Motörhead - Better Motörhead Than Dead - Live At Hammersmith

Published Sept. 07 2007

*=Staff's pick

Disc 1:
Dr. Rock*
Stay Clean
Shoot You In The Back
Love Me Like A Reptile*
Killers*
Metropolis
Love For Sale
Over The Top*
No Class
I Got Mine*
In The Name Of Tragedy
Dancing On Your Grave

Disc 2:
R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
Sacrifice
Just 'Cos You Got The Power*
(We Are) The Road Crew
Going To Brazil*
Killed By Death*
Iron Fist
Whorehouse Blues
Bomber*
Ace Of Spades*
Overkill

Genre	Rock n' Roll	Lemmy Kilmister	Vocals
Tracks	23	Phil Campbell	Guitar
Runningtime	47 Min./56 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	SPV	Lemmy Kilmister	Bass
Release	16 July 2007	Mikkey Dee	Drums
Country	England	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	---

I've never fully understood the meaning of live albums. It's just a collection of songs that you've probably heard a million times before with better sound quality, right? Add to this a crowd cheering and singing along, and you most likely also get an album where the sound has been tampered with. Sure, if you were present at the venue where the whole thing was recorded, it's understandable if you want to relive the same concert again through your stereo. However, I didn't attend Motörhead's 30th anniversary-concert at Hammersmith two years ago, but this two disc-compilation still proves to be rather entertaining.

Everyone who's been to a Motörhead-show knows how well oiled they are as a live-act, and while this isn't entirely transferred onto this album, there's still great moments to be had. Mostly on the first disc, quite surprisingly, on tracks like the rather new Killers and on classics like Over The Top and I Got Mine. The second disc makes the mistake of relying too much on hackneyed, albeit very good, songs that we might've heard a few times too many by now.

It's also a bit weird that several minutes of the slightly long running time on the second CD only consists of the audience cheering. This could easily have been left out and saved us the trouble. And finally, while Mikkey Dee certainly is one of the world's most entertaining drummers to see in action, it goes beyond me that there is a long drum solo here, incorporated in the track Sacrifice. Try to actually listen to a drum solo on a CD and you'll find out that the word pointless just got a new meaning.

While the production obviously could have been better, the music itself is as great as ever. This is their 30th anniversary after all, and Motörhead have stocked up on a several handfuls of classics over the years. Then again, if you own any of Motörhead's previous fourteen live albums (yes - fourteen!) there is little that warrants a purchase here. Especially as this is hardly a collection of their greatest songs ever, with tracks like Orgasmatron and Motörhead being mysteriously absent.

It's also a bit awkward that this album hasn't been released until now, which makes it rather confusing when Lemmy announces songs from "our new album Inferno", when they released Kiss Of Death last year. This double-disc is mainly one for the collectors, but no one can deny that the songs are top class all the way through.

See also review of: Bad Magic , Aftershock , The Wörld Is Yours, Motörizer

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	5	6	8

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Niklas