1063. Motörhead / Motörhead. 1977. 3.5/5

I wonder how many people there are out there whose first ever experience with the band Motörhead is their actual debut album, also entitled Motörhead? I know it wasn’t mine. That was the privilege of the Ace of Spades album like I’m sure it was for many. Indeed it wasn’t for many years that I finally got around to getting a copy of the album and actually listening to it and discovering just what kind of a start the band had made back in the day. And while many people seem to have differing opinion in regards to its quality, I’m not sure I agree.

There’s little left to the imagination by the lyrics of most of the songs. Lemmy’s concordance with drugs is right there for everyone to see in songs such as the title track “Motörhead” and “White Line Fever” and “Keep Us on the Road”. So too in the classic “Iron Horse/Born to Lose”. It is a cavalcade of lyrical exposition, and no doubt would have given a lot of parents at the time some concerns (I guess in the long run it probably would now too). The Larry Wallis penned “Vibrator” is also straight forward in what is being sung about. They mightn’t be writing poetry here but then the Beatles did the same thing, just about girls. Didn’t they?
Motörhead has a uniqueness about it, which is played out perfectly on this first album. The three piece, consisting of Lemmy on bass and vocals, Fast Eddie on guitar and Philthy Taylor on drums, are the epitome of a three piece band. They are loud, raucous and constantly in action. No time to simply strum while your partner solos away in a three piece band, each one of the members has to be contributing at all times to keep the songs moving, and they do that perfectly here. And the uniqueness of each individuals sound is so prevalent here that it sets up the following albums to exploit that. Clarke’s ringing guitar sound, Lemmy’s ‘nang-a-nang’ bass lines and Taylor’s perpetual drumming are classically highlighted here. Sure, the mix and sound mightn’t be A1 in quality, but isn’t the rawness of the material what helps make this album – and indeed the band – what it is? To be fair I think the opinions of those that pass this off because of production issues are overrated. This is part of what makes Motörhead the band they are, a grungy gravelly musical exposition. “Keep Us on the Road” is the perfect example of how I see the band in those days. Whenever I hear the song I can almost see them in that pub environment, crowd squeezed in and loving the band as it sounds.

Given that the album was recorded mostly over a 24 hour period, before a few days were added to help expand the material, this still sounds great today, despite what some experts may tell you. I love the fact that it sounds like a band firing on all cylinders in an effort to get as many songs recorded in as short a time as possible. Certainly the band must have sounded different in a live environment than they do on this album, but that’s what makes this so enjoyable, because it’s laid down in a couple of takes and that’s what you get. Better was to come there’s no doubt about that, but as an opening performance this still has plenty to enjoy.

Rating: “We began at the beginning, moving high and moving fast”. 3.5/5