Great Metal Albums of 1986: Motorhead- Orgasmatron

For some reason, when Motorhead albums get mentioned, I never hear anyone mention their 1986 album, “Orgasmatron.” Do people think this album is bad? Having seen them play at Donington to officially release the album, I naturally had to listen to it and though there are some differences to what I had known about Motorhead, the album is okay.

The change is noticeable from the opening song, “Deaf Forever.” One would think that with such a title, it would come in at 800 mph but it’s more like 250, giving the impression that Motorhead were slowing down to a more mainstream metal pace. Saying that, the opener is a decent song, you could say it’s rather melodic for Motorhead.

There is an attempt in the next two tracks to get things back into more familiar territory. You can hear that the band want to just thrash out but unfortunately, the production lets it down. Again, both “Nothing Up My Sleeve” and “Ain’t My Crime” are very palletable but I can get why Lemmy was not impressed with the production on this album, listening to these two tracks alone. He states that producer Bill Laswell took the album to New York and brought it back worse than before it left England.

Not all is gloom with “Orgasmatron.” “The Claw” is the best track on the album because it does mark a return to what we all love about Motorhead. “Mean Machine” carries it on and has the best guitar solo on the album as well as some great power chords. When you hear these two tracks, you definitely say, “That’s more like it!”

Ditto for “Built for Speed” which begins with a cool drum intro. It’s not as speedy as the two previous tracks but the power is there for sure. Lemmy’s vocals are probably the best on this song and there are a couple of great guitar solos. In fact, I might change my mind and say that this is the best track on the album.

Motorhead as we know it returns for definite on “Ridin’ With the Driver.” This is the fastest song on the album. If played live, it would cause mosh pits to open up. It’s just one of those feel good songs. Although slower, “Doctor Rock” does not lack intensity. Some great power chords and guitar hooks cement for me that “Orgamsatron” is definitely a good album.

The title track closes the album and it is what it is, a good closer. Putting it anywhere else on the album would just make it out of place. What I can say about the closer is that it’s what Suicidal Tendencies would sound like if Lemmy was the lead singer. There are some amusing lyrics in between the guitar hooks, like: “I am the God of war and I will cut you down.” It’s a good way to end the album.

Track Listing:

1. Deaf Forever
2. Nothing Up My Sleeve
3. Ain’t My Crime
4. The Claw
5. Mean Machine
6. Built for Speed
7. Ridin’ With the Driver
8. Doctor Rock
9. Orgasmatron

Motorhead

Lemmy- bass, vocals

Michael ‘Wurzel’ Burston- lead guitar

Phil Campbell- rhythm guitar

Pete Gill- drums

“Orgasmatron” was Motorhead’s first studio album in nearly three years. It did reach number 21 in the UK album charts and broke the top one hundred in other countries but that doesn’t really matter to me, I just like it.

Next post: Sword- Metalized

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