Motorhead
On Parole
[United Artists/EMI]
To say that Motorhead is the greatest rock'n'roll band in
the world is kind of like saying "John Holmes is sorta
hung", or "Bill Gates is kinda loaded" - it doesn't even
begin to scratch the surface...Motorhead are without
question the absolute epitome of all things rock - end of
story. So how did it all begin ? Well, I'm not about to
turn this review into a diatribe on the actual history of
the band (such an effort would take far too long, and
besides there are plenty of good sites out there with all
the info you could want on the history of the 'heads), so
lets focus instead on the bands first record instead - On
Parole.
Originally recorded back in 1976, the actual release of this album took many many years to see the light of day - the original label (United Artists) didn't have enough faith in Lemmy and company to go ahead and release this (being the short sighted bastards that they were), and so "On Parole" sat in the vaults for quite some time before various labels got their hands on it and issued it out. For many people, hearing "On Parole" for the first time was quite a shock - this isn't the same Motorhead that released such classic albums as "Motorhead", "Overkill", and "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith". For starters, there's the fact that the guitar duties aren't handled by Fast Eddie Clarke (who had yet to join the band), but by Larry Wallis (ex of Pink Fairies) instead, and while Mr. Wallis was a great guitarist in his own right, Fast Eddie he is NOT. There's also the fact that many of the songs to be found on "On Parole" also appeared on the band's second (self titled) album in drastically different mutations - hearing these time honoured classic Motorhead tunes in their original versions seems almost surreal given the (sometimes huge) differences between the two albums....
"On Parole" is a much more traditional rock'n'roll (ala Chuck Berry) influenced album, and there's even a slight hint of a (gasp) psychedelic edge in places...not exactly the rough and tumble biker rock the band was best known for. Don't get me wrong - there's still plenty of fury here, but it's of a much more toned down variety...this is due in part to the cleaner guitar tone used throughout, and the fact that the album is very "spacious" sounding (as opposed to the bands trademark "wall of sound" style). As I mentioned above, most of the tracks here ended up on the "Motorhead" album, so I won't go into too much detail on each one (you should know all of them like the backs of you own hands), but I'll touch upon the key differences between the two versions...keep in mind that the production on the two albums are worlds apart, so I'll only comment on the MAJOR changes.
"Motorhead" sounds pretty close to the more well known version - a bit slower in pace (giving it a more "relaxed" feel), but nothing too strange. "On Parole" is next, and it's a right headtrip - while the more well known version is a monster of a rumbler, this one is just so unbelievably Chuck Berry like that were it not for Lemmy's vocals, I would never have believed this was Motorhead. "Vibrator" also sounds quite different, but this is due to the fact that Mr Wallis handles the vocals, and the tempo is a bit more upbeat making it sound "bouncy" (in that '77 punk sort of way). "Iron Horse/Born To Lose" isn't quite as ominous sounding as "before", and also has a very relaxed feel in a similar vein to the first track - the biggest difference would be the handling of the chorus (multiple vocal tracks give it a very "off key yet still melodic" feel). "City Kids" is subject to the same "bouncy" treatment "Vibrator" went through, but remains pretty faithful. "The Watcher" isn't very different in execution, but because of the production differences, ends up sounding quite psychedelic-boogie like. "Leaving Here" wasn't on the "Motorhead" album, but did end up getting used on a single later on - this versions is "rocked out" (kind of like Black Sabbath's "The Wizard) quite a bit - the melody that Lemmy's voice is capable of is quite surprising. "Lost Johnny" (much like "Vibrator" and "City Kids") becomes bouncy, and the rhythm of the song is very predominant this time around. Finally, we have "Fools", which as far as I know hasn't appeared in any other studio version - I might be crazy, but to me it sounds a hell of a lot like a really bluesy version of (the infamously crap mods turned rock band) The Who. Larry Wallis once again tackles the vocals, and while it's a somewhat interesting track, Motorhead it isn't...
