Motörhead Tribute Made In Japan

There are a wonderous collection of Motörhead Tribute albums out there; Notably, top of the pile being Sheep In Wolves Clothing released by Professor Burridge and Motörheadbangers (very limited but a few copies left I think)

However, when I found out that fine gentleman Shuhei Hasegawa was involved in a Tribute album I just had to seek out a copy. It took me a while mind you, it isn't easy ordering non-mainstream stuff from Japan sometimes but I persevered and thanks to those very friendly people at HMV Japan it all worked out rather nicely!

So Pop Pickers here as promised is my take on the Tribute album featuring Japanese bands Tyson Z; Die You Bastard; Tokyo Yankees; Mad 3; Cerberus and Mosquito Spiral.

And 'tis a fine collection of tracks indeed starting off with a cover of one of my Motörhead favourites Love Me Like A Reptile; and I tell you what any band which chooses that little ditty is sure to get the thumbs up from your humble narrator. And so Tyson Z delivers a super interpretation of Love Me Like A Reptile and a blistering version of (We Are) The Road Crew. There are no doubts as to the musical ability of these guys and dare I say it, Tyson Z provides each track with a gusto that speaks of outright homage to Motörhead. Brilliant, just brilliant.

And there is the brace of songs by Die You Bastard; of which it just had to include the tune, well, er, Die You Bastard. And the cover of the Lemmy/WoW version of Stand By Your Man. I have to say that the Die You Bastard cover is outrageously fantastic!
It hurtles along like a steam train on chemically enhanced coal.
As for Stand By Your Man, I never liked this song in whatever guise it comes, the Lemmy/Williams effort included.

Tokyo Yankees deliver their precision audio attack through Ace Of Spades and Overkill respectively. Ace of Spades is pushed into your ears at unrelenting speed while Overkill ruptures your senses like a manic wood-saw free from its bench moorings. It is in other words without doubt an amazing treat to audibly behold.

And then there was the Ramones-esque ferocity of Mad 3 and their tremendous versions of HeadGirl's cover of Please Don't Touch and then Ace of Spades. Blimey!

Now I like Cerberus, I mean dear readers I like them a lot. Their heavy covers of Tear Ya Down and (Don't Need) Religion work for me. It has all the flavours of a goodly audio thumping.

The final pairing of covers is put out by Mosquito Spiral; the magic version of Over The Top and the old fav Overkill, it is always good to end a session with this track because it is, well, a killer!

So there you have it a brief heady journey through a fine fine fine selection of Motörhead songs and Motörhead versions of songs. All the way over from Japan to the crumbling edifice here that is Victory Mansions. I do like all of the album with the exception of Stand By Your Man but that's only because I just can't enjoy that song - the Mad 3 version is actually a great example of punk shock and awe.

Did I mention the album cover?
Oh my word when your humble narrator starts talking album art he literally never shuts up but there is just something more than a little bit special about this distinctly Japanese homage to Mr Joe Petagno's creation. All good!

The package is made complete with a decent little CD booklet including a dedication to the project from Lemmy himself which is endorsement indeed.

As Tribute albums go this works very well, you can sense that it has been made with the highest level of love and respect for the subject matter. And that is what Tributes are all about.

****½

Motörhead Tribute is out on XXX Records and is even available to buy for those not living in Japan via the likes of HMV Japan and other online purveyors of fine music such as DiskUnion.