MOTÖRHEAD

Whether you began your MOTÖRHEAD experience with 1987's "Rock 'N' Roll" or 2006's "Kiss of Death", you'll have a good idea of what to expect from "The Wörld Is Yours". While the album is more in line with MOTÖRHEAD material from the past decade, beginning with 2000's "We Are Motörhead" on through "Motörizer", the big balls and bluesy bluster has been the common theme for most every album subsequent to the classic Kilmister/Clarke/Taylor lineup. As I've said many times in the past, though, it is the much longer running Kilmister/Campbell/Dee lineup that has been the tightest, most consistent, and arguably most talented. One can argue the axe mastery of Fast Eddie Clarke versus Phil Campbell, but there is no question that Mikkey Dee brought a much higher level of drumming to the trio since joining in 1992.

The trio took a step forward in their patented songwriting approach with 2000's "We Are Motörhead", locked into a serious groove with 2004's fantastic "Inferno", which gained the band even more fans in North America, and reached another sales plateau with 2008's "Motörizer". The point of this career summary is that MOTÖRHEAD sticks to what they know and while they tweak the formula from time to time, it is rare that you'll find anything surprising on a MOTÖRHEAD album these days. That continues to be the case on "The Wörld Is Yours", which isn't as strong as the last three (certainly not "Inferno") and probably closest to "Kiss of Death" in product quality, an album that has gotten better with age. This is straight-up 21st-century MOTÖRHEAD; nothing more, nothing less.

Making our way through the track list, most of the familiar characteristic of a MOTÖRHEAD album are here. As is often the case, the album highlight is its opener, "Born To Lose". Created around a bluesy strut-riff, is similar to some of the material from "We Are Motörhead" and "Hammered" and comes with Lemmy's distinct vocal patterns and lyrical assemblage. "I Know How To Die" follows close behind with a mean riff and driving approach not unlike you'd hear in some of the songs from "1916" and "Inferno". For the most part, "The Wörld Is Yours" focuses on the Chuck Berry riffing and blues-basis of MOTÖRHEAD, as heard on the boogie of "Get Back In Line" and Lemmy's reinterpretation of traditional rock 'n roll as heard on "Rock N Roll Music" and "Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye". The one exception is the sludge 'n croak of "Brotherhood of Man" that borrows some of the ugliness and tone of "Orgasmatron", as Lemmy once again offers his dismal view of humanity.

"The Wörld Is Yours" is a solid MOTÖRHEAD album and one with which few fans will have issues. It is not however an album that will get much attention in discussions of the threesome's post-2000 work. Will I still be buying it upon its February 8th North American release? Absolutely. "The Wörld Is Yours" is a good MOTÖRHEAD album; it just not an upper-tier one.