Motörhead’s 19th studio album starts off very strong. Pretty much every track in its first half is a ferocious, hard rock/metal stormer, with the blues and rock ‘n’ roll elements Lemmy has always insisted were the core of the band’s sound prominent. This is particularly true on the midtempo burner “One Short Life,” one of his old-man-tells-you-about-life songs, and the antiwar “When The Eagle Screams.” The faster tracks, particularly album opener “Runaround Man” and first single “Rock Out” (yes, the phrase “with your cock out” appears), have a punky energy and Lemmy’s vocals are fierce, with almost imperceptible doubling giving them harmonic bulk — he’s got a surprisingly wide range, considering his born-with-a-Marlboro-in-his-mouth rasp.

The quality drops off a little bit in the record’s second half; “English Rose” is a fairly straightforward love song, something Motörhead should stay away from (see “All For You” from Rock ‘N’ Roll, “One More Fucking Time” from We Are Motörhead), and the chorus isn’t as catchy as it was likely intended to be. Similarly, “Back On The Chain” kinda lands with a thud. But the closer, “The Thousand Names Of God,” is a moody antiwar anthem that ends things on a high note. Ultimately, Motörizer is a deceptive album. It feels like more of the same, but over repeated plays gradually expands in the listener’s mind until it’s revealed as a very strong effort from a band that is having one of the all-time great late-career resurgences.