Customer Reviews

Inferno

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Call this what you want--punk, punk metal, speed metal, groove metal, or just good ol' fashioned heavy metal done right. Whatever it is, it's a dang fine listen. "Inferno" is Motorhead's finest album since they made "Ace of Spades" in the '70's. They're just as inspired and exciting here as they were when they made "Ace of Spades". As Blender magazine said, " a fragrant chunk of superloud rhythm and roar".
Most of these songs are pretty repetitive (just one riff running throughtout the whole song, plus a guitar solo or two.)But the riffs are meaty, speedy, and dang catchy and the guitar solos are usually really good, too. In addition, Lemmy's voice and lyrics are gruff but catchy.

"The Terminal Show" shoots out of the gate. From the first to the last second, this song is sheer excitement. The riff is so propulsive and fast, it kind of makes this song sound like a Slayer tune. Plus, the guitar solo, which lasts 25 seconds, is wild.
"Down on Me" has a guitar riff which goes up and down throughout the song (making a "ner nah ner" sound), but the two guitar solos, which are whiney and even a bit shrieky, drag this song down a bit.
"In the Black" has chug-chug riffing with two more shredding guitar solos. One of the guitar solos is a wailing one, the other makes a "wah wah" sound in places.
"Fight" opens with a lumbering riff, then turns to a fast chug, while Lemmy sings "Fight! Fight! Right...fight!"
The last track, "Whorehoues Blues", is indeed a bluesy, acoustic track which sort of sounds like a Johnny Cash song, (except it has a harmonica...and Lemmy is singing about, um, call girls.) I found myself tapping my foot to this song.

The bottom line is, "Inferno" is the sound of Motorhead at the top of their game. If you wonder what it was like listening to Motorhead for the first time back in the '70's, pick this C.D. up, you will not be disappointed.

While Motorhead will never be the same without "Fast" Eddie Clarke (kinda like KISS without Ace), this is arguably the groups strongest effort since "Ace Of Spades". The crowning achievement is Phil Campbell's guitar playing. Phil must have gone back and retaken "Angus 101" because the killer riffs are flyin' big time. He even lets out a few "fuzz-wah" solos that would make former guitarist Brian Robertson sit up and take notice. Mickey Dee's drumming is as brilliant as ever; one of metal's best. Lemmy? Recharged, juiced, reborn, dynamic, inspired...do I need to keep going? His singing is all killer, no filler; you could swear the vocals were recorded 25 years ago. Finally you have the appearance of fretboard wiz Steve Vai, yawn, on few tracks. Vai, not being a "heavy metal" player per se, sounds a little out of place here; similar to the way a previously mentioned Brian Robertson did on the "Another Perfect Day" album. Vai's playing is technically brilliant (and okay for David Lee Roth), but just a little too slick & elegant for "heavy metal"...let alone a Motorhead album. Regardless, Vai's presence obviously has raised Campbell's playing to a new level. I have always been disappointed in Campbell's guitar work. I never felt he was able to handle the guitar chores on his own since the departure of Wurzel after the "Bastards" album. I am happy to admit he has finally proved me wrong.
For the diehard Motorhead fan, adding this album to "cart" is a no brainer. Heck for any fan of metal this is a no brainer. Could this be the best metal album of 2004? It has my vote.

I have to admit I am a late starter when it comes to Motorhead. Apart from hearing a couple of tracks over the years (Ace of Spades and Bomber), I am a Motorhead Virgin.

WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING?!! This is superb! After becoming a bit disillusioned with so much rubbish that is being released lately I though I would try Inferno...desperately hoping that it was just simple headbanging rock and roll.. BY GOD this delivers!

The first track 'Terminal Show' is a blinder- just sets the tone immediately..you know what you are going to get!! 11 Tracks of stomping metal/rock - simple, yet addictively good. Plus an excellent blues track at the end. Shows that Lemmy can turn his hand to most things.

Motorhead are a vastly under-rated band - a crime really, as their back catalogue (I am now a convert!) is full of excellent albums. Lemmy is the ultimate rock anti-hero - just slings his bass on and gets on with it, none of your posturing or theatrics. The band as a whole are tight, with excellent catchy riffs, great guitar work and fantastic drums. Steve Vai guests on a couple of tracks and just follows the band's lead and gets down and dirty!

Altogether now...Motorhead ARE the Daddies!! You need this album in your collection...full stop..no questions...Don't think, just do it!!

Compare Motorhead with Metallica since 1991: Metallica had studio albums in 91, 96 (Load and Reload were from the same sessions), 98 (Garage Inc. was old and new), and St. Anger from last year (puke). That's it. Motorhead had studio albums in 91,92,93,95,96,98,00,02,and 04. They also had a great live album in 99. Each one of those albums rock - better than anything else out there. It's a CRIME that this band doesn't get the respect it deserves. Inferno is their all time best work. And I know my Motorhead - all the way back to 1975.Go do yourself a favor and "discover" this band. Take your time. Then one day it will hit you like a ton of bricks. You'll say to yourself: "These guys really are the best! Nobody can out play them." Lemmy will tell you why: It's because Motorhead is a blues band. Without the blues, hard rock is flavorless. Motorhead has the hardest flavor of anyone.

