On Parole

by Motoerhead

Overview

Recorded by the original Motoerhead lineup of Lemmy, Lucas Fox, and Larry Wallis, On Parole is famous as the debut album that the band recorded in 1975 -- only to be shelved by a U.K. label that simply couldn't understand what all the noise was about. Produced by Fritz Fryer, a man whose past with Merseybeat-era heroes the Four Pennies should have guaranteed at least a little pop sensibility, On Parole contrarily turned in a bludgeoning blur of riffs and roaring, a bare-fanged threat to the order of things, a slobbering, slavering, three-headed monster that should have been strangled at birth. UA did the next best thing. They decapitated it. On Parole was buried, Motoerhead were dropped, and, by year's end, the band had shattered. And there the story should have ended. But Lemmy was made of sterner stuff -- Motoerhead not only had the temerity to return, they compounded their audacity by scoring hit singles. By 1978, Motoerhead were arguably the biggest heavy metal band in the world. And On Parole didn't sound so distasteful any more. Countless reissues followed, and here is another one, released in 1997 as part of EMI's centenary celebrations. And that in itself is a bit of a joke -- the last time the label celebrated Motoerhead, it was the day their contract went into the bin. This time, though, there's something to cheer about. Before the Fryer sessions, Motoerhead tried out some demos with producer Dave Edmunds, a quartet of long-lost songs whose legend has so increased in dimension that, umpteen reissues of On Parole later, one would still trade one's first born for the chance to buy it one more time, with the Edmunds sessions appended as a bonus. Well, here's your chance -- and don't forget to pack up the diapers. The added songs themselves are familiarity itself -- "On Parole," "City Kids," "Leaving Here," and "Motoerhead" reappear not only on the main album, but in various forms across so many other Motoerhead and Larry Wallis/Pink Fairies recordings. But the arrangements are devastating, steeped in blues, drenched in booze, the highest octane pub rock of all. No matter how well you think you know Motoerhead, still it's nothing like you're expecting. A true sonic symphony, this is Wagner with whiplash. Imagine Edmunds' own Subtle as a Flying Mallet if the mallet flew straight through your head; think of "Girls Talk" if Courtney Love started the conversation. Even more alarmingly, however, it makes promises that Motoerhead themselves could never keep and posits a future so far from all that eventually transpired that the On Parole material itself sounds like abject surrender, or at least foul betrayal, by comparison. The Motoerhead that people know and love threatened to take on the world. The Motoerhead here would simply have taken it over. No wonder they got canned. ~ Dave Thompson

Product Details

Release Date:	11/26/2020
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0190295264666
Rank:	95101

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Mot¿¿rhead [2020 Remaster]
2. On Parole [2020 Remaster]
3. Vibrator [2020 Remaster]
4. Iron Horse / Born to Lose [2020 Remaster]
5. City Kids [2020 Remaster]
6. Fools [2020 Remaster]
7. The Watcher [2020 Remaster]
8. Leaving Here [2020 Remaster]
9. Lost Johnny [2020 Remaster]

Disc 2

10. On Parole [Original Take]
11. City Kids [Original Take]
12. Iron Horse / Born to Lose [Original Take]
13. Mot¿¿rhead [Original Take]
14. Leaving Here [Original Take]
15. Fools [Demo Version]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Motoerhead   Primary Artist,Vocals
Larry Wallis   Guitar
Lemmy Kilmister   Bass,Vocals
Phil Taylor   Drums,Percussion
Lucas Fox   Drums

Technical Credits

Lamont Dozier   Composer
Larry Wallis   Composer
Eddie Holland   Composer
"Fast" Eddie Clarke   Composer
Lemmy Kilmister   Composer
Lemmy   Composer
Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor   Composer
Phil Taylor   Composer,Composer
Mick Brown   Composer
Motoerhead   Producer
Brian Holland   Composer
Derek Brown   Composer
Dave Edmunds   Producer
Tom Schuman   Composer
Fritz Fryer   Producer
Eddie Clarke   Composer
Mick Farren   Composer
Duncan Sanderson   Composer
Terry Birch   Engineer,Digital Remastering
Barry Grint   Digital Remastering
Lawrence   Composer
Ian Kilmister   Composer
Guy Lawrence   Composer
Tramp   Composer