10 Best Self-Titled Music Albums In Metal History
4. Motorhead
Despite what Lemmy said, Motorhead were a metal band and they are more than deserving of a place on this list. Perhaps one of the earliest examples of speed metal, ‘Motorhead’ was released in 1977 after the group formed in London two years prior. Although this is officially recognised as the band's debut album, it was not the first one they recorded. ‘On Parole’ was recorded in stages throughout 1975 and 1976, but wasn’t officially released until 1979.
Running for little over half an hour, ‘Motorhead’ is a roaring, rapid-fire record that helped make 1977 one of the best years in the history of British music. During the height of the punk rock revolution led by the likes of The Clash and Sex Pistols, Motorhead offered an alternative sound for UK counter-culture - a sound that was uniquely endorsed by punks and metalheads alike, proving to be a bridge between these two contrasting worlds even now.
Although this is not the band’s most commercially successful or best work (‘Ace of Spades’, ‘Bomber’, and 'Iron Fist' are surely contenders for that title), ‘Motorhead’ still received its fair share of acclaim upon release. Loudersound retrospectively suggested that the album “sounds like the kamikaze rampage of desperate men granted one last shot”, while the album went on to earn silver certification in the UK.