Motörizer
Motörizer | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 26 August 2008 | |||
Recorded | Late 2007–early 2008 | |||
Studio | Studio 606 and Sage & Sound | |||
Genre | Heavy metal | |||
Length | 38:55 | |||
Label | SPV GmbH | |||
Producer | Cameron Webb | |||
Motörhead chronology | ||||
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Motörizer is the nineteenth studio album by the band Motörhead, released on 26 August 2008, their eleventh and last on the Steamhammer label.
Recording
Recording for the album was completed over the northern hemisphere winter of 2007-08, when the band had finished up their last tour, at Lemmy's long-time home of Hollywood in Los Angeles. As with all their albums since 2004's Inferno, it was Produced, Mixed and Engineered by Cameron Webb in California. Though the bands spends most of the year somewhere on tour together anyway, Philip and Mikkey have mostly recorded in the US when doing Motörhead albums, as Lemmy doesn't really travel unless touring since relocating. His age and health eventually made this the norm for the band, and so this album was done the same as the last few, with a few weeks over a few months practising, then into the studio for recordings. The format has served the band well enough over the years, as they generally brush off comments about their sound, that doesn't alter much each album by this stage in their careers, a formula they have been happy with.
Release
Lemmy appeared on BBC 6 Music's radio programme, Bruce Dickinson's Friday Rock Show [1] on 11 July, 2008, to promote the album, playing the tracks Runaround Man, which he described as:
"..nonsense set to an infectious beat.."
Rock Out and The Thousand Names of God, of which he mentioned:
"..It's completely extraneous, the title... It's about soldiers being conned into going into battle, for like, business men. It isn't even a cause anymore.."
The band's lead single Rock Out was featured as the official theme song to WWE Unforgiven and in the films Hesher and Nitro Circus: The Movie.
Artwork
The album cover was revealed on the front page of the group's official website on 11 June 2008. [2] Notable for being the band's first album since Overnight Sensation (1996) without the artwork of long-time collaborator Joe Petagno, the cover artwork is by Mark De Vito and features a Motörhead-themed coat of arms, with the shield quartered for each band member:
The Royal Arms of England for Lemmy in the top left corner;
The Y Ddraig Goch of Wales for Phil Campbell in the bottom right corner;
The Tre Kronor of Sweden for Mikkey Dee in the bottom left corner;
and Snaggletooth (the band's mascot) for the band as a whole.
Reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 63%[3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Metal Hammer | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork Media | (7.2/10) [5] |
PopMatters | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
World of Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The album debuted on Billboard chart at #82. [8] It peaked at #2 on the UK Rock & Metal chart, and at #5 on the German 'Offizielle Top 100' & US Independent charts. As with the band's last few albums, it did not make a massive impact on the general public, but saw dedicated sales in markets where they had a strong following. "We've never had a hit in America," remarked Lemmy. "We actually got in the top 100 this time… Number 89 [sic] and straight out again, but it's a start."[9]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Kilmister, Campbell, Dee
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Runaround Man" | 2:57 |
2. | "Teach You How to Sing the Blues" | 3:03 |
3. | "When the Eagle Screams" | 3:44 |
4. | "Rock Out" | 2:08 |
5. | "One Short Life" | 4:05 |
6. | "Buried Alive" | 3:12 |
7. | "English Rose" | 3:34 |
8. | "Back on the Chain" | 3:24 |
9. | "Heroes" | 4:59 |
10. | "Time Is Right" | 3:14 |
11. | "The Thousand Names of God" | 4:33 |
Total length: | 38:55 |
Personnel
Motörhead
- Lemmy – vocals, bass
- Phil Campbell – guitars
- Mikkey Dee – drums
- Wesley Mishener - slide guitar on "The Thousand Names of God"
Production
- Cameron Webb – producer, mixing, engineer
- Sergio Chavez – assistant engineer
- John Lousteau – assistant engineer
- Wesley Mischener – assistant engineer
- Josh Bierly – assistant engineer
- Kevin Bartley – mastering
- Lemmy Kilmister – cover concept and inside Digipak art
- Robert John – photography
- Mark De Vito – illustration
- Steffan Chirazi – creative direction
- Mark Abramson – art direction, graphic design
- Misty & Deve – Models (centre spread)
Charts
Chart | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] | 13 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] | 55 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] | 70 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[13] | 20 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] | 58 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] | 9 |
French Albums (SNEP)[16] | 24 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] | 5 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[18] | 11 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[19] | 47 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20] | 117 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] | 11 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] | 33 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] | 10 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] | 11 |
UK Albums (OCC)[25] | 32 |
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[26] | 2 |
US Billboard 200[8] | 82 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[27] | 5 |
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[28] | 11 |
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[29] | 14 |
Release history
Country | Date |
---|---|
North America | 26 August 2008 |
Germany | 29 August 2008 |
Europe | 1 September 2008 |
References
- ^ :"Tracklisting". Bruce Dickinson's Friday Rock Show. BBC 6 Music. 11 July 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ Motörhead official site
- ^ Motörizer at Metacritic
- ^ Henderson, Alex. Motörizer - Motörhead at AllMusic
- ^ Pitchfork Review
- ^ PopMatters Review
- ^ "musik angehört". WOM magazin (in German) (8 September). World of Music: 29.
- ^ a b "Motorhead Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
- ^ Kern, Rob: "What's been the highlight of the shows? That I'm still alive!"; Classic Rock #138, November 2009, p19
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". www.ultratop.be. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". www.ultratop.be. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". danishcharts.dk. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". lescharts.com. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline". musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
- ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2008. 36. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
- ^ "モータライザー - モーターヘッド". www.oricon.co.jp. oricon.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motörhead - Motörizer". hitparade.ch. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Motorhead | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Motorhead Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "Motorhead Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "Motorhead Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.