Album Review: Motörhead - "The World is Ours, Vol. 2"

If you are a heavy metal fan, Motörhead’s live show is one of those pinnacle “must-haves.” While Lemmy and his cohorts continue to insist that they are nothing more than a rock and roll band, seeing Motörhead live is watching a living oral history of the genesis of heavy metal.

With that in mind, camp Motörhead has released “The World is Ours, Vol. 2,” a two-disc, all-encompassing final word (until the next final word,) in the Motörhead live experience. The complete set follows the band’s performance from beginning to end at Wacken Open Air Festival, as well as pieces from Sonisphere 2011 and Rock in Rio. The encapsulation of the entire Wacken set is a nice touch, as it allows for the listener to craft a mental concept of what seeing the band live is like; there is ebb and flow and strong performances and Lemmy Mumbling alike.

As expected, there’s the usual spate of Motörhead favorites on display, both new and old. Whether it’s “Going to Brazil” or never-gets-old classics like “Bomber,” “The World is Ours” compiles all the highlights of a Motörhead set.

Now, there is an argument to be made that seeing the band live once, or by proxy listening to them live once on CD, should just about qualify to cross Motörhead off the “must-see” list for the rest of time; that the song remains he same and the band changes by not changing (to reference both Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam in the same sentence.) It’s difficult to fault that argument, so rather than try to refute it, “The World is Ours” attempts to offer more for the fan to digest.

Savvy music fans have long caught on to the idea that live albums, in and of themselves are typically easy cash grabs for all involved. So, to offer a better product (and entire more purchases,) “The World is Ours” includes the DVD and Blu Ray of the same performances as the CD, which offers fans far and wide a chance to see their heroes close up in high definition. And it makes sense. After all, what’s the point of owning Mikkey Dee’s impressive-at-any-age drum solo during “In the Name of Tragedy” if you can’t see it?

The video portion of the program goes on to highlight the strong performance of Phil Campbell throughout Wacken’s set, particularly in the classics like “Overkill” and “Killed By Death,” as his guitar positively screams torrents of noted with vigor and potency.

And of course…Lemmy. The figure himself is so much bigger than life that recorded video, even with 1,080 lines of resolution, can hardly contain him. He is certainly among the alphas of metal, and his sheer presence during “Rock Out,” or at any other point as he cajoles the crowd, is just the latest example of how he refuses to be the omega.

“The World is Ours, Vol. 2” does its level best to include the home fan as part of the tireless Motörhead live experience by showing the band at their best while on stage, flanked by dozens of lights and with air support from a mobile lighting rig in the shape of a literal bomber. Points for that. The video at home, audio on the go dual threat package gives fans new and old a fitting representation of what it’s like to experience one of the pillars of metal. If you’ve never seen, or merely want to preserve the memory for posterity, this is as good a chance as any to do it.