Well, it’s time now to acknowledge one of the most influential of all time, Motorhead and in particular, frontman Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister. Lemmy formed Motorhead after being kicked out of his previous band Hawkwind. Again, most of you would know this so there’s no point going into too much detail over that. He formed Motorhead with the intention of being the fastest dirtiest rock and roll band ever.
Now here’s the kicker. Front man Lemmy has repeatedly said the band plays rock n roll. Which is cool. While I wasn’t alive in 1975, I can’t really think of anywhere I’ve read saying the term “Heavy Metal” was being used yet. Which makes me think, would Lemmy have branded his band Heavy Metal if the term had been being used to describe the music at this point?
ON PAROLE
The band formed with Lucas Fox on drums, Larry Wallis on guitar and of course Lemmy on vocals and bass. Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor replaced Fox fairly quickly and the band recorded their first album, but it didn’t come out until 1979. Unlike the previously mentioned Raven, I don’t feel like Motorhead lost any opportunities here, as this first album really stood out, in terms of stripped back production and in your face songs. It still had a really rock n roll sound. I’m kinda torn about whether to count this as Metal. The band had the look, the distortion and most of the key elements to what I’d call metal. I’m leaning towards saying the first album is more rock n roll. It also out rocked most rock bands and out punked most punk bands. Maybe the band was just a master of more than one trade? I think so!
OVERKILL
Any doubts to whether the band was metal or not I think we can all agree are dashed by the time the bands second album “Overkill” came out in 1979. The epic double kick work that opened the title track lays the foundation for some of the heaviest music to come out up until this point. The double kick intro set the bar for metal drummers from this point onwards. Then the guitars come in. Way heavier and far more distorted than on the first album. Then top it off Lemmy’s gravel throated voice kicks in in glories form. This is a new level of harsh that no band before them had explored. This was it folks! Motorhead had set the standards for what would later be known as thrash metal, and given a great big kick in the ass to the entire heavy metal, punk and rock n roll scenes in one hit!
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