September 2024 – Page 2 – 7th Level Music

Just in time for Halloween, Motörhead to release “We Take No Prisoners” singles collection on October 25, 2024.

Back in the golden era of the single of the 1970’s and 80’s, Motörhead would regularly assault the ears of chart listeners on a Sunday afternoon with a string of hit smashes in the rock charts of the time. The single as a format may have been less prominent from the 90’s onwards due to the dawn of the CD, but that didn’t diminish the calibre of the singles and promos that Motörhead continued to release. These mostly CD singles are now rare and highly collectable, so it only feels fitting for this era of the band’s bullet belt full of hits to be reappraised and released on the format that singles were born for, 7” vinyl.

We Take No Prisoners is a collection of the bands singles spanning 1995 to 2006, and available as a nine 7” single box set and expanded double CD and digital editions. From crowd pleasers like the pummeling ‘Sacrifice’, through their unique cover of Sex Pistols, ‘God Save The Queen’ to the semi-acoustic roots vibes of ‘Whorehouse Blues’, no one could deny their song writing prowess was still second to none. With a selection of rare live and radio edits thrown in for good measure and a long lost promo interview with Lemmy and Mikkey Dee from 2004, this is a definitive collection of this era of the band and the songs that drove the success of the albums they were lifted from.

See below for full details of the We Take No Prisoners releases and be sure to visit www.iMotorhead.com for news and updates!

7” BOX SET TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE

A – Sacrifice

B – Over Your Shoulder (Live)”

DISC TWO

A – I Don’t Believe A Word

(Single Edit)*

B – Overnight Sensation (Live)”

DISC THREE

A – Love For Sale

B – Take The Blame

DISC FOUR

A – God Save The Queen

B – One More Fucking Time

DISC FIVE

A – Shut Your Mouth

B – See Me Burning

DISC SIX

A – Whorehouse Blues

B – Killers

DISC SEVEN

A – God Was Never On Your Side

B – Trigger

DISC EIGHT

A – R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

(2006 version)

B – R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Live)”

DISC NINE

A/B: Inferno Interview – Bel Age Hotel, California, April 2004”

(w/ Mikkey Dee and Lemmy)
CD EDITION TRACKLISTING
DISC ONE

1. Sacrifice
2. Order / Fade to Black
3. Over Your Shoulder (Live)
4. I Don’t Believe a Word (Single Edit)
5. Overnight Sensation (Live)
6. Love for Sale
7. Take the Blame
8. God Save the Queen
9. One More Fucking Time

DISC TWO

1. Shut Your Mouth (Single Edit)
2. See Me Burning
3. Whorehouse Blues
4. Killers
5. God Was Never on Your Side
6. Trigger
7. R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
8. Devil I Know
9. R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Live)
10. ‘Inferno’ Interview
11. ‘Inferno’ Interview – Bel Age Hotel, California, April 2004”
(w/ Mikkey Dee and Lemmy)

Pre-order here: https://motorhead.lnk.to/prisonersWE

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR!]

Review: Meatbodies – Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom

Does the cover of Meatbodies‘ new album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, feature a ghost tiger? A tiger made of flora? A tiger that lives in the ocean? Or in outer space? I don’t know. I do know, however, that the album is great shoegaze / psych record that made me want to see them live (coming up at Levitation 2024!) as soon as possible.

This album gives the songs time to stretch, but not to the point where you grow weary of them. The opener, “The Assignment,” is a great example. It’s a little over six minutes and is a perfect simmering pot of psychedelic tea that brews, drinks, and infuses into you for the perfect time. Groovy, solid bass builds to a burst of fuzzy tiger fur guitars. “Hole” is another six minutes-plus, and it also doesn’t waste a second of it as Meatbodies advises us to fill the holes in our hearts by letting go of what we wrongly think will fill them. The power of the guitars in it sounds like you could blast holes in concrete with it. And the synths that hit you around the 4:30 mark? Come on! It’s almost not fair.

You can imagine the meaning of “Silly Cybin,” which starts with simple acoustic guitar strumming before it hits you with crushing drums and crashing guitars. The rhythms of “Billow” will help you set sail on whatever, ahem, trip you’re taking (and the guitar solo in it is wild). “They Came Down” hits as heavy as any Ty Segall or Fuzz track.

“Move” is a great rocker that seems to have front man Chad Ubovich thinking about how his lover is moving away from him, but he’s unsure as to how to fix it (“I can count the reasons we don’t talk.”). “Criminal Minds” showcases the band’s love of early tracks from The Cure in its bassline. The growling fuzz of “ICNNVR2” is great, and instantly makes you feel like a bad ass, and the saxophone on it is a great touch that Iggy and The Stooges would love. The squall of guitars on “Psychic Garden” is a neat contract to “(Return of) Ecstasy,” which is almost a Middle Eastern-tinged trippy instrumental. The album ends with “Gate,” opening your mind to something beyond what you’re stuck in at the moment, encouraging you to escape the grind and embrace the ethereal (“Do it now. Take that spin.”).

Again, I don’t know if that’s just a green tiger or a tiger made of seaweed on the cover, but that’s kind of the point. Just flow with it. Get weird with it. Stop worrying and start experiencing.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Huntington Bank Pavilion – Chicago, IL – September 01, 2024

I hadn’t seen King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard in concert for a few years, and I’d never seen one of their three-hour marathon shows, so I jumped on a ticket for this one as soon as they went on sale late last year. That was a wise decision, because it was a sell-out of tens of thousands of Gizz fans. The line to get into the venue went all the way back to the lawn beyond the amphitheater and then doubled back upon itself.

Yes, that guy in the bottom right corner is wearing a Chicago Bears-style “Cocaine Bear” hat.

The line was mostly policed by the fans. There was no one of this far end telling people to turn around and head back for the main gate. Gizz-heads are always a happy bunch, so this camaraderie is par for the course.

As a result of the long line for entry, and the long line for merch, I missed most of the opening set by Geese, who sounded loud and somewhat prog-rock-ish from what I could hear.

The crowd was enjoying the late summer sun mixed with (finally) cooler weather, and KGATLW made sure to keep everyone on good terms by putting up this message.

They came out and fired up that pit right away with a set of tracks from Nonagon Infinity, beginning with “Robot Stomp” and then moving onto “People Vultures” and “Big Fig Wasp.”

Of course, they played some tracks from their new album, Flight b741. In fact, they played the last three tracks, “Sad Pilot,” “Rats in the Sky,” and “Daily Blues” in a row.

“You Can Be Your Silhouette” was a nice touch, and “Iron Lung” was a big crowd favorite. “Crumbling Castle” was around the halfway point of the show. The sun had set, and the wind coming off Lake Michigan was cooling off anyone not in the mosh pit by then.

So, to warm everyone, they unleashed “Hell,” “Predator X,” “Dragon,” and “Flamethrower,” igniting the mosh pit once again.

After that was an extended set of tracks from Murder of the Universe that included “Welcome to an Altered Future,” which they hadn’t played in about six years, and a wild version of “Vomit Coffin.”

Then, to mix it up further, they did a synth-jam (with four members surrounding a table covered in synthesizers, arpeggiators, sequencers, and digital audio workstations) that was supposed to close out the show.

However, they were told they had more time, so they ended with a great version of “Head On / Pill,” which delighted me since it’s from my favorite album of theirs (Float Along, Fill Your Lungs).

This show was like seeing old friends again. I’ve been a fan of theirs since 2014 when I saw them first play in the United States, and I love seeing their success and the massive fan base they’ve built. Long live King Gizz.

Keep your mind open.

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