Scott “Wino” Weinrich—the godfather of American doom and the grit-throated force behind The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, and Spirit Caravan—has never been one to mince words. In a candid new interview with “Veil Of Sound,” the veteran musician offered a blunt assessment of Motörhead‘s discography, revealing that despite his immense respect for Lemmy Kilmister, he completely checked out of the band’s output after their seminal 1981 live album.
While acknowledging the raw power of the band’s early years, Wino admitted that the formula eventually wore thin for him.
“To be honest with you, I never bought anything after No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith,” Wino confessed (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “I mean, after that it became too much of the same s**t. I wasn’t the biggest ‘Fast‘ Eddie Clarke fan, really, of his style or his stuff at all. I think he was pretty limited.”
Wino was particularly critical of the band’s more polished eras, specifically citing the March ör Die period as a low point. “I can’t listen to any of that Hellraiser s**t. My wife likes a lot of that s**t, but I can’t listen to any that s**t, man.”
Wino‘s relationship with Motörhead began long before he was a peer in the industry. He recounted discovering the band as a young record store browser, captivated entirely by Lemmy‘s visual presence on an album cover.
“Before I knew who Motörhead was… I was at the mall, and I was pretty young… and I pulled out On Parole,” Wino recalled. “And on the cover of the American version of On Parole, it’s just Lemmy standing there, playing his bass. He’s got the big Maltese cross on his bass. And I was, like, ‘Wow, look at that motherf**ker.’ I bought that record sight unseen just because of the way he looked.”
Interestingly, the music didn’t immediately grab him. “I didn’t like anything on the whole record except for that version of ‘Iron Horse‘/’Born To Lose‘ — that slow, bluesy version.”
The interview also touched on the internal dynamics of Motörhead‘s later lineups. Wino, who notably collaborated with Lemmy and Dave Grohl on the Probot project, shared a gritty anecdote about spending time with long-serving guitarist Phil Campbell.
“Two guitars, man. Würzel [former Motörhead guitarist] — honestly, I think Würzel was a better guitar player than Phil Campbell,” Wino said. “I spent some time with Phil Campbell personally, driving around, trying to score s**** for him and s**t, getting high with him. And he was really jealous of Würzel, man. That was funny.”
Despite his criticism of the later catalog, Wino did offer praise for one specific post-1981 track: the B-side anthem “Just ‘Cos You Got the Power.”
While reflecting on the past, Wino remains prolific in the present. In October, he released his fourth solo album, Create Or Die, via Ripple Music. Produced and engineered by Frank Marchand and Wino himself, the record continues the acoustic and expansive songwriting exploration he began with Spirit Caravan and his earlier solo efforts like Adrift.
From forming The Obsessed in 1978 to fronting Saint Vitus during their Born Too Late era, Wino has spent decades defining the “heavy and slow” sound.
