With all the recent metal CDs coming out recently or soon (Iron Maiden, Slayer, BLS)I got to thinking that Motorhead is about due for their bi-annual release and sure enough, about a week ago I looked it up and saw Kiss of Death to be released today! I didn't hesitate to pick it up.

As usual, Lemmy delivers. As long as he lives and as long as he is putting out music, he will never sell out or change his formula. This can be a mixed blessing, since one Motorhead CD sounds a lot like another, but after 30 years this can pretty much be expected.

Now on to the album... It definitely rocks... and hard. It's fast, heavy and everything else you expect Motorhead to be. However, I am only giving 4 stars because their last release Inferno, which was a masterpeice, is better.

Inferno had more standout tracks than this one, particularly "Suicide", "Life's a Bitch", "In the Year of the Wolf" and "Whorehouse Blues". Those 4 tracks alone made that one of my favorite Motorhead albums. While Kiss of Death has many great tracks, there aren't too many that really stick out at me like those.

Motorhead seems to have an every other album thing going on, at least for me. "We Are Motorhead" is my personal favorite CD of theirs. "Hammered" was good but not as consistent and "Inferno" is up there with "We Are" for me as one of their best.

"Kiss of Death" is great, but for me it all kind of runs together a bit and nothing stands out as much as so many other awesome Motorhead tracks I've come to love. Here's a song-by-song rundown...

~~"Sucker," the opening track, is really good. It reminds me of "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" from Bastards.

~~"One Night Stand" is a great track and has that dirty rock and roll feel like "Born to Raise Hell."

~~ "Devil I know" is an okay track with some okay riffs, but nothing too memorable.

~~"Trigger" has some good riffs but the chorus is a bit repetitive and annoying.

~~"Under The Gun" is one of my favorite tracks on here. It's heavy and has some great Motorhead grooves.

~~"God Was Never on Your Side" One of those rare Motorhead ballads that turn up now and then, I really like this track. For having a voice like bones grinding through gravel, Lemmy can actually sing when he wants to. Great guitar, acoustic and electric, and just songwriting in general.

~~"Living in the Past" Another one of my favorites. The riff is an instant favorite. It's got dark and angry with a an awesome groove. This is why I love Motorhead.

~~"Christine" Not one of my favorites. It's another one of the Bob Seger style rock and roll tracks, but it's really cliche and the lyrics are pretty stupid.

~~"Sword of Glory" I don't much care for this one either. The guitar riff and the chorus are bit annoying for me.

~~"Be My Baby" This one is good, it picks up the pace again.

~~"Kingdom of the Worm" I like this track as well, nice and dark and the lyrics are just plain weird. Good stuff.

~~"Going Down" Kiss of Death ends on a great note. This one rocks really hard and is another favorite on this album.

Overall this is a great Motorhead album. It may not be as great as "We are Motorhead," "Bastards" or "Inferno" but Lemmy can still write, heavy, fast and bluesy rock and roll and should go down into the rock and roll hall of fame. Like Dave Groll said "F*** Elvis, Lemmy is the real King of Rock and Roll"

I suppose there are a lot of Motorhead fans who prefer the halcyon days of the original line-up, with classic releases like "Ace Of Spades" and "Bomber". I know I do, mainly because "Fast Eddie" Clarke was the most stylistic guitar player in the band's long history.

However, Motorhead is Lemmy Kilmister's band, and for a man who just turned 60, "Kiss Of Death" is a punishing loud rock and roll album that fits easily into the already impressive catalogue.

Back to a three piece, Phil Campbell has forged his own sound that doesn't resemble Clarke's, but still lives up to the expectations this type of music demands.

"Kiss Of Death" isn't without a couple of surprises - acoustic guitar during "God Was Never On Your Side", a diatribe against religion, one subject Kilmister truly hates, a blues stomper, and lyrically, "Sword Of Glory". Here, Lemmy is earnest and thoughtful - the insanity of war and all its empty praise for those who fall for unworthy causes, and the admonition that those who fail to learn from history are indeed condemned to repeat it. He even urges the listener to read!

For this cut alone, Lemmy deserves a medal. Yes, the silly stuff is still there, but he uses his bully pulpit from time to time to try to educate his fans, and here's hoping he's successful. I hope I can rock out like this when I'm his age.

I got this album yesterday, and was disheartened to find no review up yet on amazon. Being one to never write the first review for an album, I opted to wait for the guys with real balls. Anyway, this is a VERY solid release by Motorhead. This album follows a very similar path of Inferno, but it's not completely a rehash. Lemmy still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. This is my favorite part about Motorhead- every album can sound essentially similar yet vastly different at the same time.

But anyway, the album has it all in it. The essential Motorhead Rockers: Sucker, Sword of Glory, Going Down, and more. There's the groovier rockers like Kingdom of the Worm. Especially notworthy is the rarity of a Motorhead ballad- God Was Never On Your Side- a VERY heartfelt yet forceful song. My favorite track is probably Trigger, for it is a throwback with a very hooky chorus.

People say Motorhead haven't changed. That's a lie. Motorhead have most definatley matured, but they never slowed down and never put out a poor album, so there's no reason to complain. Please buy this album, Sanctuary is a crappy label and wont put out the proper advertising to make this album sell the way it should.

Awesome! Not much more to say than that. Better than "Inferno".

"Nobody cares if you're in or you're out,

We're gonna give you a smack in the mouth,

Whether you go or whether you stay,

I guess it just ain't your day,

Sucker!"

Less explosive than Inferno but hookier and more varied. No question that it's on a par with the extremely high standards of the last several albums. Just buy it, no reason not to.