MOTÖRHEAD’S ORGASMATRON TURNS 40 WITH A MASSIVE NEW ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Forty years later and Orgasmatron still sounds like somebody kicked the studio door off the hinges, lit a cigarette, cranked the amps past reasonable human limits and told everybody else in the room to deal with it. Motörhead is celebrating the album’s 40th anniversary with a loaded new edition featuring both the remastered original recording and a brand-new remix from longtime Motörhead collaborator Cameron Webb.

Originally released in 1986, Orgasmatron came from the lineup of Lemmy, Phil Campbell, Würzel and Pete Gill, and the record sounds exactly like four guys who had zero interest in asking permission. Hard rock, metal, punk, whatever label you want to slap on it, Motörhead was already living in that filthy little intersection before half the planet figured out where the road was. “Orgasmatron,” “Deaf Forever” and “Built For Speed” did not become staples because somebody had a good marketing meeting. Those songs earned their scars.

The smartest part of this anniversary release is that nobody is pretending the original Bill Laswell production suddenly needs to disappear because we have newer toys now. The original mix stays right where it belongs. Cameron Webb instead went back to the original stems and rebuilt the album from inside the machine, looking for sounds and details that were buried in those sessions without turning the whole thing into some overproduced modern-metal refrigerator with guitars.

And Webb is not some random dude who wandered in off the street with a laptop and opinions. He had years of history working with Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, so there is an actual relationship to the band behind this remix. That gives the new version a reason to exist beyond “hey, anniversary, buy it again,” which, let’s be real, is not always guaranteed with these things.

The deluxe edition is coming as a 3LP bookpack and 2CD set, packing in the remastered original album, Webb’s new remix, studio rehearsals, outtakes and the complete 1986 BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session. There is also a transparent violet 1LP edition featuring the original studio album for the vinyl maniacs who see the words “limited colored pressing” and immediately start checking shelf space like responsible adults. We all know how that goes.

Four decades later, Orgasmatron still sounds dangerous, ugly and gloriously uninterested in behaving itself. Motörhead somehow keeps finding new ways to make old speakers nervous, and frankly, anything less would feel wrong.

Pre-order the Orgasmatron 40th Anniversary Edition.