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Lemmy Ultimate Fan Collection Review by Gary Hill This is a worthwhile collection, but it has some real issues. Part of that starts with the whole titling aspect. Billed as Lemmy, that seems pretty inaccurate. The first two CDs don't feature Lemmy or Motörhead. The third disc is a Motörhead interview. The final one is all about live Motörhead recordings. This really could have benefitted from more information included. Those first two tribute CDs don't even list who the artists are. There is no booklet as part of the packaging, so these acts, mostly death metal styled, are a mystery. I thought that maybe the discs could be a previously released tribute album (or perhaps two), but couldn't find anything that seemed to fit. The live recordings of Motörhead are similarly a mystery. I mean, they are definitely that band, and they are worth having. The thing is, it drops off after each song, so I can't be sure if they are all from the same concert or a number of different recordings. It's also impossible to tell where are when they were recorded. So, the end result here is a four CD that has two CDs that actually include Lemmy, and neither of those are solo. It's an intriguing set overall, but would be so much better with a little less deceptive packaging and marketing and some more information. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2023 Volume 5 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2023.

Track by Track Review

CD 01: Tribute I

Ace Of Spades This cover of the track is furious and features death metal vocals. It's a very suitable treatment in many ways.

Killed By Death A short track, this is extreme metal and very strange. There is a real hardcore punk edge to this, too.

Grind 'N' Roll (Rock 'N' Roll) Another with a real extreme metal take on the source material, this is a step up from the last one. The vocals are pure death metal.

Civil War Frantic, extreme metal is on the menu here. This is another has a definite hardcore punk angle to it.

(We Are) The Road Crew While this starts on drum, feedback drowns it out. This is a noise-fest and yet barely audible because of the horrendous recording.

Love Me Like A Reptile While this is also noisy, extreme metal leaning on hardcore punk, it really does seem to do the song justice.

Iron Fist Fierce, mean and driving, this is very much an extreme metal noise fest.

No Voices In The Sky Another noise fest, this somehow manages to work despite (or maybe because of) the auditory assault.

Rock Out Drums are out front in the mix. The vocals are screamed. The track is furious. It's also very raw.

Bomber Furious and raw, this is another extreme metal take on the music of Lemmy and company.

Devils In My Head The sound quality on this leaves a lot to be desired. This song combines speed metal and black metal.

Ace of Spaces Starting with frantic bass, this is a particularly noisy take on the song. What it lacks in finesse, it makes up for with sheer raw power.

CD 02: Tribute II

Iron Fist Closer to hardcore punk, this is a fierce screaming version of the original song. I think this is better than anything on the first song. It definitely earns a parental advisory for the vocals.

Death Forever Here we get another noise-fest. The recording is definitely not great.

Dead And Gone Mellower and kind of trippy, this has a dark, creepy element to it, too. This is a roughly six-minute song and that concept holds it until around the halfway mark. Then the cut explodes into noisy speed metal that has leanings toward shoegaze.

Turn You Around Again This comes in with more of a hard rock sound. It's far less raw than anything else we've heard so far. This feels closer to Motörhead's sound. It's a killer track.

God Was Never On Your Side Starting with a mellower mode, this is a metal song, but it's also more mainstream than a lot of the music here. This has a nice balance between mellower and more rocking sections.

Sacrifice More of a grungy, doomy cut, this is classy.

Death Or Glory While this is more extreme metal, it is not as raw as the stuff on the first CD. They work out into "The Chase is Better than the Catch" in an more mainstream metal instrumental section later.

I Don't Believe A Word A doomy metal jam brings this in. It holds it for a time, but they it drops to just bass to continue. From there we get more of a mean metal sound rising upward. The vocals have more of a Goth metal vibe to them at times, and more death metal at others.

I Am The Sword More of a raw, punky approach is in place here. This has some definite metal angles, too. It's very indie and somewhat noisy.

Orgasmatron Extreme raw metal is on the menu here.

Terminal Show Noisy, extreme metal is on the menu here.

The Game There is a gloom metal vibe to this, but the vocals are decidedly death metal.

Ace of Spades Here we get a mellower, acoustic based groove of the song. It's classy.

CD 03: The Story

Lemmy Interview & Story This is a nearly hour long interview with Motörhead. The sound quality is not bad, but not perfect.

CD 04: Motörhead Live / Early Years

Metropolis This powers in with the metallic power of the introduction. Some serious feedback ensues before they launch into the song proper.

The Claws The recording is raw, but the performance is on fire.

Ace Of Spades Another recording that leaves something to be desired, this is a strong rendition of the number, in any event.

Eat The Rich This is another killer performance marred by the recording quality. Still, like pretty much everything on this CD, the sound quality is good enough for it to work, but bad enough for us to wish it was better.

Built For Speed The bass work manages to shine despite the recording quality on this screamer.

Deaf Forever The recording is very muddy on this song. It still manages to work despite that.

Just Cos You Got The Power This one works better. It's got some killer Motörhead ferocity and power built into it.

No Class Literally screaming hot, this is another powerhouse.

Orgasmatron The distorted vocals on this don't serve it all that well in this recording.

Killed By Death I love the guitar soloing on this screaming hot Motörhead classic.

Overkill The recording is a real detriment on this track, but it manages to shine based on the performance. The extended instrumental section on this is purely on fire. It keeps seeming ready to end, but then powers back up to have another go at it. The actual outro if feedback laden craziness that fades down to close it.

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