(*/10) This year in December it will be 4 years that legendary Lemmy Kilmister left this world. Lemmy belongs to the real iconic musicians this planet ever saw and although he’s not with us anymore there’s a lot of genre defining music he wrote, played and recorded in more than four decades with Motörhead.
Two of these milestones in Heavy Metal will be re-issued in October this year. BMG and Motörhead created a box set that includes with ‘Overkill’ and ‘Bomber’ two of Motörhead’s classics. The package is entitled ‘Motörhead ’79’, the release-year of both records. Looking on todays release schedules it feels nearly like a mission impossible to release two albums within 6 months, an challenge Motörhead took and succeeded.
‘Overkill’ is Motörhead’s sophomore release and it paved with the title track the way for whole new genre – Speed Metal. Also tracks like ‘No Class’ and ‘Metropolis’ have been a part of many setlists, being timeless Rock anthems. What to say more? You know the album and it’s value, I guess.
Half a year later ‘Bomber’ saw the light of day and stabilized Motörhead’s position in Rock and Metal. ‘Bomber’ is awesome but might not be as brilliant as ‘Overkill’, still it features excellent songs with the title track and ‘Dead Man Tell No Tales’ being smashers, very much driven by Lemmy’s roaring bass and his unique vocals. Both longplayer, ‘Overkill’ and ‘Bomber’, have been the springboard for Motörhead to release ‘Ace of Spades’ in 1980, the final break-through for the three-piece powerhouse from the UK.
Next to the original two longplayers the box set also comes with a lot of extras. Already before opening the box, the leather jacket stands out, the box is wrapped into. Opening it is the first experience for fans.
Furthermore the release features two entire live shows dating from 1979 too. On March 31st, 1979 the band played at Aylesbury Friars and the recording of this concert is part of the box set. The sound quality is good, considering the time when it was recorded. It actually fits Motörhead’s sound very well since it’s raw and with edges, just like the band.
The second live show was recorded at Le Mans in November 1979 and features a setlist that covers the first three albums. Last but not least there’s a number of alternative versions and outtakes being part of this release, making the box set to a full Motörhead 1979 experience.
‘Motörhead ’79’ is a comprehensive box set with all formats being approved with the full support and voice of the executors of Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, “Fast” Eddie Clarke and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor. Collectors, fans, Rock enthusiasts and basically everybody that like Rock music should check out this package.
More in detail the ‘Motörhead ’79’ box set contains:
- The two original ‘Overkill’ and ‘Bomber’ albums were half-speed mastered and pressed to 180 grams of vinyl, from the original master tapes.
- Two double live albums of previously unreleased concert material from the 1979 tours.
- A 40 page contemporary “music magazine” with unpublished photos and new interviews related to this era.
- ’79 Vinyl, with B-Sides, Outtakes and rare Tracks
- “No Class 7” single with gatefold cover
- The “Bomber” tour program
- ‘Overkill’ book of music
- ’79 Badge Set
- All in a black box in biker jacket style
Tracklist:
| Overkill | Bomber |
| Side One 1.Overkill 2.Stay Clean 3.(I Won’t) Pay Your Price 4.I’ll Be Your Sister Capricorn Side Two 5.No Class 6.Damage Case 7.Tear Ya Down 8.Metropolis 9.Limb From Limb | Side One 1.Dead Men 2.Tell No Tales 3.Lawman 4.Sweet Revenge 5.Sharpshooter Poison Side Two 6.Stone Dead Forever 7.All The Aces 8.Step Down 9.Talking Head 10.Bomber |
| Good N’Loud Live At Friars, Aylesbury – 31st March 1979 | Sharpshooter Live At la Rotunde, Le Mans – 3rd Nov 1979 |
| Side One 1.Overkill 2.Stay Clean 3.Keep Us On The Road 4.No Class Leaving Here Side Two 5.Iron Horse / Born To Lose 6.Metropolis 7.The Watcher Damage Case Side Three 8.(I Won’t) Pay Your Price 9.Capricorn 10.Too Late, Too Late 11.I’ll Be Your Sister Side Four 12.I’m Your Witchdoctor 13.Train Kept A-Rollin’ 14.Limb From Limb 15.White Line Fever 16.Motörhead | Side One 1.Overkill 2.Stay Clean 3.No Class 4.Metropolis Side Two 5.All The Aces 6.Dead Men Tell No Tales 7.I’ll Be Your Sister 8.Lawman 9.Too Late, Too Late Side Three 10.Poison 11.(I Won’t) Pay Your Price 12.Sharpshooter 13.Capricorn 14.Train Kept A-Rollin’ Side Four 15.Bomber 16.Limb From Limb 17.White Line Fever 18.Motörhead |
| The Rest Of ‘79 | No Class 7” |
| Side One 1.Too Late, Too Late (Overkill 7″ B-Side) 2.Like A Nightmare (Alternative version of No Class B-Side) 3.Over The Top (Bomber 7″ B-Side) 4.Stone Dead Forever (Alternative Version) 5.Sharpshooter (Alternative Version) Side Two 6.Bomber (Alternative Version) 7.Step Down (Alternative Version) Fun On The Farm (Bomber 8.Outtake) 9.Treat Me Nice (Bomber Outtake) 10. You Ain’t Gonna Live Forever (Bomber Outtake) | Side One No Class Side Two Like A Nightmare |
Label: BMG
Genre: Heavy Metal
Release Date EU: October 25th, 2019
