| Motörhead | |
| Type: | Studio album |
| Artist: | Motörhead |
| Cover: | Motörhead - Motörhead (1977).jpg |
| Released: | [1] |
| Recorded: | 27–29 April 1977[2] |
| Studio: | Escape, Kent |
| Length: | 32:52 |
| Label: | Chiswick |
| Producer: | Speedy Keen |
| Next Title: | Overkill |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
Motörhead is the debut studio album by English rock band Motörhead. It was released on 12 August 1977 by pub rock and early punk rock label Chiswick Records, one of the first for the label, and the band's only release under Chiswick. The album contains the "classic" Motörhead line-up of Lemmy Kilmister on bass and vocals, "Fast" Eddie Clarke on lead guitar, and Philthy Animal Taylor on drums. The sleeve artwork featured the debut of Snaggletooth, the War-Pig, the fanged face logo created by artist Joe Petagno that would become an icon of the band.
An earlier album, On Parole, was recorded in 1975 for United Artists, but was released in 1979.
Motörhead hired lead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke in March 1976, and he was originally to serve as the band's second guitarist along with Larry Wallis in what was intended to be a four-piece lineup, but Wallis left shortly after for his own reasons. Sensing that the fledgling band had dim prospects for success, Motörhead decided to disband after playing one final show at the Marquee Club in London in April 1977. Ted Carroll, founder of the upstart Chiswick Records label, knew Lemmy well from his rare 45 Record's store in London of which Lemmy was a frequent customer. Carroll decided to give the band a break and hosted what was to be their final performance at the Marquee on 1 April 1977.[3] The decision was made to record the gig. As Clarke recalls in the documentary The Guts and the Glory:
Feeling that the band had already seen its share of adversity, Carroll offered the band two days of studio time at Escape Studios in Kent, England, to record a single with producer John "Speedy" Keen. As Clarke explained to John Robinson of Uncut in 2015, the band finished the gig at the Marquee and drove straight to the studio in Kent for a weekend of recording:
Due to the very limited studio time afforded to the band, the decision was made to re-record the unreleased United Artists album almost in its entirety; only "Fools" and "Leaving Here" weren't re-recorded at the Kent sessions. In addition, two new self-penned compositions, "White Line Fever" and "Keep Us on the Road", were added, as well as a cover of Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept A-Rollin". Three tracks on the album were actually composed by Lemmy while he was still a member of Hawkwind, "Motorhead", "Lost Johnny", and "The Watcher", the latter a psychedelic acoustic piece. Like the band name itself, the song "Motorhead" is a reference to speed – Lemmy's drug of choice at that time[4] - and was coupled with the non-album track "City Kids" (a Larry Wallis composition from his Pink Fairies' days) for release as 7" and 12" singles. In his autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy recalls working with producer Speedy Keen and engineer John Burns and the challenges arising from a lack of time:
The band members were less than pleased with the finished product, and guitarist Clarke has referred to the album's muddled sound as "pretty dreadful". Four remaining tracks from the session were shelved until 1980, when they were released as the Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers EP. In his memoir Lemmy noted:The B-side and the EP tracks were later added as bonus material on the CD release.[5]
The sleeve artwork featured the debut of Snaggletooth, the War-Pig, the fanged face that would become an icon of the band and would appear on most of the band's album covers. Snaggletooth was created by artist Joe Petagno, who had earlier worked with Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and had designed the Swan Song Records logo for Led Zeppelin. According to its creator, Snaggletooth represents a combination of a bear, a wolf and a dog skull with boar tusks. The original Motörhead album cover contained a swastika on the spike of the helmet, though it was removed from future copies of the album.
The inner sleeve featured old and new photographs of the band and friends by longtime friend Motorcycle Irene, who took most of the 70's pictures of Motörhead, plus letters of thanks from Lemmy, Eddie and Phil. Advertisements for the album, single, and tour bore the words "Achtung! This Band Takes No Prisoners".
Alex Ogg of AllMusic wrote: "Though only a minor chart success, Motörhead patented the group's style: Lemmy's rasping vocal over a speeding juggernaut of guitar, bass, and drums...no wonder the punks liked them." Many critics have noted that the album is not as polished as later works like Bomber and Ace of Spades.
Assessing the album and its debut single in 2011, biographer Joel McIver stated: "with the benefit of hindsight it's glaringly obvious that neither comes close to capturing the group's mesmerizing live sound."
Kris Needs of Loudersound praises the album, saying "Although the roller-coaster sound can be uneven and The Watcher still embedded in west London space-rock, Motörhead still sounds like the kamikaze rampage of desperate men granted one last shot, surging through speed-driven carnage to snatch triumph from oblivion."
Adapted from the album's liner notes.