Leader Of Down (Motorhead) - Cascade Into Chaos
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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This album has an interesting back story, and while the music within will be appealing to hard rock and heavy metal fans in general, fans of Mot�rhead will in particular be enthralled with Cascade Into Chaos. Leader of Down was formed by late Mot�rhead guitarist W�rzel (real name Michael Burston) and bass player Tim Atkinson a decade ago and some of the tunes here were written or partially written way back then. Atkinson, along with Leader of Down vocalist Matt Baker, guitarist Alex Ward and drummer Steve Clarke (Fastway) kept working on the record after W�rzel's 2011 death, and they got help from Mot�rhead alumni Phil Campbell and the also departed Lemmy Kilmister and Fast Eddie Clarke. To top it off, also guesting on the record are Lee Richards (Godsmack), Cliff Evans (Tank), Bruce Foxton (the Jam) and Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe). Lemmy takes lead vocals on two cuts and they bookend the set; the 80's-ish sounding Paradise Turned Into Dust opens the album and Laugh at the Devil, a cut that sounds inspired by Ozzy Osbourne and that features Clarke on guitar, closes the effort. Lots of goodies lie in between; a remake of vintage W�rzel solo cut People Say I'm Crazy, Fast Eddie showcase (guitar and vocals) Snakebite, the Van Halen-like title cut and The Killing Rain, the last song W�rzel ever recorded, among them. Any thoughts that this record might suffer from being pieced together by so many players over a lengthy period of time can be thrown right out the window; rather the effort should be thought of as VSOP, a very special one-time performance that rocks hard, is cohesive and makes for a great tribute to W�rzel. Leader of Down will be touring late this year and into 2019
Leader Of Down (Motorhead) - Cascade Into Chaos
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