Motörhead

Lemmy must have stumbled onto a particularly potent stash of crank. Motörizer — the band’s 24th studio effort — is their best in almost a decade. And that’s some pretty solid competition. While Motörhead will never change their definitive style, Motörizer finds them delivering an incredibly diverse range of attacks. From the full-on rage of opener "Runaround Man” through the no-holds-barred "Rock Out” and the laidback groove of "English Rose,” this is the crunchy, direct band we’ve come to know and love. Succinct, sinister and abrasive, there’s a resurgence in the aggression and brutality the band first displayed on 1995’s Sacrifice, while some of the more eloquent moments and straight-up, blues-based rock’n’roll tracks are reminiscent of 1916. As usual, Phil Campell’s guitar solos are searing bouts of tasteful licks colliding with fiery crescendos, Mikkey Dee oscillates between simplistic time-keeping and double-bass hammering, while Lemmy’s voice equals his bass: it grows ballsier and raspier with each effort. Motörizer is the epitome of no-frills power.