The Wörld Is Yours

Album Review

The common misconception about Motörhead is that they've been recording the same album over and over again for 30-plus years, but nothing could be further from the truth. Just ask the band's most discerning, long-serving fans and they'll eagerly wax poetic about the nuanced distinctions between, say, the amphetamine blues of Overkill, the blazing Spaghetti Western slugfests of Ace of Spades, the bruising metallic crush of Orgasmatron, or the thrash-fueled onslaught of Sacrifice. If anything — and not even these die-hard fans can deny this — one could say that the band's albums released from the late ‘90s onward began blending together somewhat, for lack of cohesive personalities and enough quality songs. So bucking these two trends is essentially the mission faced by Lemmy and co.'s 20th career studio album, the cheekily named The Wörld Is Yours (which, in a novel marketing ploy, was delivered in time for Christmas 2010 with an issue of Britain's Classic Rock Magazine, ahead of its 2011 release worldwide). And, believe it or not, its mission was accomplished, to a certain degree, on both counts! Particularly in reference to challenge that first point, since The Wörld Is Yours may eventually be remembered as Motörhead‘s ultimate "rock & roll" album, thanks to a clutch of consistently bluesy, ‘50s rock-rooted, tunes like "Get Back in Line," "Rock ‘n' Roll Music," and "Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye." Then again, Lemmy has always stressed that his is a rock & roll band, not a heavy metal band, and he proceeds to press the point home with an unusually large number of speed-averse offerings, as well, including "Waiting for the Snake," the nightmarish "Orgasmatron" throwback, "Brotherhood of Man," and "Born to Lose" (a new song named after an old Lemmy slogan so entrenched in band lore, even knowledgeable Motörbangers may be surprised that it wasn't used already). As for challenge number two, it's hard to proclaim any Motörhead "all-timers" out of this lot with unwavering, absolute conviction, but there are several winners among the cuts cited above, plus a pair of absolute corkers in the rollicking, defiant "I Know How to Die" and the thrill-a-second "Outlaw," which sounds like three songs wrapped into one with its memorable chorus, searing Phil Campbell guitar solo, and pulverizing twin-kick-drum tattoos courtesy of Mikkey Dee. This pair of grizzled old vets, together with their seemingly indestructible, mutton-chopped leader, still constitute a formidably powerful and a well-oiled rock & roll machine, there's no doubt about that. And that's one thing that certainly has been repeated many times over on most every Motörhead album, The Wörld Is Yours more successfully than others.