There are bands who are cool. There are bands who are great. There are bands who are classics. There are bands who are legend. There are bands who are cult. There are bands who are institution. What most of those have in common is that they listen to MOTORHEAD. Too long is the list of names of grates who appoint Lemmy & Co (The Holy Power Trio) as authority and motivation in the world of Rock'n'Roll.

 

"We are Motorhead and we play Rock'n'Roll" - that signature Lemmy phrase that almost without exceptions opens the Motorhead gigs is... well... not 100% true currently. Since quite some while MOTORHEAD don't only play Rock'n'Roll, are not the face of Rock'n'Roll - they ARE Rock'n'Roll. And Bad Magic is yet another album that underlines that.

 

There no surprises here. Lemmy, Phil, and Mickey are not looking for them and we don't want them to. We receive exactly what we expect when we see Snaggletooth smiling charmingly from the cover - a solid kick in the nuts, clouds of alcohol vapor and the petty whinings of the neighbours that fall on deafened ears, because, as Lemmy puts it: "Of course it's loud. It's me in it!". The tempo is relatively moderate, compared to Sacrifice or In the Name of Tragedy, but it taps right into your feet and neck, so forget about holding a full glass of alcohol while you're listening to Bad Magic - you are going to spread it around the necks of by-standers.

 

The fisrt gnarling words to come out of Lemmy's mouth are "Victory or Die" and a whole lotta heavy hiting comes about. Cameron Webb, who has produced so many band albums so far, that he might as well be considered a part of the band, hadn't bothered with fade-outs - as soon as a furious song end another one begins. No time for pause or break - Victory or Die thunders off and on comes Thunder & Lightning. And so it goes for all the songs in the album. Slight exception is the ballad Till the End, which manages to stay calm for about a verse and then Phil shows us why guitars exist in the world.

 

The compositions offer us beautiful minimalistic divercity - they catch you in their inertia and when you expect the same riff to repeat again, the melody takes you in a different direction. Great combination between familiar and unknown. And after mentioning melody, I should mention rhythm - I don't know how many people realize just how good a drummer Mickey Dee is - he breathes life to the songs as mush as Lemmy amd Phil. And here we come again back to thegreatness of MOTORHEAD - three people in the right place, at the right time, all found their calling. ...And the Sympathy for the Devil cover only proves the saying that when Lemmy covers your song, it's no longer your song.

 

Songs worthy of attention: all. Songs that grabbed mine a bit more than others (as of time of writing): Thunder & Lightning, The Devil, Electricity, Evil Eye, Choking On Your Screams, Sympathy for the Devil. 

 

In conclusion - Snaggletooth is and has been for years its own seal of approval and there is nothing to suggest that this will change in the future. Anyone and everyone who's looking for pure authentic unrefined Rock'n'Roll will find it in Bad Magic.

 

(Rating 5.75)