Twenty fifteen marked a historic milestone for Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 specifically, Lemmy and a revolving cast of musicians had been around for 40 years. (Never mind the fact that the current band had been together now without any changes for 20 years.) And despite all of the health setbacks that Lemmy had faced in the previous two to three years up to this point, the fact he was still out there making music on his own terms was more than admirable.<\/p>\n
But it’s not without a tinge of sad recognition that one listens to Bad Magic<\/i> and realizes there’s something different about this album. Forget, for a moment, the fact that this would serve to be Mot\u00f6rhead’s final studio album, or that Lemmy would die four days after his 70th<\/sup> birthday at the end of the year. Even listening to this, without any of the knowledge of how the story ended, the listener can start to figure out that the finish line was quickly approaching for the band \u2013 and while this isn’t their strongest effort of their career, it’s not a bad way to wrap things up.<\/p>\n The production quality has greatly improved over the previous release Aftershock<\/i>; gone is the layer of sonic grit which all but erased the crisp highs of the treble. This allows the music to hit the listener with the sonic fury that it requires \u2013 a good thing, because this sometimes feels like the angriest-sounding Mot\u00f6rhead album in years.<\/p>\n It also shows the toll that the past few years had taken on Lemmy. There are times on Bad Magic<\/i> when you can hear the strain in his voice \u2013 and while there have been hints of it over the last few studio albums, it is most pronounced here. Tracks like \u201cVictory Or Die,\u201d \u201cFire Storm Hotel\u201d (honestly not one of my favorite tracks on the disc) and even what feels like the laid-back delivery on \u201cElectricity\u201d all showcase a man who is most definitely slowing down.<\/p>\n This isn’t to say that Bad Magic<\/i> is a bad album. \u201cElectricity\u201d is still an enjoyable track, and songs like \u201cThunder & Lightning,\u201d \u201cEvil Eye\u201d and \u201cThe Devil\u201d all show that even after four decades, Mot\u00f6rhead still have a lot to say \u2013 and you damn well better be paying attention.<\/p>\n And the cover of \u201cSympathy For The Devil\u201d? Well, it does the Rolling Stones proud, that’s for sure \u2013 but I’d stop short of saying it tops the original, even though it rocks harder. There once had been talk about Mot\u00f6rhead releasing an album of all covers \u2013 which would have been interesting, seeing they’ve done quite a few over the years. (Just as long as they didn’t try covering \u201cCat Scratch Fever\u201d again \u2013 yeek.)<\/p>\n There is no denying the pure power of guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee \u2013 and even Lemmy’s bass lines are strong and up-front again, always a welcome sound. But while Bad Magic <\/i>is a step in the right direction, it still suggested even back when it was released that Mot\u00f6rhead could have been cruising towards its eventual end. Regrettably, with Lemmy’s passing just a few short months later, that thought was confirmed. Still, it’s a hell of a final effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5666],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44946","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-motorhead","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44946"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}