Recorded by Mudhoney as a b-side to their new single, Suck You Dry, this was a supercharged cover of Motörhead’s own flipside to their 1979 single, Bomber. Alas, while that track was about bombing missions carried out by fighter aircraft, Over the Top passed up on the chance to make for a war related single by eschewing ideas of trench warfare for insanity based murder. Now, that might look like it makes for a grim listen but the moment that splendidly catchy guitar riff kicks in, you’ll be moshing away in no time. I call it an honourable draw between the two versions. The Motörhead original has that delicious griminess to it which made them such an exciting band to listen to from the opening notes of pretty much any of their songs, but Mark Arm does such a great job of inhabiting the lead character in the song, he almost eclipses Lemmy.
On a wider point, Peel’s recent trip to Europe appeared to have thrown all attempts at chronology over his recent movements through Autumn 1992, out of the window. A few weeks after telling BFBS listeners that that the band’s decision to pull gigs in Cambridge and Norwich off their schedule for an upcoming UK tour had caused Peel’s oldest son to virtually burn his existing Mudhoney records, he now told listeners that despite the “politically incorrect guitar solos” on Over the Top, he felt that their “recent” gig at The Waterfront in Norwich was the best he had ever seen them play. Had news of William Ravenscroft’s displeasure precipitated a restoration of the original itinerary, I wonder?
Listen to it in all it’s sweaty T-shirt and soaked jeans glory:
Videos courtesy of Plus1 (Mudhoney) and NoiseFilthFury (Motörhead)
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