Motörhead (/ˈmoʊtərhɛd/) were an English rock band formed in June 1975 by bassist, singer, and songwriter Lemmy Kilmister, who was the sole constant member. The band is often considered a precursor to, or one of the earliest members of, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Motörhead released 23 studio albums, 10 live recordings, 12 compilation albums, and five EPs over a career spanning 40 years. Usually a power trio, they had particular success in the early 1980s with several successful singles in the UK Top 40 chart. The albums Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and particularly No Sleep 'til Hammersmith cemented Motörhead's reputation as a top-tier rock band. The band are ranked number 26 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. As of 2012, they have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
Motörhead are typically classified as heavy metal, and their fusion of punk rock into the genre helped to pioneer speed metal and thrash metal. Their lyrics typically covered such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and, most famously, gambling.
Motörhead is the self-titled debut album by (then) English rock band Motörhead, released on the 21st August 1977 by Chiswick Records that Ted Carroll had started around the time Lemmy got fired from Hawkwind, as they knew each other from the rare 45 Record's store Ted owned that Lemmy was a frequent customer of, which gave them the start they needed, as United Artists Records had shelved the On Parole album he had made in 1975 with the original Motörhead line up.
Live! is Catch 22's first full-length live release, although fan-recorded live tracks were bonus features on several previous albums. Roughly a third of the album is devoted to Keasbey Nights, another third to Alone in a Crowd, and the remainder to Dinosaur Sounds. A bonus DVD includes footage from the concert, as well as a variety of extras. However, former frontman Tomas Kalnoky is conspicuously absent from the footage of the band's early days.
Live is an album by The Dubliners recorded live at the Fiesta Club,Sheffield and released on the Polydor label in 1974. This was to be Ronnie Drew's last recording with The Dubliners for five years as he left to pursue a solo career. Also following this album, Ciarán Bourke ceased to be a full-time member of the group when he suffered a brain hemorrhage. He sings "All for Me Grog" here. The reels that open this album (and which first were released on the group's 1967 studio album A Drop of the Hard Stuff) have become the opening instrumental medley at most of their concerts since.
Side One:
Side Two:
Live is Jake Shimabukuro's 2009 solo album. It was released in April 2009, and consists of live in-concert performances from various venues around the world, including New York, Chicago, Japan, and Hawaii.
Live peaked at number 5 in Billboard's Top World Music Albums in 2009 and 2010. The album won the 2010 Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Instrumental Album of the Year, and also garnered Shimabukuro the award for Favorite Entertainer of the Year. In addition, it won the 2010 Hawaii Music Award for Best Ukulele Album.
AllMusic noted that, "Shimabukuro is a monster musician and boldly takes the ukulele where no ukulele has ever gone before, dazzling listeners with his blinding speed, melodic invention, and open-ended improvisations of remarkable virtuosity. Before Shimabukuro, the idea of spending an evening listing to a solo ukulele player was probably most people's idea of hell, but the 17 solo efforts here never bore. They show Shimabukuro's range and his humor as well."