This article is about the Motörhead album. For other uses, see Bad magic (disambiguation).
Bad Magic
studio
ArtistMotörhead
CoverMotörhead - Bad Magic (2015).jpg
Released28 August 2015
Recorded2015
StudioNRG Studio (Hollywood, California)
Maple Studios (Santa Ana, California)
Grandmaster Studios
GenreHeavy metal · hard rock
LabelUDR
ProducerCameron Webb
Prev year2013
Next year2016

Bad Magic is the twenty-second studio album and final studio album of all-new material, by the British rock band Motörhead. Released on 28 August 2015, it is the fifth release under the UDR / Motörhead Music collaboration of the previous five years.[1][2]

Due to the death of founder Lemmy four months after the album's release, the band disbanded after 40 years on the road. Surviving members guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee stated to numerous media that the band was finished.[3]

"When the Sky Comes Looking for You" was the only song from this album to be played live.[4] In 2016, the album received an ECHO Award nomination for Best Rock/Alternative International, but eventually lost to Iron Maiden's The Book of Souls.[5]

Recording

Bad Magic was written and recorded in Los Angeles, and Cameron Webb again produced the album. In an interview, Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee told the press that the recording process was different than previously:

"[...] this time we were in a recording studio writing the album and all playing it together, actually. Before, we used to be in a rehearsal studio, write the songs and then we'd go in and record it one at a time, but here we kind of recorded it live, right away, as we had the song. We used to write very spontaneous, and this is probably even more spontaneous than any [previous] Motörhead [album]. But we really do enjoy the album. And it's a very live, very spontaneous record. I think that works best for us."[6]

Later Lemmy said the whole album was not recorded live, but they:

"[...] did about five tracks all together, so that much is true."[7]

The cover of "Sympathy for the Devil" was recorded at the request of pro wrestler Triple H.[8]

The band also recorded a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" during the recording sessions for the album and it was one of the band's last songs recorded together prior to Lemmy's death that same year. The song would be released two years later on 2017's Under Cöver album.[9]

On 1 December 2022, an expanded edition of the album, Seriously Bad Magic, was announced for release on Silver Lining Records on 24 February 2023, containing "'Heroes'" and two unreleased tracks from the sessions, "Bullet in Your Brain" (which was released as a single to promote the new edition) and "Greedy Bastards".[10] The CD release will also include a live album, Sayonara Folks!, recorded at the Mt. Fuji Rock Festival in 2015, and a box set will contain both releases plus a bonus interview disc, Lemmy: War, Love, Death and Injustice.

Critical reception

Bad Magic received a Metacritic score of 80 out of 100, indicating generally positive reviews from critics.[11] Chad Bowar of Loudwire wrote that the songs on the album had a timeless sound, meaning that listeners wouldn't know if they were written during the year the album was released or in the early '80s.[12]

Ray Van Horn Jr. from Blabbermouth.net, noted that with Bad Magic, given Lemmy's health problems:

"[they're] on the verge of what might be [their] swan song...[Lemmy] exhibits the vocal wear and tear of a man whose long-beaten, gravelly pipes are betraying him due to a natural aging process."[13]

However, he continues that:

"Lemmy is a freak of nature, and it's great to hear him ralph, croon and snarl with a give-a-damn will to live—you're a total piece of crap if you knock a guy who has given us his all for decades."[13]

Sean Barry of Consequence of Sound points to the song, "Till the End", and writes that:

"[...] here the frontman relates his story and woes in some rundown pub on the outskirts of town. It also finds Lemmy coming to terms with who he is, and despite all his flaws, pledging to continue living as he has through the remainder of his life. And while the 70 years of said hell-raising show in the way he slightly slurs his vocals, he's just as virile and robust as he was on Overkill."[14]

Barry ends the review writing:

"'Bad Magic' feels ancestral; you can feel it in your blood and in your bones. Even for those new to Motörhead, the album will have the power to recharge your love for all things rock 'n' roll. As a band that's been around for generations, Motörhead isn't just hanging around trying to keep themselves relevant. They're partying until the sun goes out and celebrating their own immortality."[15]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 35,[16] No. 2 on the Hard Rock Albums chart,[17] and No. 5 on the Rock Albums chart,[18] selling 10,325 copies in its first week.[19] The album has sold 36,000 copies in the United States as of June 2016.[20]

Track listing

Note: "'Heroes'" was previously released on Under Cöver (2017).

Personnel

Motörhead

Additional musicians

  • Jimmi Mayweather and Nick Agee – backing vocals on "Shoot Out All of Your Lights'"
  • Brian May – guitar solo on "The Devil"

Production

  • Cameron Webb – producer, mixing, engineer
  • Sergio Chavez – engineer
  • Nick Agee – engineer
  • Mike Sassano – engineer
  • Kyle McAulay – engineer
  • Michael Fernandez – engineer
  • Michael Eckes – engineer
  • Robin Florent – engineer
  • Kris Fredriksson – engineer ("The Devil" and Todd Campbell on "Victory or Die" and "Evil Eye")
  • Motörhead – executive producers
  • Lemmy – cover design concept, doodles
  • Mark DeVito – cover art direction, design
  • Steffan Chirazi – creative direction, booklet design
  • Kai Swillus – creative direction, booklet design
  • Robert John – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015)Peak
position

Year-end charts

Chart (2015)Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21]71
  • Regarding French sales, the SNEP gives Bad Magic's highest position as 14.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Motörhead to release Bad Magic in August". Blabbermouth.net. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  2. ^ Deming, Mark, "Bad Magic - Motörhead review", Allmusic.com, retrieved 2025-02-19
  3. ^ "Mikkey Dee: Motörhead is over, of course". The Guardian. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Motorhead 'When the Sky Comes Looking For You' premier". revolvermag.com. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  5. ^ Ingham, Tim (8 April 2016). "Germany's 'Album Of The Year' isn't Adele's 25 - it's a Christmas record". Musicbusinessworldwide.com
  6. ^ "Motörhead's Mikkey Dee On 'Bad Magic': 'I Know It's A Great Record'". Blabbermouth.net. June 26, 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  7. ^ Childers, Chad (August 17, 2015). "Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister Talks 'Bad Magic' Album, Motorboat Cruise + More". Loudwire. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Here's MOTORHEAD Covering THE ROLLING STONES' "Sympathy For The Devil"". Metalinjection.net. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Motörhead "Heroes" (David Bowie Cover)". – via YouTube
  10. ^ "Official Motörhead Music Store - Motörhead - Bad Magic: SERIOUSLY BAD MAGIC". Motorheadmusic.tmstor.es
  11. ^ "Bad Magic" (music). bad-magic. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  12. ^ Bowar, Chad. "Motorhead, 'Bad Magic' – Album Review". Loudwire. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  13. ^ Van Horn Jr., Ray. "Motörhead – Bad Magic". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  14. ^ Barry, Sean (August 27, 2015). "Motörhead – Bad Magic". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  15. ^ Bad Magic (liner notes). UDR. 2015.
  16. ^ "The Billboard 200". Billboard. 19 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Hard Rock Albums". Billboard. 19 September 2015.
  18. ^ "Rock Albums". Billboard. 19 September 2015.
  19. ^ Brown, Matt (9 September 2015). "Metal By Numbers 9/9: Motörhead work their bad magic". Metal Insider. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived 2 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums – SNEP". 1 November 2013.