

Going to 2010, you can still hear a lot of punk in their sound:

Yes, it's a metal song. But... there's still very much a punk sensibility in there, in spite of the thrash drumming.

Got a head-scratcher, here...

[Jack the Stripper]

They never lost their punkiness but I think into the 90’s they became more metal in terms of their tone got even heavier. And they wrote more songs that were more metal in sound and style. Lemmy even started writing some power ballads as well which is very unpunk. By that time they’d been fully embraced by the metal community too and live appeared mostly on metal festivals and or either supported bigger metal bands or took metal bands out as a support on the road.

[Zzzptm]

They never lost their punkiness but I think into the 90’s they became more metal in terms of their tone got even heavier. And they wrote more songs that were more metal in sound and style. Lemmy even started writing some power ballads as well which is very unpunk. By that time they’d been fully embraced by the metal community too and live appeared mostly on metal festivals and or either supported bigger metal bands or took metal bands out as a support on the road.

I'd agree that by the 90s, especially after Mikkey Dee joined, they were firmly in the metal camp.

[Charger]

I think Motörhead is bit hard to categorize anyways.

But all in all I think they're metal with rock and punk elements.

Lemmy just always called them a rock 'n roll band...which kind of combines everything nicely...it's all rock 'n roll anyways!