Killed By Deaf (A Punk Tribute To Motorhead): New Music Friday

Artwork for the album Killed By Deaf (A Punk Tribute To Motorhead)

The compilation ‘Killed By Deaf (A Punk Tribute To Motorhead)’ has been released on New Music Friday – revisit Live4ever’s review and stream it right here.

It’s one of the funniest, accidentally Spinal Tap-esque moments in rock documentary history.

Part way through the 2010 flick Lemmy: The Movie (about guess who), a discussion around Motorhead’s soundcheck ends up with everybody on stage having their levels turned up to 11. This, in essence, was the spirit of him and his band.

Founded in 1975 after the singer was fired by Hawkwind for a string of what he saw as misdemeanours, Motorhead’s classic line-up was completed by drummer Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor and guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke.

Despite from that point experiencing a number of setbacks, wrong turns and a generally bemused British public, they eventually came to occupy a unique position as the sleazy long haired outfit punks liked, and to an extent vice versa.

Uncomfortable with such a simplistic point of view, Lemmy remained adamant that Motorhead were not and never had been a metal band.

Their timing was everything though: by the late seventies punk had faded as a musical phenomenon, but not a cultural one.

At the same time, a clutch of new groups combining its speed and aggression with hard rock dynamics like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Diamond Head were resuscitating what had become a shadow of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple’s original template.

When they stepped into the vacuum, they found themselves not alone.

In many respects it makes perfect sense that the contributors to Killed By Deaf are punk outfits because frankly, as a genre, there’s still a close resemblance to its original musical form.

Click here for the review in full