MOTORHEAD (the grand father of speed)
Motörhead are a British heavy metal band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Lemmy (real name Ian Kilmister), who has remained the sole constant member. Usually a power trio, Motörhead had particular success in the early 1980s with several successful singles in the UK Top 40 chart. The albums Overkill, its follow on, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and particularly No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, cemented Motörhead's reputation as one of Britain's foremost heavy metal groups.More recent exposure has included providing wrestler Triple H's entrance music, and performing live at WrestleMania events; and in 2004, contributing the song, "You Better Swim", to the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In 2005 the band received their first Grammy.
While Motörhead are typically classified as heavy metal, speed metal or thrash metal (and often regarded as a foundational influence on the latter two styles); Lemmy dislikes such labels, preferring to describe the band's music simply as "rock and roll". Motörhead's approach has remained the same over the band's career, preferring to play what they enjoy and do best, their like for the early rock and roll is reflected in some of their occasional cover songs. Motörhead's lyrics typically cover such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and "life on the road".
The band's distinctive fanged face logo was created by artist Joe Petagno in 1977 for the cover of the Motörhead album and has appeared in many variations on covers of ensuing albums.
Though the band are typically classified as heavy metal or speed metal, when Lemmy was asked if he has a problem with Motörhead being called a metal band, he replied: "I do because I come from way before Metal. I'm playing Rock n' Roll and I think Rock n' Roll should be sacred – it is to me. I don't see why it should not be for everybody else."
In a biography of the band, senior editor for All Music Guide, Stephen Erlewine, wrote: "Motörhead's overwhelmingly loud and fast style of heavy metal was one of the most groundbreaking styles the genre had to offer in the late '70s." and though "Motörhead wasn't punk rock...they were the first metal band to harness that energy and, in the process, they created speed metal and thrash metal." Whether they created these genres might be subject to debate, but Motörhead were unquestionably influential.
Lemmy has stated that he generally feels more kinship with punk rockers than with metal bands: Motörhead had gigs with fellow Brits The Damned, with whom he played bass with on a handful of late '70s gigs,[35] as well as having penned the song "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." as a tribute to The Ramones. Motörhead, Lemmy states, have more in common aesthetically with the Damned than Black Sabbath, and nothing whatsoever in common with Judas Priest. Lemmy says he feels little kinship with the speed metal bands Motörhead have inspired:
They've just got the wrong bit. They think that being fast and loud is the whole thing and it isn't. The guitar solos are not really difficult for a guitar player, it's just playing scales. To feel a solo and bend into it & I mean Hendrix is the best guitarist you've ever seen in your life. And he learned from people like Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins and people like that inspired Hendrix. To be influenced by something, you're gonna have to play it the same
Of the genre debate itself Lemmy is more forthright, when Joel McIver spoke to him for an interview published in the January 2000 edition of Record Collector, he asked him if he thought some people get confused between hard rock and soft metal and all the other categories, Lemmy replied "Cunt metal? Spunk metal? Left-handed metal? Right-handed metal? Upwardly-mobile metal? This term "heavy metal" is only rock'n'roll anyway, because metal bands are the logical successors to Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly".
The New Musical Express stated that their brief solos were just long enough "...to open another bottle of beer", while a 1977 Stereo Review commented that "[t]hey know they're like animals, and they don't want to appear any other way. In view of the many ugly frogs in heavy metal who think they are God's gift to womankind these Quasimodos even seem charming in their own way". Motörhead's approach has not changed drastically over the band's career, though this is a deliberate choice: erstwhile Motörhead drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor said that rock icons like Chuck Berry and Little Richard never drastically altered their style, and, like them, Motörhead preferred to play what they enjoyed and did best. This fondness for the first decade of rock and roll (mid-1950s to mid-1960s) is also reflected in some of Motörhead's occasional cover songs from that era.
Motörhead's lyrics typically cover such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and "life on the road" — the latter is portrayed in songs like "(We Are) The Road Crew", "Iron Horse/Born to Lose", and "Keep Us on the Road".
Motörhead lineups 1975
Lineup #1
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Larry Wallis - guitar, vocals
Lucas Fox - drums
1975
Lineup #2
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Larry Wallis - guitar, vocals
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums
1976
Lineup #3
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Larry Wallis - guitar
"Fast" Eddie Clarke - guitar
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums
1976-1982
Lineup #4
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
"Fast" Eddie Clarke - guitar, vocals
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums
1982-1983
Lineup #5
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Brian "Robbo" Robertson - guitar
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums
1984
Line-up #6
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Phil Campbell - guitar
Michael "Würzel" Burston - guitar
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums
1984-1987
Lineup #7
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Phil Campbell - guitar
Michael "Würzel" Burston - guitar
Pete Gill - drums
1987-1992
Lineup #8
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Phil Campbell - guitar
Michael "Würzel" Burston - guitar
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums
1992
Lineup #9
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Phil Campbell - guitar
Michael "Würzel" Burston - guitar
Tommy Aldridge - drums
1992-1995
Lineup #10
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Phil Campbell - guitar
Michael "Würzel" Burston - guitar
Mikkey Dee - drums
1995-present
Lineup #11
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - bass, lead vocals
Phil Campbell - guitar
Mikkey Dee - drums
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1977 Motörhead
1979 Overkill Bronze
1979 Bomber 12 Bronze
1979 On Parole
1980 Ace of Spades Bronze
1981 No Sleep 'til Hammersmith Bronze
1982 Iron Fist Bronze
1983 Another Perfect Day Bronze
1984 No Remorse Bronze
1986 Orgasmatron GWR
1987 Rock 'n' Roll
1988 No Sleep at All
1991 1916
1992 March ör Die
1993 Bastards
1995 Sacrifice
1996 Overnight Sensation
1998 Snake Bite Love
1999 Everything Louder Than Everyone Else
2000 We Are Motörhead
2000 The Best Of Metal
2002 Hammered Steamhammer
2003 Live at Brixton Academy
2004 Inferno 95 Steamhammer
2005 BBC Live & In-Session
2006 Kiss of Death 45
2007 Better Motörhead than Dead: Live at Hammersmith
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