The Worst Motorhead Album

Okay folks, pick one and ONLY ONE Motorhead album as their worst. Explain yourselves.

Ready? Go.

For me it's 1992's March Or Die. From the guest appearances of Ozzy and Slash, to the crap album cover, to the sterile production and the so-so songs, this was Motorhead at the worst. Luckily, 1993's Bastards stomped this mediocre crap into the ground.

I'm going to discredit myself big time, but for me, there are two bands throughout their careers have been copy/pasting the same album over and over: AC/DC and Motorhead... What I'm trying to say is, there cannot be best or worst Motorhead album, they are either all the best, or all the worst... hope this makes sense

Motorhead is actually more diverse than most people give them credit for and there has been progression in their sound over the years.  But I think a lot of people only listen to surface and don't really focus enough to notice.

March Or Die.  Too slick, too calculated, uninspired.

I am about 3 shy on the whole discography, so I am going to defer to my slightly older but much wiser Metal brothers and make it a hat trick for March or Die. The cover of Cat Scratch Fever is just terrible.

Sadly I really don't have enough of their cd's to name the worse one. Out of the ones I own I'd have to say Inferno, and tgat album kicks major ass. I'm currently working on getting them all, but its going to be a slow process. I made the mistake of buying the Stone Deaf Forever boxset and lat tgat be my main motorhead fix. I had axfew if their other studio albums, but nowhere near enough. Been a fan if theirs since the 80's but just been lazy getting all the music. I'm on a mission now though and will have them all by years end! \m/

Witchfinder wrote:

For me it's 1992's March Or Die.  From the guest appearances of Ozzy and Slash, to the crap album cover, to the sterile production and the so-so songs, this was Motorhead at the worst.  Luckily, 1993's Bastards stomped this mediocre crap into the ground.  

You nailed it! This is always an obvious choice with me as well. It's not awful by any means, but I also think it's a product of its time. The music scene was changing, bands were jumping on the, "hey look what Metallica was able to do on the Black album." Let's see if we can do the same thing and become a little more accessible to a market we haven't been able to tap. Don't get me wrong, Motörhead was still Motörhead, BUT that whole collaboration back and forth between Ozzy/Zakk/Slash and Lemmy was not a good thing. On paper it seemed interesting until the final product was unleashed.

the sentinel wrote:

I am about 3 shy on the whole discography, so I am going to defer to my slightly older but much wiser Metal brothers and make it a hat trick for March or Die. The cover of Cat Scratch Fever is just terrible.

Haha, you and I are in the same boat. I've got all but three, but I've listened to everything. Having said that, "March or Die" is easily the worst. Yes again to "Scratch Cat Fever" being terrible!

My Motorhead collection is far from complete, but of the dozen or so of their CDs I do own I'm actually gonna go with Orgasmatron. Aside from the title track the rest of that record is just blah... and at the risk of sounding like S.D. (haha), the production on that album is godawful. Even the "remastered" version that I own sounds like mud.

Fat Freddy wrote:

My Motorhead collection is far from complete, but of the dozen or so of their CDs I do own I'm actually gonna go with Orgasmatron. Aside from the title track the rest of that record is just blah... and at the risk of sounding like S.D. (haha), the production on that album is godawful. Even the "remastered" version that I own sounds like mud.

I don't love the production, but I don't hate the production. I would take this type of production over an over produced album any day of the week. That being said, the lead guitars are really buried in the mix.

For some reason - I never bought the 1916 release - never understood that - a date ?
Motorhead have a LOT of songs out there though....like the Ramones -
Cat Scratch - made me dislike Motorhead for years....
I loved Craddle To Grave intro to Decline Of Western Civilization movie -
his book was ok....a real tough gritty hard drinking living guy -
Dee Snider had some MAJOR props for Lemmy in his 'Give me Mic' book -
but I'm with Stormspell - if you're on a deserted Island - doesn't matter

Glower wrote:

For some reason - I never bought the 1916 release - never understood that - a date ?

The title track is about WWI.

I'd say that the last couple of albums have been pretty lackluster. They were already on their way out two decades ago.

Aside from On Parole and possibly Rock 'n' Roll, the albums released between 1979 and 1991 are goldmines.

For reasons I don't understand myself, I still have not been able to warm-up to Overnight Sensation. Something about that album just never clicked with me. While classifying it as their worst seems a tad unfair, I'll just say it's my "least listened to" and leave it at that.

Overnight Sensation is one of those records where the production is too glossy for the music and it's just kind of a weird match. Hammered is another one like that.

S.D. wrote:

Overnight Sensation is one of those records where the production is too glossy for the music and it's just kind of a weird match.  Hammered is another one like that.  

Maybe. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly. I bought it as a new release, ditched it awhile later and re-bought it to fill in my discography. I've heard some songs from it in a playlist, but I can't remember the last time I played it front-to-back.

S.D. wrote:

Glower wrote:

For some reason - I never bought the 1916 release - never understood that - a date ?

The title track is about WWI.  

and one of my favorite Motorhead albums.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Glower wrote:

For some reason - I never bought the 1916 release - never understood that - a date ?

The title track is about WWI.  

and one of my favorite Motorhead albums.

1916 will always hold a special place in my heart. While my initial introduction to Motorhead was the No Remorse comp album, 1916 was the first Motorhead album of original music I bought as a new release. I can still remember going into Tower Records for it. It was probably the first Motorhead album I bought in the cd format as well.

March Or Die. The songs were pretty weak. And it was a little too slick for Motorhead.

Man, I feel like I do this in every thread...or maybe because of the recent Alice Cooper thread but...March or Die is one of my favorite Motorhead albums.

I find the hate for March or Die pretty funny as that was the first exposure I had to Motorhead, so I have nothing but fond feelings for it.

That said, my exposure to the band is my collection: Ace of Spades, Overkill and March or Die. If I had heard the discography in order of release, my opinion may be different.

stormspell wrote:

What I'm trying to say is, there cannot be best or worst Motorhead album, they are either all the best, or all the worst...

Lemmy has some amazing lyrics - first and foremost.

Witchfinder wrote:

For me it's 1992's March Or Die.  From the guest appearances of Ozzy and Slash, to the crap album cover, to the sterile production and the so-so songs, this was Motorhead at the worst.  Luckily, 1993's Bastards stomped this mediocre crap into the ground.  

I recently re-visited March or Die and I dunno, I still don't think it's that bad. Far from great or classic, but not the dog folks make it out to be.

metalinmyveins wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

For me it's 1992's March Or Die.  From the guest appearances of Ozzy and Slash, to the crap album cover, to the sterile production and the so-so songs, this was Motorhead at the worst.  Luckily, 1993's Bastards stomped this mediocre crap into the ground.  

You nailed it! This is always an obvious choice with me as well. It's not awful by any means, but I also think it's a product of its time. The music scene was changing, bands were jumping on the, "hey look what Metallica was able to do on the Black album." Let's see if we can do the same thing and become a little more accessible to a market we haven't been able to tap. Don't get me wrong, Motörhead was still Motörhead, BUT that whole collaboration back and forth between Ozzy/Zakk/Slash and Lemmy was not a good thing. On paper it seemed interesting until the final product was unleashed.

Very well put. 1992-93 was a weird time for a lot of established bands. Maiden, Priest, and Sabbath are few that come to mind.