Motörhead In The Studio
by Jake Brown

Overkill

Even conceding that the clue’s in the title and this isn’t intended as a comprehensive history, Jake Brown gets off to an inauspiciously muddled start in his Motörhead survey by contesting that the band was born from “the ashes of space-rock band Hawkwind”. Following that massive overstatement, there’s a quote from Lemmy that leaves the reader believing that his Hawkwind role was as guitarist, before Brown effectively bypasses the original, albeit short-lived, line-up with Larry Wallis and Lucas Fox, such is his urgency to get to the meat and potatoes of the story.

What follows is an interesting-in-parts explanation of how Motörhead’s catalogue has evolved, the ensuing challenges and compromises recounted in fresh interviews with many of the band’s producers and rather too liberally peppered with cut’n’paste commentary from Lemmy’s autobiography.

Readers following it from a technical viewpoint may well find fascination in multiple micing arrangement descriptions. Fear not, layman, if you find that difficult to follow, then the characterising of Olympic Studios as being “enormous”, “massive”, and even “very big” all in the same paragraph will be more accessible. It’s not without its moments of consequence but halfway in you’ll know the drill.

2 stars 2 stars

ISBN 9781844548507, 254 pages

Reviewed by Ian Abrahams
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