PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Forty years? Has it really been that long since the titanic trio of Lemmy Kilmister, ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke and Philthy ‘Animal’ Taylor bashed out not one, but two ground breaking albums in 1979? From 1976-1982, Motorhead ,with this line up shook the Earth to its very core! Overkill on March 29th and Bomber (which is still my favourite album) on October 27th, are celebrated with the release of deluxe editions of both albums as hardbound book packs in two CD and triple LP formats but the daddy of these releases is the 1979 – Double Vinyl Box Set via BMG Records.
Nine albums that almost half consist of Overkill and Bomber, both half speed mastered and released on 180gm vinyl created from the original master tapes. A forty page period accurate Melody Maker music magazine featuring unseen photos and interviews. The Rest Of ’79 vinyl features B-sides, outtakes and rare tracks. The ‘No Class’ 45rpm single with gatefold art. The Bomber tour programme. Overkill sheet music book.’79 badge set and all of these treasures are encased in a black biker jacket box which also includes the jewels in the crown of two mixing desk recordings from the Overkill and Bomber tours which my review features heavily of.
Both albums are the real fucking deal which means no overdubs etc. What you hear happened on the night, they are not perfect and sound a lot better for it as anyone who missed their early tours will have a taste of what they unleashed night after night! Good N’ Loud comes from the UK leg of the Overkill tour at Aylesbury Friars, March 31st 1979, kicking off literally with a too wild to tame kick drum cavalcade for ‘Overkill’, it certainly lives up to it’s title with a warts and all delivery. It even sounds faster than the studio version! Highlights are many but gig standouts include ‘Keep Us On The Road’ from the 1977 debut album Motorhead. Eddie rules here with some wailing wah-wah work as it ends on an apocalyptic outro. Lemmys caustic wit comes to the fore during a rough ‘Leaving Here’, baiting the crowd with “What do you think of it so far? It’s our very first record that was never released. You may not have heard it as we’ve just become professional”.
A dramatic ‘Iron Horse/Born To Lose’ is “Dedicated to all the bikers here tonight”. Another Eddie dominated number comes from ‘Metropolis’, introduced by Lemmy as “Settle down now, here’s a new one. Our Pink Floyd like number”. A rough and ready ‘The Watcher’ is “Psychedelic oldie time. Any of you here over thirty?”. “I’m not loud enough” says Lemmy as Eddie shoots back with “Turn it up, it’s the only way”. I bet the crowd didn’t know what was going to hit them! A stop start for a bouncy ‘Too Late, Too Late’ sees Eddie quip “I’ve only been playing guitar for a couple of weeks”. ‘I’ll Be Your Sister’ sees Phil all over his kit and I wonder what John Mayall would of thought of their cover of ‘I’m Your Witchdoctor’? A scorching intro Eddie solo for the slow burning ‘Limb From Limb’ sees it going into overdrive midway. A gritty ‘White Line Fever’ follows an Eddie quip of “You better get shouting if you want anymore cos we got loads of new numbers, followed by a “Let’s give a big hand to support band Girlschool” from Lemmy. One last aural bludgeon comes from final encore ‘Motorhead’ as Lemmy shoots from the hip with “Just in case you forget what we’re called and you never saw Hawkwind do two encores!”
Sharpshooter, the second live album is the better of the two for me as it’s taken from a gig on the Bomber tour at La Rotunde, Le Mans, France, November 3rd 1979. ‘Overkill’ kicks off the set once more, introduced by Eddie with “A big 10/4, Lemmys not feeling too good, a big bonjour”, but judging by the performance, he seems in fine fettle here. Other highlights include a rasping ‘No Class’, au contraire as there is loads of class here. Knockout Bomber album punches come from a boisterous ‘All The Aces’ which knocks the studio version for six and furious bass guitar runs propel ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ along with Lemmy saying “Another opus nouvelle now called ‘Dead Men Smell Toenails’. A pounding ‘Lawman’, “This ones about gendarmes” and “This one is called ‘Poison’, like the beer over here”. A clubbing ‘Sharpshooter’ rages along but the piece de resistance comes from their set closer. “This is the title track from our latest album, the last song, unless you ask us to do another one”. It’s a four minute adrenaline rush ended on “Merci, arriver dirty”. They return with ‘Limb From Limb’, a much darker performance than the Aylesbury one, ending with Eddie saying “Shout louder and we’ll play all night”. They return with a blink and you’ll miss it ‘White Line Fever’ and an apocalyptic ‘Motorhead’ as the lyric of “Motorhead, remember me now, Motorhead, alright” but I don’t think the French crowd will forget this gig in a hurry with Lemmys last words being “Merci bien, salut, au revoir”.
