Cover Image: Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers

Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers

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An entertaining read, but a bit disjointed - repeats itself at times and crams in too many quotes.

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(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers is the first book to celebrate the classic-era Motörhead lineup of Lemmy Kilmister, “Fast” Eddie Clarke, and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor. Through interviews with all of the principal troublemakers, Martin Popoff celebrates the formation of the band and the records that made them legends: Motörhead, Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, No Sleep ’til Hammersmith, and Iron Fist. An in-depth coda brings the story up to date with the shocking recent deaths of Taylor and Kilmister.
Motörhead comes to life in this book as bad-luck bad boys — doused in drink and drugs, most notably speed — incapable of running their lives right, save for Fast Eddie, who is charged with holding things together. Popoff also examines the heady climate of music through the band’s rise to prominence during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, with detailed reflection on Motörhead’s unique position in the scene as both originators and embattled survivors who carried on the renegade spirit of those times.

I went into this book really keen to read about that classic Motorhead line up. Had been a fan of the band for a number of years and always wanted to read more about those early years.

What I got, however, was a lot of snippets of interviews with the band and those around them. I got quite a bit of background of Lemmy's musical activities before even joining Hawkwind, let alone Motorhead - which I found to be just a little bit boring. It wasn't anything new. The stories of the band at the height of their success was great to reminisce about, but ultimately, there just wasn't enough to keep me interested.

If you aren't a huge fan of the band, this could be a good way to learn more about them. If you have followed them for a long time, there probably isn't a lot in here you didn't already know.


Paul
ARH

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Book received from NetGalley.

I have been a fan of Motorhead since I first heard them play Ace of Spades on the British TV show "The Young Ones" back in the 80's. While I liked their music I didn't really know much about the band or its members. This was a really good history of the group, and it's especially timely since we lost Lemmy last year. This is a definite must-read for fans of the group.

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I have only recently begun to listen to Motorhead, even though I have been a metal fan for 30 years. This book, whether you are a fan or not, is a good read, easy and entertaining. Fun even. It is the history of the classic line-up of the band, It was interesting to read the stories of the guys in the band, ones you may have never heard. Kinda like being a part of their history, if only for a bit and from afar.

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A very interesting history of the heavy metal band Motorhead. Truthfully when I was a teenager in the early 90's I was a huge fan of heavy metal well still like a lot of the riffs. Anyway I never really heard of Motorhead. But this book intrigued me and it was very interesting to see how their roots came about. And even more interesting the even survived their own lifestyles. If you are interested in the history of one of the biggest British heavy metal bands of all time then you must pick up this book!

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<b>They are Motörhead and they play rock & roll</b>

I became a Motörhead fan within the last decade, so I didn't know much about the classic lineup that is the focus of this book. I have seen the "Classic Albums" documentary about Ace of Spades. I knew more about Lemmy and saw him live with Motörhead in 2012. I really enjoyed and appreciated Lemmy's sense of humor, general shamelessness, candor, and personification of rock & roll.

If most people read book reviews to help them decide if they should read the book, that makes this particular task very hard with <i>Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers</i>. It is part oral history of the band, part rock & roll reminiscing, part music theory, part sociology, and part eulogy for the gone but not forgotten Lemmy Kilmister and Phil Taylor, who both passed away in 2015 as the writer was working on this book. Die-hard fans of the band will surely love the book. I enjoyed it, as I enjoy most things involving Lemmy, because it got me listening to the old songs, and looking on YouTube for live videos, particularly showing the Bomber plane they built for their live show that I never had the pleasure of seeing in person. The author dives into details on some deep tracks that I wasn't familiar with, and there's a somewhat tedious discussion of trying to categorize the band as heavy metal, or punk, or whatever other ways the band has been described. It became tedious, even though Lemmy seems to be the one who isn't comfortable with the label of heavy metal, but most Motörhead fans don't give a damn about labels anyway and I'm not sure a casual reader would find it captivating, either. I'm not sure how any of this book goes over with someone unfamiliar with Motörhead. Maybe watching the Lemmy documentary is a good place to start to give you an idea of the force of personality behind Motörhead.

Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for granting my request for an advance copy of this book for review. I'm glad I read the book and I'm very glad that I had the opportunity to see Motörhead live in Lemmy's lifetime. They are truly one of a kind.

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Thoroughly enjoyable read,and so good to relive early albums.

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Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers, The Rise of Motorhead by Martin Popoff was received direct from the publisher. Motorhead, the iconic metal band a person can arguably say that most everyone in the civilized world has at least heard a riff from, rocked the world for many years. The band had members come and go, but this book focuses on the original band's rise, the formidable years of 1976-1982, when the band got larger than life. The lead singer and faceman of the band always claimed the band was a punk band, not a heavy metal band, the annals of history may disagree. If you want to read stories like you were there with the band as they rose to fame, and argued and drank beer and raised hell, this is definitely a book for you to grab.

4 stars

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Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers: The Rise of Motörhead by Martin Popoff
Focusing on the classic lineup of Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Taylor and Eddie Clarke and reading like the transcripts of beer laden late night conversations with your best mates. It’s like having a seat at the bar and hearing Lemmy and the others tell and retell all the old stories. We get the scoop on Lemmy’s last days with Hawkwind and the early days of the London scene where Motörhead’s speed and arrogance is as respected by punks and aspiring head bangers equally. There is a great level of detail on the making of the albums in those early years too. There are no insights or shocking reveals here, but good fun because as Lemmy said “We’re Motörhead and we play rock’n’roll.”
Thanks go out once again to NetGalley for the review copy. To be released May 9, 2017 by ECW Press

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I wasn't familiar with Motorhead before reading this book, but found it informative and entertaining. I'm guessing fans will appreciate the story of the band.

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