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Review Motorhead - March or Die (1992)

Magic

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Album: March or Die
Artist: Motorhead
Country of Origin: England
Genre: Heavy Metal / Hard Rock
Released: August 14, 1992
Label: WTG/Epic Records
Purchase: HERE

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1."Stand"
2."Cat Scratch Fever" (Ted Nugent cover)
3."Bad Religion"
4."Jack the Ripper"
5."I Ain't no Nice Guy" (featuring Ozzy Osbourne & Slash)
6."Hellraiser"
7."Asylum Choir"
8."Too Good to Be True"
9."You Better Run" (featuring Slash)
10."Name in Vain"
11."March ör Die"

Personel:
Guest Musicians:
  • Tommy Aldridge - drums on all tracks except "Hellraiser" and "I Ain't no Nice Guy"
  • Mikkey Deedrums on "Hellraiser"
  • Phil Taylor drums on "I Ain't no Nice Guy"
  • Peter Solleykeyboard
  • Slash – guitar solo on "I Ain't no Nice Guy" and additional guitar on "You Better Run"
  • Ozzy Osbourne – vocals on "I Ain't no Nice Guy"
  • Jamie Germaine - guitar
  • Lemmy & Peter Solley - cello arrangements

When I was deciding what album to review I started looking at Motorhead's discography, which is fairly large at 23 studio albums, and looking at the lists online for ranking the albums from best to worst. One thing that peaked my curiosity was how March or Die was rated as the "worst" album by several of these lists. I thought, I want to listen to this album and see if it really is that bad. I must clarify that I have not listened to this album in the past or any song off the album, nor have I listened to any Motorhead album from start to finish except one---Ace of Spades.

It would be unfair of me not to disclose that I am not much of a Motorhead fan. I will be blatantly honest here....I have a really hard time getting past Lemmy's vocals. He sounds horrible, like he is grunting & straining to take a dump. That being said, I am not going to judge March or Die unfairly just because I don't like the vocalist's style. To Motorhead's fans, his raw, gruff, grunting vocals are part of the band's appeal, and I respect that.

Lemmy Kilmister is/was a fantastic lyricist. One of my favorite Ozzy Osbourne albums, No More Tears, has four songs that Lemmy wrote the lyrics to and one of those songs is a beautiful ballad, "Mama I'm Coming Home". Lemmy did a really good job writing lyrics for March or Die, including a ballad "I Ain't No NIce Guy" where he duet's with Ozzy. "I Ain't No Nice Guy" is a beautiful acoustic with piano that has a notable guitar solo by Slash. Lemmy's voice was soft in this song, which was a nice change.

"Hellraiser" is a killer song, when it came out in 1991 on No More Tears. Lemmy wrote the lyrics. Kudos, Lemmy. Why was it a remake on March or Die? This is the one song, the one time, I get the feeling Motorhead was attempting to cash in on commercial success. It is still a good song, no matter who cashed in.........

Another cover song, "Cat Scratch Fever", was out of place on the album. Motorhead did not do the song justice, in my opinion. It sounded like it was coming from a tin can.........the production sucked.

"Bad Religion" is my top pick off the album. I like the funky, dark groove, and Lemmy's grunting voice really fit the song.

"Stand" & "Jack the Ripper" & "Asylum Choir" & "Too Good to Be True" & "Name in Vein" are fast paced with some decent guitar riffs and solos. Just good ole gut thumping rock n roll. "Name In Vein" being my least favorite of the five songs because of that grunting voice, which at times is imperceptible.

"You Better Run" is another highlight for me. I like the bluesy, funky feel of this song. I couldn't help but thinking the riff is familiar, and it should be....it sounds like it is from a very popular Bo Diddley song, "I'm a Man". Am I the only person who hears this?




And finally, the title track, "March or Die". It's different. Droning, thumping, marching....Die, die, die, die...to a fade out of swooshing wind sounds.


My overall rating: 3.5/5. The album isn't as bad as some of the reviews I have read. There are plenty of Motorized songs for fans to listen to, and a couple songs that are really good, at least to me.







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