Thirteen is an unlucky number for some; but not for Lemmy and co, on 1996’s ironically titled Overnight Sensation record. The record was released on Steamhammer and sees the band returning to a trio line-up after 2nd guitarist Wurzel left the group.
It was produced by Howard Benson, who also did the previous two records and sounds top notch, crunchy, metallic, but still rock n’ roll enough for the band’s claims not to be a metal band to sort of be understandable (that’s a whole other can of worms though).
Tracks like the speedy opening 1-2 punch of ‘Civil War’ and ‘Crazy Like A Fox’ really slam, and the catchy ‘Love Can’t Buy You Money’ is very memorable. ‘Them Not Me’ features some brilliant drum work and ‘Listen To Your Heart’ finishes the album out with some acoustic guitar work. At 41 minutes it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and there are no real weak link tracks or filler.
As with almost all Motorhead albums (with the exception of maybe On Parole and March Or Die) it is fast, hard, blunt and greasy. They know what the audience want and how to give it to them. Some people will tell you only Motorhead with Fast Eddie and Philthy’ Phil are worth listening to, but this is an album that blows that viewpoint out of the water.