Another Perfect Day is the sixth studio album by English rock band Motörhead. Released in May 1983 by Bronze Records, it would be the band's last studio album with the label. It is the band's only studio album to feature lead guitarist Brian "Robbo" Robertson, best known for his work with Thin Lizzy.

Recording

After lead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke left Motörhead in 1982 in the midst of the band's Iron Fist US tour, guitarist Brian "Robbo" Robertson (ex-Thin Lizzy, Wild Horses) was recruited to complete the tour. Drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, who had been a huge Thin Lizzy fan, had lobbied vocalist/bassist/band leader Lemmy to hire Robertson. The change was initially welcomed by both Lemmy and Taylor; in Joel McIver's book Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead, Lemmy is quoted at the time saying that the band's sound had: ""[the sound] changed a little now that Brian's joined the band; I think it's gotten more musical."" These feelings would change dramatically once they entered the studio with producer Tony Platt; Lemmy would recall years later in the Motörhead documentary The Guts and the Glory: ""Recording Another Perfect Day was fucking torture. Brian, he'd take seventeen hours doin' a guitar track. It fuckin' took so long compared with the other albums. And then when it was released everybody fucking hated it."" The original vinyl release featured a lyric-sheet insert, with a cartoon storyboard of the adventures of the new band, as it were. The cassette and US LP versions had a vastly different track list, with "I Got Mine" opening the album and "Back at the Funny Farm" opening side two. The band supported the album with the Another Perfect Tour tour, and almost immediately audiences and industry personnel alike took notice of the jarring contrast between Lemmy and Taylor, clad in their usual leathers, and Robertson, who took to wearing satin shorts and slip-on espadrille shoes onstage, which were becoming quite fashionable in the mid-1980s. In his 2002 autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy writes:""Brian's fashion sense continued to shock and horrify fans throughout the tour of Europe at the end of the year. Let's face it, ballet shoes and Motörhead do not mix!"" Lemmy began to make light of Robertson's attire during shows, but he explained to Classic Rock interviewer David Ling: ""All that shit about being dressed differently; all the wearing of stupid shorts, it was just to get at me. Or make sure everybody knew he wasn't in Motörhead, just a featured guest artist, doing us a favour from the great heights as a Thin Lizzy guitar player."" In his memoir, Lemmy put the album into perspective: ""We had to get another guitar player fast so we could continue the tour, and we chose Brian Robertson, who had been in Thin Lizzy. Technically, he was a better guitarist than Eddie, but ultimately he wasn't right for Motörhead. With Robbo our slide downwards began to pick up speed, which was unfair really, because the record we made with him, Another Perfect Day, was very good... Another Perfect Day stood the test of time – a lot of fans have recanted now and come to like it. But that didn't help us back then."" Following the album and tour, Robertson and Taylor left Motörhead to form the band Operator, leaving only Lemmy to continue on with Motörhead. Since then, "Shine", "Die You Bastard!", "Dancing on Your Grave", "I Got Mine", "Another Perfect Day", "One Track Mind", and "Rock It" have been featured in the band's live set. In 2013, Lemmy told Lee Marlow of Classic Rock that he hadn't spoken to Robertson since 1983 and maintained: ""I've enjoyed all the line-ups – but not that one. That was the lowest point in our career.""

Sleeve artwork

Joe Petagno, the sleeve artist, commented that the cover was inspired by the upheaval prevalent in the band and its members at the time: ""I didn't hear the music. I think I got a rough mix. It was different. But, I did it on a beer box, with a drawing board on my lap and some paints and a bucket of water by my side. And the reason it turned out the way it was – it was all chaos. Chaos in my life, and chaos in Lemmy's life. I brought it to London with me to deliver it personally to the guys and everyone was freaked over it. They'd never seen anything like it. And I remember Philthy said, "Fuck man! If the kids see that on acid, they're just going to freak!... It's one of my favourite sleeves. "" In 1988 Castle Communications re-issued this album along with Overkill in a gatefold sleeve.

Critical reception

John Franck of AllMusic calls Another Perfect Day "one of the most unique (albeit misunderstood) albums in the entire Motörhead catalog", adding that it is one of "the band's best-sounding records ever, but tinkering with a legendary formula is always fraught with danger (is that a boogie-woogie piano on 'Rock It'?), and as one might expect, the results here are alternately exhilarating and sometimes frustrating". Motörhead biographer Joel McIver wrote in 2011 that it was "worth revisiting for those who may have forgotten its genuine charms". Thrash metal band Sepultura named themselves after the third track from this album, "Dancing on Your Grave" ("sepultura" is "grave" in Portuguese). The songs "Back at the Funny Farm" and "Marching Off to War" were featured on the video game Brütal Legend.

Track listing

Original edition

Castle Communications 1996 reissue bonus tracks

Sanctuary Records 2006 2-CD deluxe edition

40th anniversary 2-CD edition

The 40th anniversary edition of Another Perfect Day was released on 3rd November 2023. The instrumental demo "Climber" is the early version of what would become later as the track "Shine".

Personnel

Per the album's liner notes.

Production

2006 deluxe edition remaster

Charts