Hi Mark! Even Anthrax not doing much for me, I think they are the best of the Big 4 and I'll be watching them for acquiring culture in November.
The Rock&Roll/Metal issue with Motorhead, Lem says it's rocknroll and here's why: Brazil, Black LJ, Tragedy, Angel City, Parole, Stay Clean, Tear Ya Down and I could point many more songs that make perfect evidences for motorhead to be a RNR band. Now, the surprising thing, get any free audio software at Download.com and slow down the fast (often called metal) songs of Motorhead such as Red Raw, Burner, We Are Motorhead, Locomotive, Snaggletooth, Ridin Driver. And also slow down the songs of the metal bands. It sounds nothing like it! Motorhead has rhythm, it's danceable. The metal bands songs slowed down are more like a symphony, with a lot of notes but no rhythm, no rock n roll! So that makes motorhead not a classic RNR band like berry or checker or richard neither trendy like beatles or searches but hard and fast RNR!
Anyway, november not far...

To me Motorhead are a rock n roll band, but then so are UK Subs and Anthrax. It's all rock n roll. You can divide stuff up into all manner of sub genres but the fact remains rock n roll spawned all these rock/punk/metal/thrash/etc... bands we love. I always felt that was what Lemmy was trying to say, be you a rock n roll fan, a punk fan or a metal fan Motorhead were all things to all men. It's all under the rock n roll umbrella. For every Going to Brazil there's always a Red Raw remember. Listen to some of the bands borderline thrash stuff and tell me that doesn't sound like metal. I refer y'all to my post of a few months back. Classify music 2 ways. Stuff you like and stuff you don't.

And Mark, I'll see you there for Anthrax. Can not wait.

Got to agree Lardo, For me Motorhead will always be a rock n roll band, they have got too much material to be pigeon holed into any other sub genre be it metal or speed metal or even NWOBHM I've just read somewhere Phil Taylors double bass drumming on overkill is now being credited as the beginning of speed metal, who really cares, stuff like that is for people like music critics and writers who sit behind desks and try and think of a tag to define something! As Lemmy says "why over analyse these things"!

Leather and long hair, those two things were before metal. Leather even in 50s started. Motorhead doesn't look like metal, metal looks like Motorhead.

hey smell i have to agree.when they first came out my first impression was there was about 20 of the fuckers on stage in stupid masks,and that impression has lasted and perhaps tainted me.When my lad had them on the other day(and i didnt know who they were)the 2 songs i heard sounded really good,but as soon as i knew who they were i was thinking what a load of shit,so maybe its just some mental block i have with them!!
As for all marketing-yeah course it is and look where its got them-they are fucking massive.They headlined sonisphere last year,my lad wanted to see them but because i fucking hate(d) them we didnt bother-something i do regret now,if only just toprove myself right!!
music changes,i'm sure when motorhead first came along the sabbath/purple/zep brigade thought noisy talentless fuckers-how wrong they were.
Going back(again)to the Motorhead/rock n roll debate-like me and lard discussed at download,some people think they're rock n roll,some punks think they're punk while metalheads know they're metal(haha)not just in the music but in their leathers ,long hair etc but we forgive Lemmy for his rock n roll introduction hahahahaah