Here we go with something special. MOTORHEAD Motorhead is the first released Motorhead record. It’s not the first record they recorded. That would be “On Parole” but that album never came out until 1979 after the band had a few records that had already been proven to sell.
I think that it probably worked out for the better that this was the first release for the band. Their first effort felt undercooked. I really can’t imagine the band sounding like that. But this release sounds like Motorhead! The album starts off with the dirtiest guitar sound anyone had heard up until this point and then Lemmy’s gravel throated voice kicks in and instantly you have the makings of one of the greatest metal bands ever. The album takes the foot off the accelerator a little with the second track “Vibrator” but still a cool track.
“Lost Johnny” has a great dirty bluesey / rock n roll feel to it. This is where we discover another important element of Motorhead the lyrics that Lemmy writes. The man can turn a great tale, I’ll tell you that! “Iron Horse” is slower but heavy song that along with the song “Motorhead” would be regular staples of the band’s live set.As I said in their band page Motorhead don’t really count themselves as Metal. Metalheds will claim them as such. Many of their riffs though are basically rock n roll but highly distorted and played faster which to me is basically one of the foundations of metal anyway. Lets face it, most of the music that was considered Metal later on started out like this at the time anyway. Like many first albums this album isn’t quite the Motorhead they ended up becoming but it has most of their characteristics the only thing I think was missing was the double kick that Philthy Taylor introduced to the band later on.
Anyway onto the second side of this one! It just keeps coming with “White Line Fever”. Some great rockers on this record but “Keep us on the Road” seems to have a more Metal feel to it. “The Watcher” keeps it going nicely before the band finish it up with a cover of “Train Kept a Rolling”. Every song on this album is instantly likeable and as a whole it’s not the greatest recording of theirs, but it compliments the music nicely. Everything comes through clearly and the sounds are great. Especially the guitar tone is nice and warm. Aside from how much I enjoyed listening to this again, it’s a great way to see the evolution of Motorhead from the beginning.
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