Motor Sister

So...this album cover screams Ken, you will love me.



Saw it on Amazon. Checked out some samples. Dug it. Interesting story behind the band...

Quote :

Guitarist Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), his wife Pearl Aday (daughter of actor/musician Meat Loaf), drummer John Tempesta (currently of THE CULT, formerly of EXODUS, TESTAMENT, WHITE ZOMBIE, HELMET and other bands) and bassist Joey Vera (current ARMORED SAINT and FATES WARNING member, who was briefly in ANTHRAX) in 2013 joined forces with Jim Wilson, guitarist/vocalist of MOTHER SUPERIOR (who doubled as Henry Rollins' backing band from 1997 to 2003) and longtime Daniel Lanois bassist, to perform MOTHER SUPERIOR's music at a show in Ian's house as the guitarist's birthday present to himself. The project, called MOTOR SISTER, has since written and recorded a debut album, "Ride", which will be released on March 10 via Metal Blade.

MOTOR SISTER's video for the song "Fork In The Road" can be seen below.

"I wanted to cherry-pick a set list of my favorite MOTHER SUPERIOR songs and get these guys together and have the concert at my house," Ian says of the event that eventually led to an album.

Enthralled at the idea of making a record of his favorite MOTHER SUPERIOR songs, Ian e-mailed producer Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER) and asked if he thought it was possible to recapture the same spontaneous energy MOTOR SISTER generated at their makeshift gig, and if an album could be recorded quickly. "He said, 'Yeah, we can make the record in two days and we can make it sound really good.' So that's what we did," Ian says. "A week and a half later, we made the record in L.A. over a two-day period. We recorded the whole thing live in the studio and the set-up was at my house."

He continues: "Jim was totally into the idea. Pearl was a huge MOTHER SUPERIOR fan from way back and was in. I asked my good friends Joey Vera and John Tempesta to be a part of it because I knew they were both big fans as well and with no hesitation they said, 'We're in.'"

Wilson, too, was stoked by the opportunity to dust off some songs he hadn't played since his L.A. rock trio broke up in the early 2000s after releasing eight albums and playing as Henry Rollins' backing band. "I definitely didn't need any arm-twisting," he says. "I was totally flattered and thought it was a great idea. I figured it would be fun and it was a great opportunity for a new chapter to be established in order to move forward."

The recordings from those two days are what became to be known as MOTOR SISTER's "Ride". Today, the first single from those sessions, "This Song Reminds Me Of You", is available for to stream, along with a featurette video on the formation of the band and the process behind the record.

"Ride" track listing:

01. A-Hole
02. This Song Reminds Me Of You
03. Beg Borrow Steal
04. Fool Around
05. Get That Girl
06. Head Hanging Low
07. Fork in the Road
08. Little Motor Sister
09. Pretty in the Morning
10. Whore
11. Doghouse
12. Devil Wind

So some friends get together for a birthday jam and then Metal Blade offers them a deal and they write an album in two days. Okay. But it sounds really good. Nothing amazing, but these two tracks are very good.





I'll buy it.

And here's a little behind-the-scenes thingy...

Being a long time Mother Superior fan, I'm looking forward to hearing this. Although part of me wonders how much different these songs will sound from the originals. Other than female vocals of course.

FYI, Pearl already covered the Mother Superior song "Whore" on her Immaculate White Fox album. Featuring Scott Ian and Jim Wilson too.

The album cover's not bad either.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Being a long time Mother Superior fan, I'm looking forward to hearing this. Although part of me wonders how much different these songs will sound from the originals. Other than female vocals of course.

FYI, Pearl already covered the Mother Superior song "Whore" on her Immaculate White Fox album. Featuring Scott Ian and Jim Wilson too.

The album cover's not bad either.

I had never heard of Mother Superior until I read this article. I intend to check them out.

I never heard of Mother Superior before either but if these clips are indicative of their sound I can pass.  It's not bad by any means but it just sounds like a lot of other music out there to my ears. I'd pick this up if I found it on the cheap but otherwise I can live without it.

I tried giving these guys some attention before, but none of you knobs seemed to care...

http://www.heartofmetal.net/t6374-mother-superior?highlight=Mother+Superior

I became a fan after I discovered them backing Henry Rollins for 3 or 4 albums. I'd say they're just a straight-up rock band with some soul. I'm missing their last album, but I have the rest and they're all varying degrees of "good" to "great". Not a clunker in the bunch, in my opinion.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I tried giving these guys some attention before, but none of you knobs seemed to care...

Bah! I don't want to hear it. That's what happens with 90% of my posts!

New video...



Me likee!!

MetalGuy71 wrote:

New video...



Me likee!!

Yeah, I dig that quite a bit.

Well the Motorhead influence is definitely there, just like their name implies.

Troublezone wrote:

Well the Motorhead influence is definitely there, just like their name implies.

From what I read, they take their name from a Mother Superior song.

I had the same reaction to this vid that I did the earlier ones.

Nothing I'd switch off if it came on the radio but nothing I feel like owning either.  It just sounds really generic to me; like bar band music if you know what I mean.

Mother Superior is the backing band on my favorite Rollins Band album, "Nice" from 2001.

Eyesore wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Well the Motorhead influence is definitely there, just like their name implies.

From what I read, they take their name from a Mother Superior song.

Really? The rhythm playing is very Motorhead-ish IMO.

S.D. wrote:

Mother Superior is the backing band on my favorite Rollins Band album, "Nice" from 2001.

The End of Silence is my favorite Rollins band album, but I do really like the ones he did with the Mother Superior guys too.

Eyesore wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Well the Motorhead influence is definitely there, just like their name implies.

