Another Perfect Day [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] (CD - 1983)

Includes liner notes by Steffan Chirazi.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Liner Note Authors: Steffan Chirazi; Lemmy Kilmister.

Recording information: 02/??/1983-06/10/1983.

Photographer: Mick Stevenson.

Unknown Contributor Role: Brian Robertson.

To this day, Another Perfect Day remains one of the most unique (albeit misunderstood) albums in the entire Motörhead catalog. The band's first effort sans legendary axe-meister "Fast" Eddie Clarke (following six albums, of which at least three are still considered timeless classics), Another Perfect Day would be the band's only outing with onetime Thin Lizzy axeman Brian "Robbo" Robertson. Clearly a nervous musical marriage from the start, the album captures Motörhead mainstays Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and "Philthy Animal" Taylor struggling to adapt their raw power and unparalleled distortion to Robertson's more mainstream hard rock instincts and melodic tendencies. Thanks in part to Tony Platt's excellent production, Another Perfect Day ranks among the band's best-sounding records ever, but tinkering with a legendary formula is always fraught with danger (is that a boogie-woogie piano on "Rock It"?), and as one might expect, the results here are alternately exhilarating and sometimes frustrating. On the one hand, the glorious arpeggiated melodies that characterize singles "Dancing on Your Grave" and "Shine" (Robertson's most obvious contributions here) were a total shock to the system by classic Motörhead standards, but their popularity and ultimate longevity as band highlights is a testament to their excellence. Furthermore, other drawn-out blues exercises like "One Track Mind" (which wouldn't sound out of place on any number of early Ted Nugent albums) and "I Got Mine" simply took the intensity and power of previously delivered sub-three-minute blasts and diluted it into four to five minutes, which had some fans impatiently glancing at their clocks. The title track barely escapes this predicament, and tighter, punchier numbers like "Back at the Funny Farm" and "Die You Bastard" manage to revisit the classic bile and fury of years past, but Robertson's unwillingness to be a team player (refusing to play standards like "Bomber" live, never mind his ridiculous fashion sense) virtually guaranteed his eventual sacking. By extension, Another Perfect Day is doomed to be considered a curiosity to this very day. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia & John Franck

When it became known that "Fast" Eddie Clarke had split from Motorhead, heavy metal fans feared the end of this hard-living trio. But when it was announced that ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson was joining drummer Phil Taylor and bassist/lead growler Lemmy, another typically styled Motorhead release could have understandably been anticipated.

However, while 1983's ANOTHER PERFECT DAY was still unmistakably a Motorhead album, Robertson brought in with him some musical elements that caused quite a bit of controversy amongst longtime fans--most notably the subtle use of synthesizers. Still, such furious tracks as "Shine" and "Dancing on Your Grave" showed that this new line-up held promise. But ANOTHER PERFECT DAY would be the only Motorhead release to feature Robertson, as he exited after the subsequent tour (as did longtime drummer Taylor), leaving Lemmy the lone original member.

To this day, Another Perfect Day remains one of the most unique (albeit misunderstood) albums in the entire Motörhead catalog. The band's first effort sans legendary axe-meister "Fast" Eddie Clarke (following six albums, of which at least three are still considered timeless classics), Another Perfect Day would be the band's only outing with onetime Thin Lizzy axeman Brian "Robbo" Robertson. Clearly a nervous musical marriage from the start, the album captures Motörhead mainstays Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and "Philthy Animal" Taylor struggling to adapt their raw power and unparalleled distortion to Robertson's more mainstream hard rock instincts and melodic tendencies. Thanks in part to Tony Platt's excellent production, Another Perfect Day ranks among the band's best-sounding records ever, but tinkering with a legendary formula is always fraught with danger (is that a boogie-woogie piano on "Rock It"?), and as one might expect, the results here are alternately exhilarating and sometimes frustrating. On the one hand, the glorious arpeggiated melodies that characterize singles "Dancing on Your Grave" and "Shine" (Robertson's most obvious contributions here) were a total shock to the system by classic Motörhead standards, but their popularity and ultimate longevity as band highlights is a testament to their excellence. Furthermore, other drawn-out blues exercises like "One Track Mind" (which wouldn't sound out of place on any number of early Ted Nugent albums) and "I Got Mine" simply took the intensity and power of previously delivered sub-three-minute blasts and diluted it into four to five minutes, which had some fans impatiently glancing at their clocks. The title track barely escapes this predicament, and tighter, punchier numbers like "Back at the Funny Farm" and "Die You Bastard" manage to revisit the classic bile and fury of years past, but Robertson's unwillingness to be a team player (refusing to play standards like "Bomber" live, never mind his ridiculous fashion sense) virtually guaranteed his eventual sacking. By extension, Another Perfect Day is doomed to be considered a curiosity to this very day. [The various single-disc reissues of Another Perfect Day append three bonus tracks, all of them B-sides: "Turn You Round Again" and live recordings of "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" and "(Don't Need) Religion."] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia & John Franck minimize