Disc I
01. Intro
02. Leavin’ Here [Eddie Holland cover]
03. Vibrator
04. Help Keep Us On The Road
05. The Watcher [Hawkwind cover]
06. Motörhead [Hawkwind cover]
07. Witch Doctor [John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers cover] [instrumental version]
08. Iron Horse / Born To Lose [instrumental version]
09. Leavin’ Here [alternate take]
10. Vibrator [alternate take]
11. The Watcher [Hawkwind cover] [alternate take]
Disc II [Live: Blitzkrieg On Birmingham ’77]
01. Motörhead [Hawkwind cover]
02. Vibrator
03. Keep Us On The Road
04. The Watcher [Hawkwind cover]
05. Iron Horse
06. Leavin’ Here [Eddie Holland cover]
07. On Parole
08. I’m Your Witchdoctor [John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers cover]
09. Train Kept A-Rollin’ [Tiny Bradshaw cover]
10. City Kids [The Pink Fairies cover]
11. White Line Fever
Billed as a “lost album”, The Manticore Tapes digs up some unheard bits of history to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the best rock’n’roll bands ever to rock or roll.
First, to be unfashionable and quell the palpable anticipation, The Manticore Tapes is not in earnest quite as dramatic a tomb raid as the packaging makes it seem. More than a coherent studio production that was inexplicably quashed, this is a recorded rehearsal that simply didn’t serve much purpose until it was old enough to be rediscovered for its historical value. That it has, for these tracks mark the first recordings ever made by Motörhead’s classic lineup, but some muddy history surrounds that “album” appellation, and we need to trawl through it to understand this collection.
Shortly after Motörhead’s founding in 1975, the band – then a trio comprising Lemmy, guitarist Larry Wallis, and drummer Lucas Fox – began recording a debut album for their label, United Artists. The album suffered a lengthy and troubled production, spanning a change in producer, tension with the label, and finally the disillusioned departure of Wallis and Fox and their replacement by “Fast Eddie” Clarke and “Philthy Animal” Taylor. Despite the effort, UA received the album with no interest and shelved it in early 1976. The band bounced around to different labels for a while and it wasn’t until early ’77, on the verge of breaking up, that they found themselves in a position to make a serious attempt at an album again. Having taken the previously recorded album as forfeit, they recycled almost all of its songs for the next iteration, only better rehearsed and better produced, plus a few new ones to round out the list. This album did see scheduled release later in the year, and thus did Motörhead debut with Motörhead.
That earlier recording, buried by United Artists, eventually did break its bonds. Following the successes of Overkill and Bomber, UA rekindled its interest in the band and slapped together a full release, despite not having them on the roster anymore. That album, On Parole, became the band’s quasi-official fourth full-length; it was released in late 1979 without the band’s consent and as little more than a way for UA to shake out loose change, being essentially an alternative version of the now-already-released debut, only with less polish and less Fast Eddie.
This is where we meet The Manticore Tapes. This collection originated in between these two spurts of recording, at the Manticore Studio owned by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (hence the name); Motörhead relocated there in August ’76 to rehearse, and this tape was the result. In theory, this is a valuable recording: it contains the first recordings made by Lemmy, Fast Eddie, and Philthy Animal as a band, in between the slow and disastrous assemblage of the lineup during the On Parole sessions and the focused effort that yielded Motörhead. There have been few more perfect lineups in the histories of rock, punk, or metal, and none in the triune and warty representative that is Motörhead, so this does present a certain appeal to dedicated fans. Unfortunately, the material here doesn’t quite live up to that auspicious heralding. The Manticore Tapes is, in essence, a third version of the same two “debut” albums that were long ago released. Of its 11 tracks, one is an intro and three are alternate takes, so there are really seven unique songs present; all seven of those appear on either Motörhead or On Parole, and four appear on both. There’s something to be said for a good live version, which is basically what this is, and I suppose if we approach this from a perspective of celebrating the 50th anniversary, there’s likely little better that we could have to commemorate this band, but it’s not exactly No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith.
The session opens with a few minutes of jamming, an anticipatory warmup to a set of familiar early material played with characteristic gusto. Despite having existed for mere months, the lineup had clearly gelled already – they play confidently through mishaps and even in this studio setting their sweaty energy can push your heart rate up. The recording itself is decent; Fast Eddie’s right up front, with the drums in back and a little low. Lemmy’s in between, his rough and rubbery bass usually pretty audible. He gets some extended solo time on “Help Keep Us On The Road”, apparently to help keep them on the road after Fast Eddie broke a string – he might have just been playing for time, but it was a good use of it, and a reminder that he was no slouch compared to his instrumental comrades. His vocals are a little low and echoey, probably the weak link in terms of the recording, but more interesting is that they are remarkably clean. By this very youthful stage in his musical career he had smoked only five million cigarettes instead of fifty billion, so his characteristic croak is a little ways off; it’s not totally jarring, since it’s still clearly Lemmy and it’s just a lot of distortion that’s missing, but even by the time of Motörhead he had developed a more gravelly singing style, so it’s curious to hear this different take.
The set itself, as I mentioned, is much the same as what is already available elsewhere, so you can basically pick and choose your favorite version of each song. This version of “Leaving Here” (either take) is faster, punkier, and grittier than the original studio recording, so I probably prefer it, though the On Parole version has vocal harmonies from Larry Wallis that give it a really nice flavor. “Vibrator” here has a bit of looseness that I kind of like in contrast to the Motörhead studio version, though On Parole’s version has lead vocals from Larry Wallis, which I think makes it sound more like a straight punk song and therefore the most listenable. This version of “Motörhead” is probably the least compelling of your many options. The classic recording from the eponymous album has a kind of legendary edge to it – it’s hard to beat that simplicity and power, and the production works to its favor in a way that surpasses this live take. The On Parole version is not as heavy or as tight, being noisier and brighter with jangly guitars, and it has a lot of cheesy affectations that make it sound a bit silly and dated by comparison, but there’s charm and personality to that as well. The Hawkwind version is bulky, bluesy, and bruising, a well-rounded groovy rocker. This one is a solid performance, just nothing that’s really going to blow your socks off.
And that’s about the cut of this here jib. This is a solid live recording and diehard fans or the historically curious will enjoy a good first performance from the Three Amigos lineup; to call it a “lost album” would be overkill, as it’s basically alternate takes on stuff that already exists. There are some bomber tracks on it, but it’s still at a point before Motörhead started writing their best material and really finding their ace sound, so after a few curious listens, I’ll be sticking to the classics.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | – |
| Production: | 7 |
| Written on 09.07.2025 by I’m the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct. |