“We are Motorhead, and we play rock ‘n’ roll!” 

With these words, Lemmy greets an understandably nervous Montreux Jazz Festival, before launching into a no-holds-barred rendition of Snaggle Tooth. You’d expect no less really. By the point this most recalcitrant of rock ‘n’ roll institutions hit Montreux, Motorhead had been burning up eardrums for over three decades and, let’s face it, nuance was never in Lemmy’s vocabulary anyway.

Capturing the band during their Kiss of Death tour, Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 2007, is a simple and unadulterated statement of intent from one of rock’s most beloved bands and it packs a powerful punch. Certainly, Lemmy is in no mood to take prisoners and, as he leads his band at breakneck speed into Stay Clean, a caustic cut from 1979’s immeasurably influential Overkill album, the band sound thrashier than ever. Next up, and arguably one of rock’s most misleading titles, Be My Baby only makes sense if you assume the words are spoken by a serial killer, the central riff possessed of a demonic, Pantera-esque groove that hits hard, while the vocals are buried beneath layers of phlegm. Killers is a decent track from Inferno, although the audience save their enthusiasm for the likes of Metropolis, another track from the seminal Overkill. The punk rush of Over the Top keeps the set flowing, while One Night Stand highlights the fact that Motorhead lost none of their potent groove with age. 

For those in doubt as to Motorhead’s influence, I Got Mine is a swaggering, blues-infused rocker perfectly showcasing the near-psychic interplay between Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee. And, just in case older fans feel left out, the utterly ferocious In the Name of Tragedy might just be the heaviest track to reference Shakespeare. Barely pausing between tracks, Mikkey’s rat-a-tat snare announces the arrival of Sword of Glory and, while Lemmy’s strained vocal does the otherwise melodic chorus no favours, the track has a strong Therapy? vibe that works well. A cover of Thin Lizzy’s Rosalie sees Lemmy’s gruff mask slip as he pays tribute to an artist he greatly respected, only for an epic-length Sacrifice to up the heavy quotient (“if you dance to this, you’ll not have children later in life”, he chuckles). An album highlight, Just ‘Cos You Got The Power is another bluesy number and then, suddenly it seems, we’re onto the closing straight, the band pulling out all the stops for a white hot finale. 

And it is one hell of a finale. Closing Montreaux, Lemmy ensures the audience are going home deaf, unleashing a barrage that takes in Killed By Death, Iron Fist, Ace of Spades and, of course, Overkill. It’s a mini set-within-a-set that sees Motorhead throw out more classics than most bands hope to write across the course of a career, and it leaves the audience flailing in its wake. Overkill in particular, expanded by almost half its length again, is a savage, breathless last hurrah that collapses into ear-searing noise, and the cheer that greets it suggests that, even having run this most brutal of gauntlets, the audience could easily see Motorhead play on. 

A nineteen-track blitzkrieg that takes in both classic Motorhead and more recent fare, Live At Montreaux Festival 2007 is essential for Motorhead fans and a decent starting point for the uninitiated (assuming such people exist). Let’s face it, most people already know if they want this but, packed with classics and with the audience interaction left intact to provide a poignant reminder of Lemmy’s rough charm, it’s an album that does much to remind us why we miss him still. 8/10