Cleopatra
1980
On Parole
About This Album
Recorded by the original Motörhead lineup of Lemmy, Lucas Fox, and Larry Wallis, On Parole is famous as the debut album that the band recorded in 1975 -- only to be shelved by a U.K. label that simply couldn't understand what all the noise was about. Produced by Fritz Fryer, a man whose past with Merseybeat-era heroes the Four Pennies should have guaranteed at least a little pop sensibility, On Parole contrarily turned in a bludgeoning blur of riffs and roaring, a bare-fanged threat to the order of things, a slobbering, slavering, three-headed monster that should have been strangled at birth. UA did the next best thing. They decapitated it. On Parole was buried, Motörhead were dropped, and, by year's end, the band had shattered. And there the story should have ended. But Lemmy was made of sterner stuff -- Motörhead not only had the temerity to return, they compounded their audacity by scoring hit singles. By 1978, Motörhead were arguably the biggest heavy metal band in the world. And On Parole didn't sound so distasteful any more. Countless reissues followed, and here is another one, released in 1997 as part of EMI's centenary celebrations. And that in itself is a bit of a joke -- the last time the label celebrated Motörhead, it was the day their contract went into the bin.
Track List

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