Rock 'n' Roll (Motörhead album)

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Rock 'N' Roll
Rock 'N' Roll cover
Studio album by Motörhead
Released September 5, 1987
Recorded 1987
Master Rock Studios
Redwood, London, UK
Genre Heavy Metal
Length 46:33
Label GWR
Producer(s) Motörhead and Guy Bidmead
Professional reviews
Motörhead chronology
Orgasmatron
(1986)		 Rock 'n' Roll
(1987)		 No Sleep at All
(1988)


The album Rock 'N' Roll is the first appearance of the four-piece Motörhead line up of Lemmy, Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, Würzel and Philip Campbell, which lasted from 1987 until 1992. Reaching only 34 in the UK charts, it was, in that respect, the worst performing of all of Motörhead's Top 40 chart hits.

The song "Eat The Rich" was written for Peter Richardson's 1987 film Eat the Rich which starred the regular cast of The Comic Strip and Lemmy himself in a bit part as "Spider." A mock sermon by Michael Palin appears at the end of the song, "The Wolf."

One of the studios used to make Rock 'n' Roll was Redwood in London, which was co-owned by Michael Palin. The studio engineer helping Motörhead had worked on all the Monty Python records and played the band outtakes the Pythons never put out. Palin was asked to come down and do a recitation for the album and showed up dressed in a 1940s crickter outfit — V-necked sweater, his hair all brushed to one side. Lemmy remembers Palin walking in and saying, "Hello, what sort of thing are we going to do now, then?" and answering "Well, you know in The Meaning of Life, there was this speech that began "Oh Lord —". Palin replied "Ah! Give me some cathedral" and went in and recorded the 'Oh Lord, look down upon these people from Motörhead' speech. Lemmy states that Rock 'n' Roll has some great songs, like "Dogs", "Boogieman" and "Traitor", which they played 'for years', but overall it just didn't seem to work.[1]

Joe Petagno had other ideas for the cover of this album:

I had this great idea and nobody wanted to listen to me. The original Rock 'n' Roll sleeve was supposed to be going up. I said, "Look, the tongue goes up. This thing is lifting off... it was supposed to be rocketing. So it was like a bomb. A projectile of some sort. When I finished it, they said, "We can't have it going up, it doesn't make any sense". So it's coming down. Couldn't convince them. This fucking band...(laughs)[2]

Rock 'n' Roll renewed commercial hope for Motörhead in the States with Lemmy and company moving to Los Angeles. The fans in the States appeared willing to see this band live and buy their albums whereas Britain is criticised as having lost interest in the band.[3]

The album begins with "Rock 'N' Roll", which starts with a drum intro and then develops into a typical Motörhead tune, with solos and is moderately fast paced. "Eat the Rich" is another mid paced tune with a solo section. "Blackheart" is reminiscent of the Overkill era of writing. "Stone Deaf In The U.S.A." is a hard rocker fast-paced tune with duel guitar solos and drumming to back it up. "The Wolf" begins with a minute of spoken introduction and develops into a harder faster pace that sounds similar to "Claw" from Orgasmatron, the chorus is the same except the word wolf is used instead of the word claw. "Traitor" is a heart-felt moderately fast-paced tune with a number of riffs. "Dogs" is a mid-paced song which although below par is still enjoyable. "All For You" is a happier and faster song, similar to "Too Good to Be True" from March ör Die. The last song, "Boogeyman", is another average fast-paced tune with an ironic chorus. The remastered version includes the typical Motörhead song, "Cradle To The Grave", and "Just 'Cos You Got The Power" which is more bluesy and longer.[3]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All tracks composed by Michael Burston, Phil Campbell, Phil Taylor and Lemmy Kilmister

  1. "Rock 'N' Roll" – 3:49
  2. "Eat the Rich" – 4:34
  3. "Blackheart" – 4:03
  4. "Stone Deaf In The U.S.A." – 3:40
  5. "The Wolf" – 3:28
  6. "Traitor" – 3:17
  7. "Dogs" – 3:48
  8. "All For You" – 4:10
  9. "Boogeyman" – 3:07
    The CD re-issues have added tracks (originally "Eat The Rich" 12" vinyl single B-sides);
  10. "Cradle To The Grave" – 4:05
  11. "Just 'Cos You Got The Power" – 7:30
    Except on the 2000 Castle Communication release which has, in addition to the above;
  12. "Untitled"

[edit] Bonus CD

In 2006, the album was re-issued with a bonus CD, containing Motörhead's performance on the Monsters of Rock festival, recorded on August 16, 1986:

  1. "Iron Fist"
  2. "Stay Clean"
  3. "Nothing Up My Sleeve"
  4. "Metropolis"
  5. "Doctor Rock"
  6. "Killed By Death"
  7. "Ace Of Spades"
  8. "Steal Your Face"
  9. "Bite The Bullet"
  10. "Built For Speed"
  11. "Orgasmatron"
  12. "No Class"
  13. "Motörhead"

[edit] Credits

  • Joe Petagno - sleeve artwork
  • Produced by Motörhead and Guy Bidmead
  • Engineered by Guy Bidmead
  • Assisted by Roland Herrington, Arabella Rodriguez, Caroline Orme, and Phil Dane
  • "Eat The Rich" originally recorded by Bill Laswell and Jason Corsaro, remixed by Guy Bidmead
  • Mixed at Britannia Row, Eden Studios, and The Roundhouse, London.
  • Mastered at CBS Studios, London.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kilmister, Ian and Garza, Janiss White Line Fever (2002) — Simon & Schuster pp. 203—204. ISBN 0-684-85868-1.
  2. ^ About Joe Petagno - interview section with Joe Petagno, bonus DVD with Inferno 30th Anniversary edition SPV69748.
  3. ^ a b Reviews for Motörhead's Rock 'n' Roll. Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.

[edit] External links


Motörhead
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Members
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - Phil Campbell - Mikkey Dee
Former members: Larry Wallis - "Fast" Eddie Clarke - Brian "Robbo" Robertson - Michael "Würzel" Burston
Lucas Fox - Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - Pete Gill - Tommy Aldridge
Discography

Albums: On Parole - Motörhead - Overkill - Bomber - Ace of Spades - No Sleep 'til Hammersmith - Iron Fist - Another Perfect Day - No Remorse - Orgasmatron - Rock 'n' Roll - No Sleep at All - 1916 - March ör Die - Bastards - Sacrifice - Overnight Sensation - Snake Bite Love - Everything Louder Than Everyone Else - We Are Motörhead - The Best Of - Hammered - Live at Brixton Academy - Inferno - BBC Live & In-Session - Kiss of Death
Related articles

Motörhead discography - Joe Petagno - Alan Burridge - Headgirl
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