Motorhead – Bad Magic
WHILE Lemmy's once bombproof health might be becoming worryingly prone to metal fatigue, the bass-toting 69-year-old road dog and his faithful cohorts Phil Campbell (guitar) and Mikkey Dee (drums) sound far from worn out on Bad Magic.
Motorhead's patented three-pronged punk metal assault hits the spot as only it can on catchy, upliftingly defiant sonic blitzkriegs like Electricity, Teach Them How To Bleed, Tell Me Who To Kill, Victory or Die and the fantastic single Thunder and Lightning, while even the now customary 'slow number' Till The End is a big riffing rock ballad on which Lem waxes philosophical about life and his own hard-fought integrity.
"All I know is who I am, I'll never let you down, the last one you can trust until the end" he rasps, as if committed Motorheaders were ever in any doubt.
Only a fun but ultimately forgettable Motorized cover of Stones standard Sympathy For The Devil (an odd choice for confirmed Beatles man Lemmy) fails to excite beyond the first listen: Lem's creepy multi-layered vocals on the thunderous Evil Eye sound much more authentically diabolic.
Likewise, his throaty rattle on ominous chuggathon Choking On Your Screams gives the war-themed space rock a 'bad trip' edge suggestive of a hellish Hawkwind.
Yes, Bad Magic delivers all you need from Motorhead and a couple of surprises too – like Queen man Brian May rocking out on The Devil – which isn't bad going for 40 years, 22 LPs and counting.
Let's just hope Lemmy has a few more rock 'n' roll spells left in him yet.
