Motörhead

Hammered (Sanctuary)
by Martin Popoff

A couple years hence, and it’s time for another Motörhead album. Not much has changed, although a few spices have been added. There’s a new studio and new producer to no discernible difference, but there’re also two or three very unconvincing little keyboard sounds (they pass briefly and quickly; don’t get excited), as well as one very melodic sing-songy chorus (Lemmy says he’s already caught journo flak from this), and at the end, a typically cynical spoken word piece.

The rest? Rock ‘n’ rollsy Motörhead punctuated by one all-out speed demon called “Red Raw,” a couple too-simple, too-stupids, and a bracing four-in-a-row two-thirds through that are rich, bloody-minded experiences, best being “No Remorse,” a complex and gravelly grizzled look at mortality. And once more, despite my descriptive run through and around, I’ve played Hammered more than any record in the past two months, so perhaps its charms cannot be put into words, but those charms are there in spades.
(www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com)