Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Motörhead - Another Perfect Day

Today (June 4th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Another Perfect Day, the sixth studio album from British metal band Motörhead. It went to number 153 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 20 in the UK and number 18 in Sweden. The line up for the band at this point in 1983 was Lemmy (Ian Kilmister) on bass and vocals, Brian “Robbo” Robertson on lead guitar and piano, and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor on drums.


As always, for this review I will be looking at the original vinyl content of the album.

Side one begins with “Back at the Funny Farm”. What immediately jumps out at me is the sheer power behind the instruments on this one; the band creates a frenzied sound that mirrors the insanity spoken of in the lyrics.

The second single, “Shine”, went to number 59 in the UK. It tells of a guy trying to convince a girl to give him a chance, to see how good they can be together.

“Dancing on Your Grave” speaks to prejudice due to economic differences. I really like Robertson’s guitar opening here.

“Rock It” is an all-out celebration of rock ‘n’ roll. It is definitely my favorite track on this first half.

“One Track Mind” has an interesting lyrical structure, increasing the numerical count with each verse as it talks about gambling, crime and a whole lot of trouble.

Side two starts with the title track. “Another Perfect Day” starts out deceptively mellow before quickly kicking it up.

“Marching Off to War” makes a commentary about war in that those who have not experienced it cannot fully understand what it does to a person.

“I Got Mine”, the first single, went to number 46 in the UK. The protagonist of the song makes the statement to his woman that basically the only option either of them has is each other. It is very much a “for better or worse” kind of scenario.

“Tales of Glory” confronts the lies that a woman tries to pass off as truths.

“Die You Bastard” closes the record on a dark, angry note.

I have to admit that Motörhead was not a band I listened to regularly back in the 80’s. Any of their songs that I had heard came from listening to the album-oriented rock station or hanging with some friends from high school. I did like listening to Another Perfect Day for this review; I really liked the heavy rocking sound that the guys put forth. I am impressed too as all this came from just a trio; it speaks to the talent the group had.

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