The Iron Fist In The Iron Glove (Eat A Peach EAT108)
Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland – March 18, 1982
(65:02) Iron Fist, Heart Of Stone, Shoot You In The Back, The Hammer, Loser, Jailbait, America, White Line Fever, (Don’t Need) Religion, Go To Hell, Capricorn, (Don’t Let ’em) Grind You Down, We Are The Road Crew, Ace Of Spades, Bite The Bullet, The Chase Is Better Than The Catch, Overkill, Bomber, Motorhead
Most fans are familiar with Motorhead’s early years, booted from Hawkwind, Lemmy forms the group that would bridge the gap between heavy metal and punk, thus spawning what would blossom into speed metal or thrash. The classic line up of Lemmy, guitarist Fast Eddie Clark, and drummer Philthy Animal…Phil Taylor would release just four albums, Overkill, Bomber, Ace Of Spades, and Iron Fist…all of them are classics. Perhaps my favorite though was the seminal live album No Sleep Till Hammersmith that best defined the line up, raw and aggressive and when one talks about classic live albums it deserves a place near the top in my book (As does AC/DC’s brilliant If You Want Blood). Like all good things, they must come to an end, largely due to differences of opinion Fast Eddie would leave the band while on the bands American tour in support of Iron Fist.
This new release by the Eat A Peach folks documents a concert from early on in the UK tour, and features a soundboard recording from the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. The recording has circulated in varying degrees of sound as it was broadcast on FM radio, this version here sounds like a station master or possibly a pre FM source. First off it is an extremely well balanced recording, clear and well mixed but is flat sounding. It does sound good at loud volumes but I had to tweak my treble knob a bit to get some highs out of it. The other versions I have heard sound very thin and trebly more like one would get from something taped from radio. Their set list is made up mostly from music from Iron Fist and the previous Ace Of Spades record, while the first half of the show is well played, much is taken up with new material that is well received. The Hammer and Jailbait are my favorites, and of course the title track and opener Iron Fist, by the time they play Capricorn they are in full stride and the second half of the show is relentless. Bite The Bullet and The Chase Is Better Than The Catch are played non stop, the band have the audience in their grip as Lemmy takes a breather afterwards while they chant “Motorhead…Motorhead…” Overkill and Bomber put Animal’s feet to the test and the double bass drum bomasity of the songs is thunderous. Excellent 65 minutes of Motorhead Rock and Roll.
The packaging is the usual mini LP fare, many great live shots, I love the one on the disc sleeve with the shark mouth bass drums, the CD has a picture of the “Iron Fist” as well. Damn it’s hard to believe that 2/3 of this line up is gone yet this CD is a testament to the band’s musical legacy as one of the most important acts in heavy metal. RIP Philthy Animal and Lemmy.