The Rest Of ’79 throws up some interesting items, the best of which include ‘Stone Dead Forever’ (alternate version) that is given a good thrashing by Metallica. ‘Sharpshooter’ (alternative version) is a slower take than on the album. ‘Step Down’ (alternative version) is a bluesier take than on the album and doesn’t sound like it’s sung by Eddie. ‘Fun On The Farm’ (Bomber outtake) is a catchy instrumental and ‘Treat Me Nice’ (Bomber outtake) sounds like the long lost brother of ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’.
Any self respecting rock/metal fan should already own Overkill and Bomber so briefly I’ll be with my highlights. Overkill begins with the title track, all furious kick drumming that inspired many thrash metal bands as Lemmy sums it up perfectly with the opening lyric of “Only way to feel the noise is when it’s good and loud”. He rattles your speakers with a mini bass guitar piece during ‘Stay Clean’ and shows he is no slouch on guitar either when he plays a solo in album closer ‘Limb From Limb’. It’s not all bombast though as they take a step back with the bluesy ‘I’ll Be Your Sister’ and psychedelic ‘Metropolis’.
Bomber being my favourite Motorhead album is much harder to dissect but the opening riff to ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ starts it strongly and from there it’s all killer, no filler with golden nuggets from the speedy ‘Sharpshooter’ and ‘Poison’. The vitriolic ‘Stone Dead Forever’ is the icing on the cake as they take a step back with ‘Step Down’ as Eddie takes the vocals as it ends on a headbanging ‘Talking Head’ and the full throttle title track. 1980 would see them go global with the Ace Of Spades album, but that’s another story!
Good N Loud album, Aylesbury Friars, UK, March 31st 1979 track listing :-
Overkill.
Stay Clean.
Keep Us On The Road.
No Class.
Leaving Here.
Iron Horse/Born To Lose.
Metropolis.
The Watcher.
Damage Case.
(I Won’t) Pay Your Price.
Capricorn.
Too Late, Too Late.
I’ll Be Your Sister.
I’m Your Witchdoctor.
Train Kept A Rollin.
Limb From Limb.
White Line Fever.
Motorhead.
Sharpshooter album, La Rotunde, Le Mans, France, November 3rd 1979 track listing :-
Overkill.
Stay Clean.
No Class.
Metropolis.
All The Aces.
Dead Men Tell No Tales.
I’ll Be Your Sister.
Lawman.
Too Late Too Late.
Poison.
(I Won’t) Pay Your Price.
Sharpshooter.
Capricorn.
Train Kept A Rollin.
Bomber.
Limb From Limb.
White Line Fever.
Motorhead.
The Rest Of ’79 album track listing :-
Too Late Too Late.
Like A Nightmare (B’side of No Class single).
Over The Top (7″ single B’side).
Stone Dead Forever (alternate version).
Sharpshooter (alternate version).
Bomber (alternate version).
Step Down (alternate version).
Fun On The Farm (Bomber outtake).
Treat Me Nice (Bomber outtake).
You Ain’t Gonna Live Forever (Bomber outtake).
No Class (7″ single).
Like A Nightmare (B’ side of No Class single).
Like A Nightmare (demo).
Poison (demo).
Overkill album track listing :-
Overkill.
Stay Clean.
(I Won’t) Pay Your Price.
I’ll Be Your Sister.
Capricorn.
No Class.
Damage Case.
Tear Ya Down.
Metropolis.
Limb From Limb.
Bomber album track listing :-
Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Lawman.
Sweet Revenge.
Sharpshooter.
Poison.
Stone Dead Forever.
All The Aces.
Step Down.
Talking Head.
Bomber.
- £155.89
