In honour of London metal/rock band Motörhead’s 50th anniversary, the band will be revealing their lost album,‘The Manticore Tapes’. The band has gone through several line up changes, though the album will feature the band’s original line-up with Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Taylor and Eddie Clarke.
The album will be released on 27 June, revealing the first-ever recordings from the band.
The recordings came to be when the band rehearsed 11 tracks at Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Manticore Studio alongside Ron Faucus. The tapes were lost after their creation but have since been restored by Cameron Webb and mastered by Andrew Alekel for the band’s 50th anniversary.
Though the tracks haven’t been revealed in full, many are confirmed to be early versions of songs from their debut self-titled album. The early recordings give an exciting insight into the formation of the band’s classic hard rock/metal sound. The band shared the initial recording of their hit single ‘Motörhead’ alongside the upcoming album release. The video showcases the song with a playful rocky experimental beat and raw vocals from Kilmister before its studio release in 1977. The song was originally created by Kilmister while he was a part of space rock band Hawkwind in 1969 with its recording for Motörhead giving the song its hard rock sound.
Motörhead are known for their daring speed-metal hits such as ‘Ace of Spades’ from the ‘Ace Of Spades’ album, which peaked at number 4 on the Official UK Albums Chart, and ‘Fast As A Shark’ from 1982 album ‘Restless And Wild’. Their upcoming album ‘The Manticore Tapes’ will give a moving recognition to their journey towards the sound that fans adore to this day.
Last night (8 May), the band celebrated the 50th anniversary at The Rainbow, California’s notable hangout spot for rock artists by the likes of Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin and Ritchie Blackmore. In April 2024, Kilmister’s ashes were preserved at The Rainbow Bar & Grill where fans were invited to honour the rockstar with a free sampling of the band’s new Motörhead Whiskey.
The band’s legendary rock status has been commemorated in the metal/rock scene and worldwide. Following Kilmister’s passing in 2015, a bust of the artist was placed at Bloodstock Festival alongside unique personal items such as his hat, his last jar of Marmite and his Milky Way bars from the band’s final tour in 2015. Similarly a statue in tribute to the artist will be revealed this year in his hometown, Stoke-on-Trent. This statue will contain the rock icon’s ashes.
‘The Manticore Tapes’ can be pre-ordered here alongside new merch from the band.
