'So what'd have been the point in starting again and doing the Red Lion Pub in Brentford after, say, Eddie left? I wouldn't have done it. I was bloody 37 in 1982, I wasn't gonna start again at 37 for Christ's sake!'
- Lemmy
During an American tour, 'Fast' Eddie Clarke, frustrated with the '
Iron Fist' album, suddenly left the band. Lemmy and Phil, wanting to continue the tour, called in Brian Robertson, ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist to fill in for Eddie.
Well, the fans had a problem with that one...
The problem with Brian Robertson, the fans complained, were his short hair, his disco-like vest, and his un-gruff appearance. Bottom line, they felt the guy wasn't real Mot'ad material, even if his playing was superior to Eddie's. After the tour, the fans worst fears came true: Mot'ad announced that Brian Robertson would play guitar on their upcoming album.
Line-Up for this album:
Lemmy 'Bass/Vocals
Brian Robertson ' Guitar/Back-Up Vocals
Phil Taylor - Drums
'They still can't accept us, then fuck'em!' - Mot'ad
Words of wisdom right there. Fans at first rejected this album just because of Brian's appearance, which is biggest pile of B.S. I've ever heard in my life. Then, once they actually picked it up, they would put it back down because it didn't feel as 'dirty' as the past albums because Robertson's playing incorporated a huge chunk of melody. Too bad, cause they missed out on a great album.
It's true. '
Another Perfect Day' is different that previous Mot'ad albums. That's all due to Brian Robertson's playing, who brought over more of a 'Rock/Blues' feel to their formula, tipping the scale more in favor of a 'Rock/Blues' sound than a mix of 'Punk, Metal, Rock, and some Blues'. But that doesn't make it bad at all. This is one of Mot'ad's most experimental albums, but it's not so out there that it doesn't hold true to their roots. The thumping opener, '
Back at the Funny Farm' will take you back to the '
Overkill' days with a huge thumping bass intro and a chugging guitar. In fact, most of these songs still feel they could fit right onto their previous work. '
Shine', '
Rock It', '
Marching of to War', '
Tales of Glory', and '
Die You Bastard' besides featuring some huge melodic choruses, could all easily be played back to back with songs off of '
Ace of Spades' and especially '
Iron Fist' and you would never even notice the difference. '
Shine' might be the most unique out of all those, which features a 'climbing' (each note is about one step higher) intro that just pounds away on your mind before some chunked riffs begin to be thrown into your face. '
Rock It' and '
Tales of Glory' both have a huge Southern-Rock influence, and even-more-so when they throw in a piano playing one note over and over. Some of the riffs in '
Tales of Glory' vaguely remind me of '
Whole Lotta Rosie' by AC/DC with some grinding notes played in-between a quick palm-mute, save the Southern feel. '
Marching of to War' and '
Die You Bastard' are just typical, straightforward Mot'ad songs where the guitar sticks closely to the bass. '
Die You Bastard' has the most melodic chorus on the entire song.
Well, if they still sound like they used, except for a few things here and there, then why did the fans bitch so much' Well, not ALL the songs are what you might expect. As I said before, this was an experimental album, and while all of these 'experimented' songs turned out amazing, one turned out god-awful. But more on that one song in a bit. As for the great ones, '
Dancing on Your Grave', '
Another Perfect Day' and the amazing '
I Got Mine' all feature a slightly slower Mot'ad. Each of those songs start off with an almost balled like riff, before they begin to pound away, albeit slower. It's still the same Mot'ad that we all love, it's just the tempo has been kicked down a notch, but it's still brash. Once '
Dancing on Your Grave' gets goin, it showcases that old-Hard Rock/Metal approach with some thick palm-mutes and a quick fill at the end of each, a definite headbanger. '
Another Perfect Day' is basically the same way, except the riffs are more of a 'flow' feel, with Lemmy thumping away on his bass with Brian throwing in a few quick notes and letting them ring out. '
I Got Mine' is one of the slowest songs off this album, but just cause it's slow doesn't mean it ain't damn good. And damn good it is. The slow, ringing riff in the beginning grabs you by the balls and sticks with the song from the start till finish.
But, alas, there is one bad apple here. '
One Track Mind', the slowest track here, has the same Ballad-esque riff that '
Dancing on Your Grave', '
Another Perfect Day' and '
I Got Mine' had, but when this one gets going, it just chugs along the whole time, and about 1 minute of this song is about all you're gonna be able to take before the chugging riffs cause brain damage.
Lemmy is still Lemmy, as always. His voice is about as hoarse as a wildebeest. His brash, talking-vocals that he has done all throughout his career are still showcased on tracks such as '
Back at the Funny Farm' and '
Shine', to name a few. But this time, he takes more of a stab at actually singing, like on tracks like '
I Got Mine' and '
Dancing on Your Grave', which mixed with Robertson's playing, creates some of the most melodic choruses the Hard Rock community has ever heard. Granted, Lemmy would sound like *** if he were to just sing without Robertson, as his smooth, yet rash playing is able to mix Lemmy's voice perfectly.
His lyrics, also, seemed to have matured slightly. On past records, Lemmy liked to focus on drinking, drugs, and girls under 18. Yes, girls under 18. Go look at the lyrics on '
Jailbait' off of '
Ace of Spades' and you will easily see that one. But anyway, as I was saying, lines such as '
Another battle's over, it's a million soldiers. Never rise again, we lost a million friends.' Come off of '
Marching of to War', and show that Lemmy has taken an actual reason to write (in this case, a story of war) in replace of his previous, bar-like lyrics. But for those of you who loved those, fear not! They still are more dominant here, such as off of '
Another Perfect Day' with lines like '
Out to lunch, speak your piece. Good and drunk, back on the street.', some boasting on '
Dancing on Your Grave' with '
You couldn't buy me with a million, babe. I'm too good for you.' and some crazy-talk on '
Back at the Funny Farm', which includes some great phrases like: '
One of us is crazy and the other one's insane. Stay calm, don't be alarmed, it's just a holiday, Back at the funny farm.'
But the real icing on the cake here is Brian Robertson. Phil Taylor (drums) said, ''And another thing I really is that Robbo's (Brian Robertson's nickname) a better guitarist than Eddie.' I think I'll have to side with Phil on this one. On previous Mot'ad work, the guitar stuck very closely to the bass, but this time, Robbo goes off on his own, filling each song with his set of fills or variations. His solos, too, are downright amazing. Each of them is like a shred-fest, but they all are melodic. It's simply amazing. I couldn't even begin to explain them without going crazy, that's how excited I get when I hear them. Songs such as '
I Got Mine' and '
Dancing on Your Grave' even feature two solos, both equally as amazing.
It's all about whether or not you care about some guy playing with Mot'ad that has short hair and dresses differently. If you do care, then you're really gonna miss out on one of Mot'ad's finest achievements. If you don't, pick this up now, cause you're not gonna put it down for awhile.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Recommended Tracks
Back at the Funny Farm
Shine
Dancing on Your Grave
I Got Mine
Die You Bastard
