Album Of The Week: March ör Die by Motörhead

This week, we learned of the tragic loss of one of rock and metal’s biggest icons in Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead. A man that stood up for what he believed in and didn’t care if you didn’t like it. To honor the passing of Lemmy Kilmister, we are covering a Motörhead album for this week’s album of the week. The daunting task was figuring out which album I wanted to cover considering the band had released 22 of them over the 40 years they had been around. You see I have already covered the albums Overkill and Ace Of Spades for the blog so I wanted to choose something later on down the band’s career and I stumbled on March ör Die which was the band’s 10TH studio album released in 1992. The band had kinda been on a hot and cold streak as far as album sales were concerned and they had been constantly battling record companies before the release of the album. In 1991, Lemmy had some big success as he wrote four songs for Ozzy Osbourne and his smash record No More Tears. That gave Lemmy the confidence to move forward in the 1990’s and he did so with March ör Die which featured Phil Campbell (Guitar), the late Würzel (Guitar), the late and great Lemmy Kilmister (Lead Vocals and Bass), and three different drummers. Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor, Tommy Aldridge, and Mikkey Dee all played drums on the album.

1. Stand– The album starts off with big riffs in this rock and roll commercialized track from the band in a track that is all about no matter what happens, you have to be tough and march on. 4/5

2. Cat Scratch Fever– Lemmy’s cover of the Ted Nugent classic and I like it because the track is a little heavier than the original and more primitive sounding. 5/5

3. Bad Religion– The track starts off with that signature hard chargin Motorhead styled riff before the riff gets bigger like a locomotive train in a track that is Lemmy’s cry out against religion. He’s not afraid of Satan or God because they are used is to manipulate people. 4/5

4. Jack The Ripper– an in your face, fast paced rocker in a track about guess who? That’s right Jack The Ripper. 4/5

5. I Ain’t No Nice Guy– An interesting change in tempo, but it’s something we would become accustomed to as Lemmy shows his lighter side. The track also features Ozzy Osbourne providing additional vocals and Slash providing some additional guitars. This is also the only track o5/5

6. Hellraiser– This is basically Motorhead’s version of the track that Lemmy co-wrote with Ozzy and Zakk Wylde that first appeared on No More Tears, but this versions bass riff is more prevalent than the Ozzy version. This is also the only song to feature Mikkey Dee on drums. 5/5

7. Asylum Choir– Another hard charging rock and roll track from the band in a track about people driving you into a deeper insanity or at least that is what I got from it. The guitar solos in the track are awesome. 4/5

8. Too Good to Be True– Another rocker from the band that has a little flare of Bomber in it and it showcases their ability as they were often typecasted as a speed metal band. The song seems to be about a man who has lost the love of his life and is having trouble moving on from it. 4.5/5

9. You Better Run– This is the other track on the album that features Slash on guitar as well and I love it because it has a real slow, dirty, blues feel to it like Bad To The Bone. The track was later re-recorded for the Spongebob Squarepants Movie as You Better Swim. 4/5

10. Name In Vain– a faster paced blues tinged rock and roll song about a guy who is sick and tired of always being the center of someone elses’s problems. There’s a breakdown in the song at one point that gets really bluesy and the volume almost seems lowered until it explodes right back in. Love it 4/5

11. March ör Die– The title track on the album is also the last song on the record. The track when it starts almost sounds like a million soldiers marching with a looming riff over them in this battle anthem. It’s also a track that explores social issues like war, education, and so on and so forth. 4/5

My Final Thoughts– Allmusic gives the band a lot of crap saying that Lemmy, “almost managed to toss their impeccable legacy in the dumpster.” I don’t really see how because this record isn’t really that bad. It is a little more commercial than previous records? Yes, but does that make it a crime? The songs are pretty solid to me and the record kicks ass. I am going to give the record 4 stars out of five for a final grade.

Happy Birthday Zakk Wylde

I just wanted to take the time to wish the wild man Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society) a very happy birthday. Zakk is a very important person in the metal world because at one time, it was Zakk and Dimebag Darrell who were keeping metal alive and were soldiering on in an age when guitar solos were disappearing. Zakk and Dime made it cool to do guitar solos and before you knew everyone in the metal world was trying to do false harmonics, but none can do it quite as well as The Lord Of The Pings Zakk Wylde. Zakk still to this day put on one of the most incredible performances when I saw him with Ozzy during The Merry Mayhem Tour back in 2001 and it’s one that I will never forget for as long as I live. When Zakk and Black Label Society released Mafia, it was an album that my best friend and I were absolutely obsessed with and couldn’t take it out of our CD players (that’s right I said CD!!!). Here are some of my favorite songs that involve Zakk Wylde and Happy Birthday to a true Axeman.

 

Album Of The Week: No More Tears by Ozzy Osbourne (1991)

No More Tears was definitely one of my favorite albums from Ozzy that featured Zakk Wylde on guitar. It was Ozzy’s sixth studio album that was released on September 17, 1991 that has some interesting facts about it. I was always under the impression that Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) had performed the bass tracks on the record as you see him in the music videos, but longtime collaborator and bassist Bob Daisley recorded all the bass tracks. It was the last record to feature him on bass and the album also featured four tracks written by Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Mike Inez, however, did compose the music for the title track No More Tears. The album spawned five singles with four of them hitting the top ten and I Don’t Want To Change The World winning a Grammy. The album to date has sold over 5 million and debuted at number 7 when it was released. It was one of two of Ozzy’s biggest selling albums with the other one being The Blizzard Of Ozz. This was also one of the last albums to feature the late and great Randy Castillo on the drums.

Mr. Tinkertrain opens up the album and it has to be one of the most twisted songs on the record as it deals with the topic of child kidnappers. With lines like, “the kind of toys you’ve never seen, man-made and a bit obscene!”  and when the song kicks off you can hear Ozzy say, “Would you like some sweeties, little girl?” The riff is just amazingly awesome as it is one of Zakk’s best because the riff has some big balls and swagger. I Don’t Want To Change The World is the next track on the record and it is one of the tracks written by Lemmy Kilmister. It opens up with a monster riff by the lord of the ping Zakk and some monster bass playing from Daisley in a song about defiant because Ozzy was going through some big changes at the time. Mama, I’m Coming Home is one of the highlights of the record with it’s clean acoustic guitars as Lemmy helped pen this song which is an apology from Ozzy to Sharon. Don’t worry cause the song has some electric to it as it’s another track that demonstrates that Zakk can play and that he is a riff lord. Mama is actually the only solo Ozzy single to ever crack the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. The other being his duet with Lita Ford (Close My Eyes Forever).

Desire is the next track on the record and another track penned by Lemmy. The opening monster bass riff sounds like a steam engine coming down the track before Zakk absolutely rips it, just check out the solo. The title track comes up next with it’s recognizable opening bass riff and the keyboards that make the track eerie before Zakk comes in with his guitar playing while the hand slides up and down the neck playing the same riff, but with the sound getting heavier and lighter depending on where his hands are positioned on the neck. Ozzy’s nasally styled vocals are some of the best on this track as he describes the song as being about a serial killer.  The track also has an art-rock styled bridge that I think is perfect because I miss that part when it’s cut out of the radio single. S.I.N. opens with a blues styled riff from Zakk before it kicks in like a freight train going a 1000. Hellraiser is the last track on the record that features Lemmy as a writer and it’s a track that Ozzy should have released as a single because it rips especially with the call and response between the rhythm section and Zakk Wylde.

Time After Time is just simply an amazing track with Zakk playing the clean guitar in the beginning, but with one click of the pedal it’s off to power chord heaven. Zombie Stomp is another track on the album that starts with a cool bass riff and some sound effects. After a few minutes of the ominous beginning, the band finally kicks it into overdrive as Ozzy tells you to do the Zombie Stomp. A.V.H. has that southern drawl to it with Zakk and his slide guitar in the beginning of the track before they start playing the blues driven hard rock. Road To Nowhere is one of my all time favorite tracks on this record because at one time I thought it described my life. It’s a classic in the same vein as Mama, I’m Coming Home and Time After Time with it’s ballad like intro and heavy rock mixed together. This is an album that definitely put Zakk Wylde on the map and it definitely made people believe that he actually wasn’t the Randy Rhoads clone that they were pinning him for. I am giving this album 4 stars out of five.