So there we have it, "On Parole". This is an essential purchase for Motorhead fans (which you should all be), but not the greatest introduction to Motorhead as it isn't very representative of their body of work (for that, I'd recommend the "No Remorse" double CD instead). Oh, and if you can, get the recently re-issued EMI version of this - it's got some cool early pics, an informative write-up on the bands beginning, and 4 extra alternate takes ("On Parole", "City Kids", Motorhead" and "Leaving Here")...
© 1999 chorazaim
Originally recorded back in 1976, the actual release of this album took many many years to see the light of day - the original label (United Artists) didn't have enough faith in Lemmy and company to go ahead and release this (being the short sighted bastards that they were), and so "On Parole" sat in the vaults for quite some time before various labels got their hands on it and issued it out. For many people, hearing "On Parole" for the first time was quite a shock - this isn't the same Motorhead that released such classic albums as "Motorhead", "Overkill", and "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith". For starters, there's the fact that the guitar duties aren't handled by Fast Eddie Clarke (who had yet to join the band), but by Larry Wallis (ex of Pink Fairies) instead, and while Mr. Wallis was a great guitarist in his own right, Fast Eddie he is NOT. There's also the fact that many of the songs to be found on "On Parole" also appeared on the band's second (self titled) album in drastically different mutations - hearing these time honoured classic Motorhead tunes in their original versions seems almost surreal given the (sometimes huge) differences between the two albums....
"On Parole" is a much more traditional rock'n'roll (ala Chuck Berry) influenced album, and there's even a slight hint of a (gasp) psychedelic edge in places...not exactly the rough and tumble biker rock the band was best known for. Don't get me wrong - there's still plenty of fury here, but it's of a much more toned down variety...this is due in part to the cleaner guitar tone used throughout, and the fact that the album is very "spacious" sounding (as opposed to the bands trademark "wall of sound" style). As I mentioned above, most of the tracks here ended up on the "Motorhead" album, so I won't go into too much detail on each one (you should know all of them like the backs of you own hands), but I'll touch upon the key differences between the two versions...keep in mind that the production on the two albums are worlds apart, so I'll only comment on the MAJOR changes.
"Motorhead" sounds pretty close to the more well known version - a bit slower in pace (giving it a more "relaxed" feel), but nothing too strange. "On Parole" is next, and it's a right headtrip - while the more well known version is a monster of a rumbler, this one is just so unbelievably Chuck Berry like that were it not for Lemmy's vocals, I would never have believed this was Motorhead. "Vibrator" also sounds quite different, but this is due to the fact that Mr Wallis handles the vocals, and the tempo is a bit more upbeat making it sound "bouncy" (in that '77 punk sort of way). "Iron Horse/Born To Lose" isn't quite as ominous sounding as "before", and also has a very relaxed feel in a similar vein to the first track - the biggest difference would be the handling of the chorus (multiple vocal tracks give it a very "off key yet still melodic" feel). "City Kids" is subject to the same "bouncy" treatment "Vibrator" went through, but remains pretty faithful. "The Watcher" isn't very different in execution, but because of the production differences, ends up sounding quite psychedelic-boogie like. "Leaving Here" wasn't on the "Motorhead" album, but did end up getting used on a single later on - this versions is "rocked out" (kind of like Black Sabbath's "The Wizard) quite a bit - the melody that Lemmy's voice is capable of is quite surprising. "Lost Johnny" (much like "Vibrator" and "City Kids") becomes bouncy, and the rhythm of the song is very predominant this time around. Finally, we have "Fools", which as far as I know hasn't appeared in any other studio version - I might be crazy, but to me it sounds a hell of a lot like a really bluesy version of (the infamously crap mods turned rock band) The Who. Larry Wallis once again tackles the vocals, and while it's a somewhat interesting track, Motorhead it isn't...
So there we have it, "On Parole". This is an essential purchase for Motorhead fans (which you should all be), but not the greatest introduction to Motorhead as it isn't very representative of their body of work (for that, I'd recommend the "No Remorse" double CD instead). Oh, and if you can, get the recently re-issued EMI version of this - it's got some cool early pics, an informative write-up on the bands beginning, and 4 extra alternate takes ("On Parole", "City Kids", Motorhead" and "Leaving Here")...
© 1999 chorazaim