This is where everything almost went horribly wrong. Encouraged by a new distribution deal through
Epic Records
and his recent collaboration with old friend
Ozzy Osbourne
on his wildly successful
No More Tears
album,
Motoerhead
's
Lemmy
set out to pursue commercial success like never before and, as a result, almost managed to toss their impeccable legacy in the dumpster. Sure,
(arguably the most important underground band in
rock
history) had flirted with accessibility before, but with 1992's
March oer Die
, the English legends shed much of their unbridled power and skull-crushing distortion in order to break down the radio barrier once and for all. Needless to say, it didn't work in attracting new fans, and lukewarm material like
"Hellraiser"
(in a different version than on
), the piano- and acoustic guitar-laced
"I Ain't No Nice Guy"
(a duet with the
Ozzman
featuring
Slash
), and a straightforward cover of
Ted Nugent
"Cat Scratch Fever"
(it just sounds wrong -- maybe if they'd tripled the beat or something) had longtime fans gritting their teeth in frustration. Elsewhere, tracks like
"Stand,"
"Bad Religion,"
and
"Too Good to Be True"
found
making a serious effort to transform his trademark croak into actual singing, and only a few numbers (
"Name in Vain,"
the title track) bear any vague resemblance to the
of old. At the end of the day, simply attacking the band's motives may seem rather harsh (and is certainly subject to opinion), but there is no denying that
ranks among
's least-celebrated offerings; nor can one ignore
's swift about-face toward more extreme fare on 1993's excellent
Bastards
. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia