Motörhead's 50th anniversary will be celebrated with a fascinating find: the premiere release of the first studio sessions to feature the trio's classic line-up.

The Manticore Tapes, released on June 27, will offer the first studio sessions from the late summer of 1976 with the beloved line-up of singer/bassist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Though cut in a perhaps unusual location well associated with one of progressive rock's best-known trios, The Manticore Tapes is all of the rough-and-tumble power fans came to expect as the band gained popularity over the '70s and '80s: a blistering heavy metal sound played at breathless punk tempos. The set, featuring versions of five songs that ended up on the group's self-titled debut in 1977, will be available on CD, LP and digitally, along with a "bookpack" clear vinyl version that features the live album Blizkrieg in Birmingham '77 on a second LP along with a 7" single offering two previously unreleased live tracks from another Birmingham date. All versions feature new liner notes by Kris Needs.

Lemmy, a hard-edged Brit, had the idea for a band (and a song!) named Motörhead since shortly before his ejection as the bassist of Hawkwind after a drug arrest. By the end of 1975, the trio - Lemmy, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox - had started to perfect a distinct live sound ("so loud that if we move in next door to you, your lawn will die," Kilmister quipped). The next year, Motörhead cut a session for United Artists with producer Dave Edmunds; Fox was sacked by the end of it, with Taylor taking over the drum stool. When Lemmy auditioned a second guitarist, Wallis ended up quitting, leaving Clarke as the group's sole six-stringer.

That August, the trio booked rehearsal time at Manticore Studios - the recording space founded by the members of Emerson, Lake & Palmer - and laid down versions of their road (and studio) tested material, including some of Lemmy's last intended Hawkwind contributions ("Motörhead," "The Watcher") plus early favorites like "Vibrator" and "Iron Horse/Born to Lose" plus covers of John Mayall ("I'm Your Witch Doctor") and even an early Holland-Dozier-Holland gem, "Leavin' Home." (Lemmy was fond of an arrangement by British R&B combo The Birds.) While the material was never likely intended to replicate the Edmunds sessions - which United Artists declined to release - it's clear that this line-up was on to something, even if the band faced setback after setback, from a scrapped single with Stiff Records (blocked by United Artists) to an NME poll that deemed them "the best worst band in the world."

With the band's future looking dire, Lemmy planned an April 1977 gig at the Marquee Club to be the group's last. But when he was unable to record it for posterity, the Chiswick label offered Motörhead studio time with producer Speedy Keen almost immediately after the show. The band's self-titled debut, featuring many of the songs heard on The Manticore Tapes, was cut that weekend; within three years, they were riding high off U.K. Top 10s like the live EP The Golden Years and the pivotal LP Ace of Spades. (Even United Artists got into the act, shaping the Edmunds material into 1979's On Parole.) Motörhead kept thrashing into the next century, including a line-up of Lemmy, guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikky Dee that lasted from 1995 to the end of 2015, when Lemmy died days after an aggressive cancer diagnosis. (Taylor had died just the month before, and Clarke would pass away in 2018.)

Astoudingly, Motörhead have only been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame once, in 2020. Perhaps voters will see what the institution has been missing with the release of The Manticore Tapes. It'll be in stores June 27 and can be ordered at the links below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

The Manticore Tapes (BMG 964141802, 2025)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Clear 2LP/7": Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD/LP 1

1. Intro (Instrumental)
2. Leavin' Here
3. Vibrator
4. Help Keep Us on the Road
5. The Watcher
6. Motörhead
7. Witch Doctor (Instrumental)
8. Iron Horse/Born to Lose (Instrumental)
9. Leavin' Here (Alternate)
10. Vibrator (Alternate)
11. The Watcher (Alternate)

LP 2: Blitzkrieg in Birmingham '77 (originally released as Receiver Records Limited RRCD/LP 120 (U.K.), 1989)

1. Motörhead
2. Vibrator
3. Keep Us On the Road
4. The Watcher
5. Iron Horse
6. Leavin' Here
7. On Parole
8. I'm Your Witch Doctor
9. Train Kept A-Rollin'
10. City Kids
11. White Line Fever

All tracks recorded live at Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham, England - 6/3/1977

7": Live At Barbarella's, Birmingham, England - 10/12/1977

1. Motörhead
2. Keep Us On the Road