The era leading up to Motörhead’s seventh studio album Orgasmatron found the band at a crossroads. Previous album Another Perfect Day (featuring Thin Lizzy six stringer Brian Robertson) split and polarised their fanbase and there was a feeling that the band needed to get back to basics and that’s where the twin guitar attack of Phil Campbell and Würzel came in. Motörhead were originally conceived as a four-piece, so when they became a quartet in 1984 there was a feeling that they were returning to source. When Orgasmatron dropped two years later they sounded like a band reborn and came steaming out the speakers like the train that graces the cover. To celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary it gets a lavish reissue to ensure it’ll sound just as good 40 years hence.

The dynamic of the new four-piece Motörhead wasn’t a total surprise to their fan base, this configuration having recorded several new tracks for the 1984 No Remorse compilation. However, nothing could really prepare the listener for the bombastic nature of opening track ‘Deaf Forever’. In a year that saw groundbreaking releases from thrash titans Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer, ‘Deaf Forever’ proved that Motörhead could more than hold their own, simply by doing what they did best, namely cranking the amps to eleven and blasting out high-octane rock n’ roll. Originally produced by Bill Laswell (Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, PiL), he placed each guitarist at different ends of the mix so you could hear each doing their thing, both playing off the other’s strengths to make this a more beefy brand of Motörhead than anything that came before. However, the band aren’t reinventing the wheel and this is essentially the same band, only with an extra guitar in the engine room (which is undoubtedly a good thing). Lyrically, too, there are familiar themes; gambling (‘Nothing Up My Sleeve’), illicit “substances” (‘Built For Speed’) and war (‘Deaf Forever’, ‘Orgasmatron’). As a statement of intent, Orgasmatron was the perfect summation of Motörhead, 1986; they were very much back in the game (and leading the field).

For this anniversary edition, the album is first presented with a new master, but you won’t find the record acting in new, strange ways, but subtle nuances buried by Laswell’s densely-layered production are now brought to the fore. It’s akin to having a service on your car, you’ll find things a tad more pokey and responsive. Likewise, there’s a Cameron Webb Remix that brings different aspects to the fore, namely the guitars on ‘Mean Machine’ which fight like two tarantulas, and the electric shocks on ‘Orgasmatron’ particularly sting. While Orgasmatron is highly regarded by fans and critics, many people take umbrage with Laswell’s production, so it would have been nice if Cameron Webb’s remix rectified this by placing more emphasis on the bottom end.

I have a 2xCD reissue of Orgasmatron from 2006 which included a live set from the 1984 Kerrang! Wooargh Weekender as part of its bonus material. That’s not included here, but other, equally intriguing, material has been unearthed. Studio rehearsals and outtakes are rough and ready (which is exactly how Motörhead should be experienced) and pack the kind of punch that should have been transferred to Orgasmatron. However the pièce de résistance are four tracks from a BBC Friday Rock Show session that find the band at the top of their game and making the most of the legendary Maida Vale studios.

A haunting, spoken word version of ‘Orgasmatron’ brings this reissue to a fitting conclusion, making this the ultimate edition of Orgasmatron, and the only version you’ll ever need.

• Orgasmatron is released via BMG on 6th November 2026.

Track List:

3xLP Version

LP1: 40th Anniversary Master

Side A:

1. Deaf Forever
2. Nothing Up My Sleeve
3. Ain’t My Crime
4. Claw
5. Mean Machine

Side B:

1. Built For Speed
2. Ridin’ With The Driver
3. Doctor Rock
4. Orgasmatron

LP2: Cameron Webb 40th Anniversary Remix

Side A:

1. Deaf Forever
2. Nothing Up My Sleeve
3. Ain’t My Crime
4. Claw
5. Mean Machine

Side B:

1. Built For Speed
2. Ridin’ With The Driver
3. Doctor Rock
4. Orgasmatron

LP3: Rehearsals, Outtakes And Sessions 

Side A:

1. Orgasmatron & On The Road  (Studio Rehearsal  – 1985)
2. Nothing up My Sleeve  (Studio Outtake – 1985)
3. Doctor Rock & Ridin’ With The Driver  (Studio Rehearsal  – 1985)

Side B:

4.  Claw (Alternate Version)
5.  Mean Machine (Studio Outtake – 1985)
6.  Killed By Death (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
7. Orgasmatron (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
8. Doctor Rock (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
9. Deaf Forever (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
10. Orgasmatron (Spoken Word) (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
 
2xCD Version:
 
CD One: 40th Anniversary Master

1. Deaf Forever
2. Nothing Up My Sleeve
3. Ain’t My Crime
4. Claw
5. Mean Machine
6 Built For Speed
7. Ridin’ With The Driver
8 Doctor Rock
9. Orgasmatron        

  Bonus Tracks:

10. Orgasmatron & On The Road  (Studio Rehearsal  – 1985)
11. Nothing up My Sleeve  (Studio Outtake – 1985)
12. Doctor Rock & Ridin’ With The Driver  (Studio Rehearsal  – 1985)
13. Claw (Alternate Version)
14. Mean Machine (Studio Outtake – 1985)

CD Two: Cameron Web 40th Anniversary Remix

1. Deaf Forever
2. Nothing Up My Sleeve
3. Ain’t My Crime
4. Claw
5. Mean Machine
6. Built For Speed
7. Ridin’ With The Driver
8. Doctor Rock
9. Orgasmatron

Bonus Tracks:  

10. Killed By Death (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
11. Orgasmatron (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
12. Doctor Rock (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
13. Deaf Forever (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)
14. Orgasmatron (Spoken Word) (BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show)