The great British heavy metal institution Motörhead ended in 2015 when Lemmy Kilminster, the band's frontman and sole permanent member, passed away from cancer at the age of 70. Motörhead released their final album Bad Magic shortly before Kilminster's passing, and this far Motörhead's posthumous music has been limited to a few previously unreleased tracks on a Bad Magic deluxe edition. But now, we're about to get the release of The Manticore Tapes, a "lost album" that documents Motörhead's best-remembered lineup from the moment that the band first got together.
Lemmy Kilminster started putting together Motörhead after he got kicked out of Hawkwind in 1975. After a few early members didn't work out, Kilminster landed on a trio with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. The lineup came together in 1976, and they released their self-titled debut album in 1977. In August 1976, the three of them set up to rehearse at Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Manticore Studio. Those practice tapes, now remastered, make up The Manticore Tapes. There will also be a double-LP version that will pair those recordings up with a 1977 live set that the band recorded in Birmingham. The Manticore Tapes is out 6/27, and you can pre-order it here.
In other Motörhead news, we're apparently celebrating Motörhead Day today because "the eighth of May" kind of sounds like "the Ace Of Spades." There's an event tonight at West Hollywood's Rainbow Bar & Grill, Lemmy's old Sunset Strip haunt. Tomorrow, a statue of Lemmy will be unveiled in his hometown of Burslem, and former guitarist Phil Campbell will scatter his ashes there. (Metallica's James Hetfield has already been tattooed with those ashes.)
