On Parole (1979)

On Parole (1979)

Though this album was released in 1979, it was recorded four years earlier, and only made it to store shelves following the success of Overkill and Bomber. It includes versions of five songs that were re-recorded for Motörhead’s self-titled debut album (“Motorhead,” “Vibrator,” “Iron Horse/Born To Lose,” “The Watcher,” and “Lost Johnny”), as well as “City Kids,” “Fools,” the title track, and “Leaving Here.” It’s mostly interesting because it’s the only album to feature the original Motörhead lineup, with Larry Wallis of the UK cult band the Pink Fairies on guitar and Lucas Fox on drums. But they can only be heard on one song, “Lost Johnny”; on all the other tracks, Philthy Animal Taylor overdubs the drums. The roots of what Motörhead would become are here, but they’re not fully formed yet, and this is pretty inessential unless you’re a total diehard. In many ways, it’s more of a demo than an album.