From what I read, they take their name from a Mother Superior song.

'Little Motor Sister' by Mother Superior


Here's their version of 'A Hole' too for comparison...

Dig those songs, too. But are all Motor Sister songs covers of Mother Superior songs? I know they did covers at that birthday party, but I thought the subsequent band was doing originals.

Without having the discs in front of me, off the top of my head, I can tell you these tracks are MS covers...

01. A-Hole
02. This Song Reminds Me Of You
03. Beg Borrow Steal
04. Fool Around
05. Get That Girl
06. Head Hanging Low
07. Fork in the Road
08. Little Motor Sister
09. Pretty in the Morning
10. Whore

These last 2 I don't recognize, so they might be originals. Or not.
11. Doghouse
12. Devil Wind*

EDIT: 'Devil Wind' is also a cover. I can find 'Doghouse' on any track listings, so maybe that's an original?

I've also just discovered that Jim Wilson has a solo album out....


I had no idea. Have to keep an eye out for that one.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Without having the discs in front of me, off the top of my head, I can tell you these tracks are MS covers...

01. A-Hole
02. This Song Reminds Me Of You
03. Beg Borrow Steal
04. Fool Around
05. Get That Girl
06. Head Hanging Low
07. Fork in the Road
08. Little Motor Sister
09. Pretty in the Morning
10. Whore

These last 2 I don't recognize, so they might be originals. Or not.
11. Doghouse
12. Devil Wind*

EDIT: 'Devil Wind' is also a cover. I can find 'Doghouse' on any track listings, so maybe that's an original?

I've also just discovered that Jim Wilson has a solo album out....


I had no idea. Have to keep an eye out for that one.

Well, that's kind of lame. Cool for a birthday party jam sessions, but to do an entire covers album with the singer from the band you're covering? Eh.

Eyesore wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Without having the discs in front of me, off the top of my head, I can tell you these tracks are MS covers...

01. A-Hole
02. This Song Reminds Me Of You
03. Beg Borrow Steal
04. Fool Around
05. Get That Girl
06. Head Hanging Low
07. Fork in the Road
08. Little Motor Sister
09. Pretty in the Morning
10. Whore

These last 2 I don't recognize, so they might be originals. Or not.
11. Doghouse
12. Devil Wind*

EDIT: 'Devil Wind' is also a cover. I can find 'Doghouse' on any track listings, so maybe that's an original?

I've also just discovered that Jim Wilson has a solo album out....


I had no idea. Have to keep an eye out for that one.

Well, that's kind of lame. Cool for a birthday party jam sessions, but to do an entire covers album with the singer from the band you're covering? Eh.

Yeah I'm thinking the same thing now. I'm considerably less excited.

It does kinda take some of the shine off the apple, but as a fan of the members involved, I'm still interested. Maybe Pearl does some of the vocals just to change things up a bit. Shame if she's been reduced to only playing tambourine. I'm also curious to hear Scott's playing. Maybe he "heavied" things ups a bit.

I'll probably wait until I can find it cheap though. Not going to be a top priority.

Eyesore, speaking of side-projects, have you tried The Damned Things?

http://www.heartofmetal.net/t14418-the-damned-things-feat-scott-ian-rob-caggiano

You're probably the only other guy on this board that will give it a shot. Everyone else is too metal for this crap.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

It does kinda take some of the shine off the apple, but as a fan of the members involved, I'm still interested. Maybe Pearl does some of the vocals just to change things up a bit. Shame if she's been reduced to only playing tambourine.   I'm also curious to hear Scott's playing. Maybe he "heavied" things ups a bit.

I'll probably wait until I can find it cheap though. Not going to be a top priority.

As I don't own any Mother Superior albums, I'd probably pick this one up, too. Maybe not one day one or at full price, but I'm not that big of a snob. =)

And no, I haven't heard The Damned Things. I know of them, but I've never come across the album in the wilds.

This is an interesting release. And I mean that in a "was this recording really necessary" type of way. It's more-or-less a Mother Superior re-recorded Greatest Hits comp.

Jim Wilson, lead singer of Mother Superior, handles all the lead vocals here too. Pearl Aday, a more than competent singer in her own right, only supplies some back-up and harmony vocals, no leads. And some fierce tamborine pounding. The rest of the band pretty much sticks to the original arrangements. Scott's rhythm guitar heavies things up a little, but these songs were heavy enough in their original forms. It's not like they were acoustic folk songs or something. The only real difference is that they went from a 3-piece to a 5-piece band.

So with Wilson credited with all the music and lyrics (along with his former MS band mate Marcus Blake) and his vocals, it's basically like he's formed a tribute band to...himself? He's just re-recorded old Superior songs with a new back-up band. Jim Wilson's Mother Superior Experience, you could say. Just ask Blotzer.

I guess the idea was that a bunch a friends got together and banged out some cool tunes in a week or so and put it out there for everyone to enjoy. No harm in that. If the bigger names attached to this project gets Mother Superior some well-deserved attention, I'm all for that. And it's made me want to re-visit my MS albums for some more comparisons.

I would recommend this album and also suggest tracking down the originals, but seeing how only me and Eyesore seemed to care in the first place, he'll buy this anyway, regardless of what I've typed.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Eyesore, speaking of side-projects, have you tried The Damned Things?

http://www.heartofmetal.net/t14418-the-damned-things-feat-scott-ian-rob-caggiano

You're probably the only other guy on this board that will give it a shot. Everyone else is too metal for this crap.

This was a really cool side project. I wish it would have continued on somehow. I have the album. My favorites on the album are; "We've Got a Situation Here", "Bad Blood", "Graverobber", "Handbook for the Recently Deceased" & "Little Darling".