Motörhead is like the Duracell bunny when it comes to work ethics.
Motörhead once again made a brand new album and shows no sign of retirement or slowing down.
"Kiss of Death" is packed with typical
Motörhead boogie Rock N' Roll and yet this album offers a wide variety within the limits of
Motörhead's music. The album shows
Motörhead from their best side and "Kiss of Death" should appeal to all Hard rock fans and Lemmy's die-hard fans.
Motörhead never sounded so diverse and melodic and still kept their integrity. Phil Campbell, Lemmy and Mikkey Dee have gotten lots of fresh ideas for this album and a new lease on life.
Motörhead tries a couple of new things and overall the album is improved in every aspect; production, arrangement and better songwriting with better choruses. Often the chorus is just one line repeated, but on "Kiss of Death" they worked more on the making melodic choruses instead of one-liners.
Devil I know is great example of this, since it has a catchy bridge that leads to a great chorus.
Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee are actually responsible for writing most of the music. The music for
Devil I know and the way Dee lays down the snare drum is amazing. The song has a vibe ala
Mötley Crüe's
Looks that Kill. The major difference is that
Mötley Crüe wrote that song for their second album when they were a young up-coming band with lots of energy.
Motörhead has been around for 30 years and it's a incredible achievement to sound that fresh on their album number 23.
Trigger is another ace on this album. The instrumental passages from Campbell are amazing and this
Motörhead album has more details than any other, which really suits the band. Again the chorus is melodic well crafted and more sophisticated (probably the first time someone has ever written that word in a
Motörhead review).
God was never on your side is the most successful ballad since
Lost in the Ozone. This time Lemmy actually succeeds in singing with the sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar only for the verse. Of course the chorus goes electric to make it more bombastic but also emphasizes the power of the lyrics, which deals with religion. The arrangement builds up since it adds several layers of instruments and peaks with the guitar solo, where a surprise guest musician,
Poison guitarist C.C. Deville, blows a great solo.
Christine is once again
Motörhead playing a variation of a Chuck Berry riff. It's another great Rock n´ Roll song, which isn't as fast paced as
Going to Brazil - but in the same vein. Lemmy throws in a lyrical reference to the ultimate
Motörhead hit song
Aces of Spades.
Living in the past Yet,
Under the gun and
One night stand represents the riff driven, groovy and bouncing side to
Motörhead .
Sword of glory is one of the more anonymous tracks on "Kiss of Death" and the listener actually have to wait till track 11
Kingdom of the worm to get a really primitive track.
The thick merge of Lemmy´s distorted bass and Campbell´s guitar gives
Be my baby lots of body. It's a true
Motörhead standard, which is meant in a good way.
The sound is good and the band is super tight as always. Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee is the best rhythm section in
Motörhead ever. Phil Campbell just keeps getting better and plays great on the whole album.
Personally I totally fell for this album, since it has much more to offer than the usual
Motörhead album. "Kiss of Death" is 45 minutes of pure Rock!
These guys know what they are doing and they do it well.
Written by
Michael Thursday, September 7, 2006
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 7.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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