When Lemmy famously declared himself unimpressed with the “live fast, die young” philosophy, preferring to “live fast, keep going”, he was clearly talking as much about his music as anything else, because 22 albums into a 40-year career, Bad Magic suggests that Motörhead will not be turning into purveyors of soft, tasteful rock any time soon.
Opening track, “Victory Or Die” sets out Motörhead’s stall with a hefty dose of punk-flavoured biker rock. Mikkey Dee’s pounding drums and Phil Campbell’s gnarly, rock’n’roll guitar riffs back Lemmy’s rumbling bass and gruff vocals and there really is no doubt as to who is making the noise coming out of your speakers. “That’s the spirit – Victory or die” Lemmy barks and it’s excellent stuff. “Thunder And Lightning” and “Shoot Out All Of Your Lights” offer similar fare and make you wonder how he keeps going on like this at the grand age of 69.
It’s not all unadulterated grimy, biker rock here though. While some tracks bring interesting and different flavours to the album, like the blues rock of “Fire Storm Hotel” and the lively punk rock of “Electricity” which positively crackles with energy. Others, like the power balladry of “Till The End” and the awful pub rock karaoke of their cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” however, suggest that Bad Medicine might be an album to cherry pick rather than to treasure. Nevertheless, it is still far better than anyone might possibly hope for from a lairy group of geezers who are old enough to be grandfathers (or even great grandfathers) and considerably better than anything the band’s few remaining contemporaries have managed in recent years.
Live fast, keep going indeed.
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