| Artist: |
Motorhead |
| Title: |
"Over the Top; |
| Label: |
Castle Music
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| Reviewed by: |
Vinnie Apicella |
| Rating: |
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Having made an entire career of overstaying their welcome, a band that
needs no introduction, the mighty "Motorhead," is back - as if they've
ever left. Two more reasons to lock up your daughters - or maybe in
this case, their mothers! Having just released a new album not so
long ago, and with a seemingly endless supply of ageless material revisited
and reissued in one form or another, what have we done to deserve this?
We suck! How about that? No, but really, when you've just had your
greatest releases reissued and repackaged and your history basically
rewritten for the benefit of your ageless devotees - and you know, the
ironic thing about it is that this band wasn't worth a fuck when they
first came out - they had that one big breakthrough at around the time
"No Remorse" revitalized and really brought their popularity out from
the gutter basically. Well, whoever said life begins at forty knew what
they were talking about!
So, after all this, what's the point in
releasing yet another compilation - as if there's anything left of unused
single material or rarities. Ain't no such thing anymore! But wait,
here we have "Over The Top" and it's a rarities collection! There's not
a building in existence today that's big enough to house all of this
band's unused material! Most of this stuff has already been
rehashed and released several times over before, and anything they do by
way of any new collections of material, old, new, whatever, it will
rightfully be critically judged against those first six or seven
classics that got the full treatment earlier in the year! Absolute
perfection right down to the final descriptive swearwords laid out by their
inimitable leader!
Well firstly, the rarities begin right off the
top - or "over" if you prefer - with an al instrumental version of "Tear Ya
Down," which personally, I could care less about. Interesting, but
definitely passable. "Louie Louie," an old cover which as an alternate
version wreaks just as badly as the original - it's just a lousy song in
general and I hope they never play it live again! Now here's where the
fun starts. "Over The Top" and "Please Don't Touch," back to back, really
get this thing rumbling. The latter I believe has appeared on one of
these last few collections, but anyway a cool song! "Emergency" is
another of the strong points here, and then the alternate version of
"Over The Top. . ."
A couple of "For Collector's Only" cut ups appear
toward the end with "Lemmy Goes Down The Pub," which in any version is
worth a few pounds anyway, and also a reworked version of "Remember Me I'm
Gone." I've always dug "Train Kept A Rollin'," so that's a keeper. You can't
make out a goddamned word he's saying, but that's the beauty of it - and
this is before he "goes down to the pub," so go figure!
A fractional history of the band is featured within the credits, along with
some bad
pictures and unfortunately no colorful commentary from the band members
themselves.
Now onto the "Singles" collection.
If there's a choice to be made between the two, it's this one hands
down. I still don't know what the hell is with this "Louie, Louie"
obsession here, but it's easily ignored once the opening plucking of
"Overkill" nudges its way into the picture. "The Chase Is Better
Than The Catch" you loved as the short, but sweet, precursor to the
close of "Ace Of Spades." You'll like it even more as a full two-disc
set that features all of "Motorhead's" "bronze" moments of glory, those
being their earliest years with the ancient Bronze label.
Take your pick, A's or B's, they had 'em both and in the year 2000 who'd
have ever
thought we'd still be hearing 'em! "Motorhead" were very much a punk likeness
in the early going and many of their early releases
reflect that underground quality - where records came out as singles first
and foremost, a sour taste of what usually was to come - and with a band
like this, the bitter the better!
Well, back in the day we had stuff
like "Louie Louie / Tear Ya Down" on the opposite sides, "No Class /
Like a Nightmare," and well, the list goes on. Anyway, the opening to
side A runs wild with the likes of "Overkill," "No Class," "Bomber" and
so on before we discover the "Golden Years. . ." - as in their Live EP
from two decades ago! Side A closes with two of their best ever in
"Shine" from everyone's favorite whipping boy of a record "Another
Perfect Day," and "Killed By Death," which never actually appeared on a
regular release, but claimed sole rights to the "No Remorse" collection
which, make no mistake, never would've met with the same accolades
without it, and a song that's probably remained a live staple of the band
ever since!
Well now we come the "B" sides, featuring "Tear Ya Down,"
"Too Late Too Late" and "Like A Nightmare" for an opening threesome!
Sifting through the remains, more live music on the way with "Dead Men
Tell No Tales" and "Too Late Too Late," and no, it's never too late!
These guys are living proof! "Over The Top," for what looks like the
third time, appears again as a live version and by this time I'm numb and
my ears are numb. The human senses can take only so much of this.
Sensory adaptation doesn't apply when you're dealing with a reckless
band of crude and unrefined talent coming across dangerously loud, even
on low volume.
So, in a nutshell, I'm in trouble. Again, the true fan
who's been there since the beginning, or the big collector will find
some things, even many things, that are salvageable from either of these two
simultaneous releases and should definitely add it to their collection.
It's getting old, but hey, no true headbanger can ever really get their
full fix of this low down and lecherous monstrosity that continues to
prowl through the damp recesses of a willing and dirty mind. The
wonderful thing is, twenty years down the line when they're all in their
eighties probably, we'll still be getting hit with all of the new
"classics" that they pulled from the later releases. So kids, you may
look forward to a lifetime of torture and shame as you begin to approach
your own "golden years."
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