Motörhead - Ace of Spades (cover)

I often say - and you will find me saying this every now and then - that if you don't know the original version of this cover, then just kindly leave the internet. But rather you're banned. Simply there's no logical reason or any reason by common senses that would explain you had missed out this song from your life.

This song is one of the cornerstones of rock music. Motörhead, its presence and impact is inevitable if you want to talk about rock. This song is the essence of rock and roll in less than 3 minutes. Fast, simple, aggressive, with one of the most distinctive voices of rock history. The lyrics are the ars poetica of Motörhead's singer/bassist and rock legend Lemmy - simple, witty, easy to learn and even easier to scream.

Another thing I tend to say is that these classic rock songs are risky, because either you make a "better than the original" version or - in case you touch it with the lack of respect and humbleness - you can end up with the failure of the year. These classics are known by too many people, too many people, amateurs and professionals try to play it, and for these reasons too many people have their own opinion about it and/or how it should be played.

Well, the thing is, this cover smeared me up on the wall.

I don't deny it, I spent some time getting off and finding my pieces. Some of my pieces kept emitting nuclear radiation hours after listening to it. It was an absolute blast. You get a hook into your stomach right in the very beginning by Deneb and his bass line, then if you are still conscious, Ruxx knocks you out with the drums. The presence of the rhythm section is so heavy that it actually subtly represses the guitar and the keyboards.

(not that I want to complain, I'm definitely a Team Rhythm Section member)

(yes, we know that the original song doesn't contain any keyboards, but on one hand nobody asked for your opinion, on the other we LOVE Reny and his talent has a place in every single piece he wishes to take part at)

The raw aggression of the original song is multiplied when Ruxx smashes the listener into tiny parts with his powerful vocals. Blu definitely used a rasp instead of a pick to play his guitar. The bass keeps hitting you all over, slowly turning into nuclear

(I'm 100% sure that Deneb secretly changed the bass strings to enhanced uranium rods before recording)

Ruxx adds his very own drumming style with all the tiny tricks, breaks and crashes, and as the cover completely overfloods you, it brings you two gems. One of them is Ruxx's scream as he is singing "...and don't forget the joker!" - this is only my point of view, but for me this is the trademark of Ruxx's amazing voice, these very distinctive, absolutely sweeping legatos he makes. He has got by default a very strong, well-developed rock/blues voice with a significant pitch and these legatos he makes during singing is something I have heard only from some really talented and very skilled singers. Not many singers can do such screams, and behind every single one of them (including Ruxx) there is long years of hard work, dedication, practice, failures, hopelessness and starting it all over. So hereby I would like to ask you, dear Reader to stand up wherever you are and pay respect for Ruxx at least for a minute. Because he deserves it. 

Thank you.

The other gem of this cover is brought by Reny and his keyboard solo. The truth is, one of my soft spots is the Hammond organ sound. Here Reny doesn't just play in that way, bringing back the atmosphere of the 70's and early 80's, but also it's an absolutely creative extra ingredient for the cover that surprised me in the best way when I heard it for the first time. 

One more thing: this cover is addictive. Badly. Seriously. The good news though is that you can't overdose it.