Having been a Motorhead fan for twenty five years, I must admit, I found some of the band's material circa early 1990's to be somewhat lacking. Motorhead had become too "generic", while some of the songs packed a bigger punch live, the studio efforts were coming across as "by-the-numbers" Motorhead, not terribly memorable or interesting, not awful, but not good, either. "Hammered" was a pretty good album, however, and "Inferno" is in my opinion the best Motorhead studio album since "Bastards". The production is a lot cleaner, albums like "Sacrifice" had a sort of cheap sludgy sound that wasn't truly representative of the band's talents. The band has really come together as a three piece after struggling for a while to define themselves, Lemmy is in fine form throughout, and having seen Motorhead on their 2005 tour I can attest they are as tight and savagely loud as ever. This is a solid, ass kicking rock and roll album, as performed by men who know what they're doing and are utterly unrepentant about it.

Motorhead's most recent offering, INFERNO, lives up to a promise made to me by an in-the-know metalhead years ago, as he introduced me to the band: "They release an album every year, they keep their sound the same and they all rock."

INFERNO not only rocks, it churns and grinds and chugs along as only Motorhead does and reminds this listener most of their initial eponymous album from '77 - a simple, straightforward, yet immensely powerful record. Lemmy and Company hit all the usual subjects; death, sex, hopelessness, lycanthropy, etc, all at about the same tempo, with no real standout surprises - and no guitar trickery - just straight, simple rock-and-roll. That said, there are not any stinkers, either (though, to be perfectly honest, this band rarely falters). Consistency and quality are king and even guest Steve Vai doesn't overstep his bounds, adding a hand on a couple numbers. While these are still fast tracks, the speed-addled days of ACE OF SPADES seem past and the seasoned fan will likely agree that the tempo and feel of INFERNO, while not unlike that of the '77 debut, fits right in with recent works such as HAMMERED and WE ARE MOTORHEAD, though its subject matter is decidedly darker overall. Still, the boys aren't all doom and gloom and wrap up the entire affair with an excellent, fun acoustic blues number complete with Lemmy on harmonica - and it works.

While probably not the best place to begin for the Motorhead-curious (try NO REMORSE, ACE OF SPADES or OVERKILL), INFERNO certainly delivers what longtime fans have come to expect from a band that rarely strays from its formula yet never "phones it in." And across over 25 years and well over 20 albums, that's saying something.

Motorhead proves that metal is still alive, even though i like most genres of music, i can't stand not having much real old-fashioned metal. Motorhead the only old band coming out with albums that are standable. Ac/Dc and Metallica even though great to hear live but just don't have that effect in their albums anymore. Motorhead is still alive and after over 30 years since their debut, they have proven, music is not just for sales, music is for music.

Although 'Inferno' may not be the best Motorhead album w/ the current line up (I reserve that distinction for 'Bastards' or 'Sacrifice', so far), it certainly kicks some serious tail. The two best tracks are definitely "In The Black", a grinding rant about stalking Miss Right(now), and "Smiling Like a Killer" which is an all-out revisit (but by no a re-hash) of "The Hammer". What I don't understand is why other reviewers compare Motorhead to bands who are, at best, suited to carry Motorhead's equipment (Slayer/Metallica). Motohead is "it"... to rock'n'roll what Cash is to folk/country. If you want rock, buy Motorhead.

Well, one day I was looking for some heavy rock, and I found INFERNO, I thought that it was a good a idea to buy the latest Mötorhead album just to hear what they were doing, and surprise!!!

When I heard INFERNO my idea about Mötorhead changed 180°, because the intensity and heaviness of the album are something that I don't listen in a long time. I need to accept that I have only Ace of Spades and Orgasmatron albums just for the title songs.

Since then in couple of weeks I bought Bastards (great album too, listen to "burner"), Overkill, the BoxSet and a couple of DVD's, 25th anniversary & boneshaker concert and "Ace of spades" classic album.

I'd been a Heavy Metal fan since Master of Puppets and Reign in blood were released, and right now I understand why Motorhead is an influence for bands in 30 years, and something that I really like a lot is that they still continue rocking the same since the beginning, even better.

Heavy Metal come and go through decades, and bands like Metallica, Anthrax and others are dead. Only Mötorhead stills rock and I hope the continue 30 years more.

Buy it and listen to it, you will never regret. I promise

I love Motörhead. There's something about this album that just does it for me. I think it is because it's Motörhead. They have great music while still pounding dirty and nasty rock. Another plus is that while I don't mind, there is no parental advisory on this CD. That just shows how much you can rock without dumbing down your lyrics. I saw them live, and besides getting my ass handed to me, I loved it. It just proved that the louder you play this the better. I like how this CD has that Motörhead sound while still being fresh. Motörhead is what I have been searching for! They're good rock without the "mainstream" fanfare. Rock. Track 3, turn to level 11.