Motorhead - 'Aftershock' Album Review

Motorhead’s twenty-first studio album release ‘Aftershock’ sounds pretty much like the twenty albums before it. Now, it could be that only a true Motorhead fan can appreciate the simplicity and repetitiveness that comes along with every release from Motorhead. Who knows? What I do know is that each song on this album sounds similar to every song that precedes and follows.

It could be that I have never been a huge fan of Motorhead or it could just be that Lemmy and the gang are still going strong in their old age and just want to rock.
That’s awesome. I’m all for people living the dream and staying true to their roots.

Here’s the deal. A band is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Metallica strayed too far from their thrash roots of yesteryear and were blasted for “selling out” and “cutting their hair” (note to bands: never say never in public) when they released their self-titled ‘Metallica’ (which came to be known as ‘The Black Album’) in 1993. Every album after that release was held under severe scrutiny.

It could be that all the years Motorhead cranked out album after album they had a tinge of fear in doing anything different or edgy. It could be that the chords that echo on Aftershock are all they can (or want to) play. It could be that is just how Motorhead rolls.

However, I digress.

‘Aftershock’ is definitely a rocking album; it is just the same song (figuratively) repeatedly with different words and different tempos. The only song on this album that does its own thing is ‘Lost Woman Blues’ which actually is a bluesy song filled with sad chords and lonely vocals just like ‘Dust and Glass.’ That is some sweet stuff.
So, if you dislike bands that change things up at all, or you’re not really into variety or maybe still stuck in 1983 or even 1977 (maybe you still have your very first Motorhead shirt) then yeah, you’re gonna like this album.