Earlier this year, former Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell announced that he would be releasing his first-ever solo album, Old Lions Still Roar, this fall under Nuclear Blast Records. The album is set for release on October 25 and will feature giants of the rock n’ roll industry such as Alice Cooper, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Joe Satriani, and Nick Oliveri formerly of the Queens of Stone Age.
While this is Campbell’s first solo record, it’s not his first post-Motörhead album. He released The Age Of Absurdity last year with his band Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, featuring Campbell’s three sons Todd, Dane, and Tyla, also under Nuclear Blast Records.
Campbell’s latest single from his debut album, “These Old Boots,” features Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider, Mötley Crue’s Mick Mars, and former Slipknot drummer Chris Fehn. The single is accompanied by an animated music video created by Ashley Miles of Hot Frog Animations. It features cartoon versions of Campbell, Sider, Mars, and Fehn, along with the hijinks of a sentient pair of boots.
The song was written by Dee Snider and is an ode to Campbell’s longevity in the harsh and grueling rock n’ roll scene. His enduring presence in a vast industry shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, though, considering his previous stint was with what could may well be the very definition of rock n’ roll: Motörhead.
For those who missed it, Motörhead celebrated their 40th year anniversary of the loudest, dirtiest, bastard rock n’ roll since its formation in 1979. The remaining members of the band marked the occasion by releasing “Overkill / Bomber” on double picture disc 7” vinyl on Record Store Day, featuring a new 2019 remaster of the original “Overkill.” The track was previously only available on the A-side of the original 1979 single “Overkill,” so this new release is an exciting update for hardcore fans.
The band remains relevant to this day because of the mark they have left on rock n’ roll history, but this doesn’t mean that their influence is limited to the spheres of music. For instance, Salon details Mötorhead’s influence on fashion, most notably seen in late frontman Lemmy Kilmister’s “mythic merger of biker, cowboy, blue-collar bricklayer, and military general,” a style that was uniquely his. What’s more, one of the many music-themed slots games that feature on FoxyBingo, includes an official Motörhead title, and is a testament to the band’s enduring influence even in the digital era, as the game features the late Kilmister front and center, backed by wild music and hardcore graphics. This just goes to show that Motörhead really is more than just your ordinary rock band — a fact cemented by Metallica’s James Hetfield’s campaign for Motörhead’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, saying that Metallica wouldn’t be around if there was no Mötorhead. And while the band is long gone after Kilmister’s death in 2015, Campbell has done more than enough to keep that classic Motörhead sound and spirit alive.
If you want see more of Phil Campbell, be sure to check out Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons on tour across Europe this summer. They’ll also be hitting up a ton of festivals, capping everything off by joining Megadeth’s MegaCruise in October.
