Motörhead

The liner notes that Mick Wall wrote for Stone Deaf Forever are full of interesting anecdotes, but the most interesting of all has to do with a 1979 show that found Motörhead and the Damned appearing on the same bill. According to Lemmy Kilmister, a lot of bottles were thrown that night. Motörhead fans threw bottles at the Damned, and Damned fans threw bottles at Motörhead. These days, Motörhead and the Damned seem like a perfectly logical combination, but back in the late '70s, there was still a great deal of animosity between headbangers and punks. However, they became the best of friends in the '80s, and Motörhead deserve much of the credit for that alliance. Arguably, Motörhead were the first thrash metal band; they were the first band to combine metal's heaviness with punk's reckless, amphetamine-like speed and velocity, and their innovations paved the way for Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth as well as countless grindcore, death metal, hardcore, grunge, and alt-metal bands. Spanning 1975-2002, this five-CD, 99-track box set takes a thorough look at the metal/punk revolution known as Motörhead. While Hawkwind -- the space rock combo that Kilmister got kicked out of before he formed Motörhead -- had a relatively clean sound, there was nothing clean or polite about Motörhead. Kilmister liked his metal loud, brutish, and nasty; he also liked his punk that way, and the British singer has no problem finding metal and punk's common ground on late '70s and early '80s classics like "Ace of Spades," "Limb From Limb," "Bomber," and "Killed by Death." Those essential gems were way of ahead of their time; just ask Megadeth's Dave Mustaine or Slayer's Tom Araya. Of course, a five-CD box set isn't going to limit itself to the essentials -- and while Stone Deaf Forever contains Motörhead's best known songs, it also offers many exciting rarities (which range from BBC recordings to a variety of live performances). Disc five, in fact, is devoted to live performances that span 1978-1999. Stone Deaf Forever is way too comprehensive and generous for casual listeners; those with only a casual interest in Motörhead would be much better off starting out with a single-disc best-of. But for the seasoned Motörhead addict, Stone Deaf Forever is a headbanger's feast. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide